Lake Chatcolet with the Bowles Family

Last week we met my parents and my brother Justin's family at Lake Chatcolet in Heyburn State Park for a family reunion. We spent three days biking and canoeing there.

These cute cousins had such a good time hanging out. Nora is still talking about Clancy!

They rode for 13 miles down a bumpy road in this little trailer, through some very dark tunnels.

Nora threw a lot of rocks into that lake.

Hank the Water Dog enjoyed some canoe rides. 

Thanks to Annie for most of these great photos!

The view from the cabin porch. 

The cabin porch was one of the best parts of the weekend. A perfect place for chilling out, chatting, and reading.

We celebrated Mike's birthday with vegan cupcakes from Boots Bakery in Spokane. They were fantastic -- just ask Nora!

After breaking camp at the cabin, Mike and Nora and I went to Moscow to see where Justin and Annie and Clancy live. We loved seeing their cute house and got a tour of the University of Idaho campus. The "gargoyles" on the gym above are football players in old-fashioned leather helmets.

Rose bushes at the Arboretum 

It was great to see everybody and to visit a new and beautiful place.

Big Girl

Nora is very interested in sitting on her potty. She has not *used* it, per se, but she likes hanging out there with a book. (She also likes to wear a hat.)

Also, Nora recently had her first trip to the dentist, and while she did not enjoy the brushing and fluoride treatment at all, afterwards she loved talking about having her teeth brushed, and how nice and clean they felt.

Sunset Park

 Last weekend we visited Sunset Park, which is full of giant geese and swans and ducks. Mike and I were both kind of scared of the birds, but Nora just wanted to get closer.

On this particular trip to the park, Nora would have kept swinging all day long. We were there pretty early, before it got too hot. But once it hit 90 degrees at about 8:30 a.m., Nora's mean parents loaded her in the car and took her home.

July 4th (and Nora is 18 months old)

Nora is 18 months old, has strong opinions on many things, a vast and rapidly expanding vocabulary, and amazing curly hair. 

Star spangled girl in St. George, Utah

First ride on a carousel

Family photo at Grandma & Grandpa Brough's house

With Great-Grandma Brough

Mommy's girl

Too little for sparklers, but not too little for glow-sticks! Thanks, Aunt Kim!

When we get soy cheese at Trader Joe's, Nora has to keep it "wif you" (with her) in the cart. This is what it looks like when she says "cheese."

The American Library Association (ALA) annual conference was in Las Vegas at the end of June and we got to see lots of friends from Wyoming and from Illinois. This is Nora's new friend, Oscar, whose mom is my good friend from library school.

While Uncle Nick was visiting we went to the Mob Museum.

We've had some really hot days -- this was one of them. A person kind of wants to melt when it's 110 degrees.

Nora loves Nick and his "tar" (guitar)

Nora got to spend a day with her grandma and grandpa while we went up to Cedar City to the Shakespeare Festival. We had lunch with friends and then saw "Into the Woods." It was fabulous!

Note: Speaking of musicals, we also saw "Book of Mormon" in Las Vegas in June and really enjoyed it. The singing and dancing were fantastic! Let me know if you want to talk more about that one. ;)

Family Fun Times

We try to go do something new and fun each weekend, and Nora is a very willing adventurer. Last weekend we went hiking at Red Rock Canyon. Nora was so delighted to be in the backpack on Mike's back, she kept exclaiming, "Yay!" and "Happy!" Also on the hike, we saw a snake, and Nora could not stop talking about it. She was quite fascinated.

This weekend, Family Fun Time took us to the Las Vegas Natural History Museum. Nora is walking more confidently every day, and she did a lot of walking around in the dinosaur and egg exhibit. My favorite part was where she got to put on a dinosaur costume.

 We have so much fun with Nora!