Chitaqua

 

Ceci, Gia and Sophie came to visit this weekend so we went to Chewelah to check out Chitaqua.  First was the parade.  We got a nice shady spot in the 100 degree heat.

The floats were cool but this one was the best.  It stopped by for a while and the girls on the float taught our kids their dance.  It was pretty cute.

 

 

I caught Olivia and Emma holding hands...too cute!

 

The Shriners Duck stopped by for a picture.  What a great parade!

 

Then we headed to the park to see all the vendors.  It was so hot though so we spent most of our time in the creek.

 

Thank goodness for the creek!

 

 

 

We had to get a picture by the bridge this year again.

 

Easton was there too!  So were the twins but I did not get a picture of them.

 

The cousins left early because Sophie got sick.  But I took our kids to the Children's Pavillion.  They painted a picture.

 

Olivia loves to paint.

 

Marcus' creation. 

 

Olivia painted a pretty flower and even painted the blue sky...I forgot to get the finished picture though.

 

There was water play too.

 

And misters...those were nice for the adults too.

 

Another Sophie!

Emma painted a picture too.

 



 

Jim painted Olivia's face...a pretty shooting star.

 

Jim also painted Emma's face while Sherry did a little photo bomb.

 

Marcus had his face painted by this nice lady...he got a spider and web again.

 

Emma got an ice cream cone on her cheek...Nice job Jim!

 

Emma's finished picture...so pretty.

 

The kids also made these cool masks.

 

And we ended the day with ice cream!  Perfect for a HOT day.

Gardner Caves and more fun

 

Saturday we decided to go check out Gardner Caves.

 

We tried for the 12pm tour but it was full so we waited for the 12:45 one instead.  There was a nice picnic area so we had some snacks.

 

Here is our tour group.  In back is me, Marc, Kristen, Ryan and Ryan's Mom, Carol.  In front is Emma, Cruz, Kaydin, Olivia and Marcus.

 

We finally got to the caves.  It was 90 degrees outside but only 39 degrees in the cave...brr..

 

We learned about how the limestone formed and got to see fossils and learn about the ice age.

 

Marcus thought it was pretty cool

 

All the formations had their own unique characteristics.

 

This was our guide...Ranger Christiansen.  Funny story, Marc actually knew him!  He gave Marc a ride up Mt. Spokane once so he could meet his buddies to mountain bike. 

 

We climbed down a total of 500 feet!  The kids did great!

 

Behind the cave was a trail that lead to Canada.  So we hiked down the trail and went into another country!  It was only 1/2 mile away.

 

Can you see the border line up the mountain in the background?

 

Emma was excited to be so close to another country.

 

 

Warning...we couldn't stay though...we had to head back.

 

There was some fresh water...Marcus got the first drink.

 

Emma next...

 

Then Olivia.  This was the coolest tour ever...we were so glad we did it.

 

We headed back to the cabin and of course Marcus did some more swimming.

 

Steve agreed to hang out with Marcus while he swam.  The rule for all kids was they must have a life jacket on and an adult with them at all times on the dock. 

 

Thanks Steve for having us out...we had a blast!!!

Fourth of July

 

We brought out the slip and slide for the kids on the 4th.

 

Karissa, Kyle and Courtney came out to hang out with us for the 4th too.

 

Marcus did more swimming off the dock.

 

Chad did some swimming too...just one of the kids.

 

There were more boat rides on Phil's boat.

 

Phil took us to a little beach.  The kids had a blast digging in the sand.

 

Pretty Olivia.

 

Emma goes for a swim.

 

It was the perfect beach for getting buried in the sand.

 

Mommy picture.

 

Marcus and Cruz play in the sand.

 

Where's Emma's legs and hands?

 

 

This was the beach bums...Ryan, Kristin, me...Olivia, Kaydin, Marcus, Cruz and Emma.

 

Back to the cabin to get dressed in Red, White and Blue.

 

We played a lot of volleyball too.

 

Happy Fourth of July from the Oergel's.

 

The kids got into the volleyball action too.

 

Our hosts for the week...Jeff and his Dad, Steve.  They made us a great shrimp boil for dinner...YUM!

 

Time for fireworks...Emma with a sparkler.

 

Olivia and her sparkler.

Marcus had some sparkler fun too.

 

 



 

Then down on the docks for more firework fun.

 

The kids got to assist...Emma holds hers first.

 

Marcus holds his up high.

 

Olivia's turn.

 

We had some big ones too!

 

The girls putting on a show.

 

Even Marc got into the sparkler action...what a great Fourth it was!