ANNOUNCEMENT

On the first day Ryland and Keri were in Spokane Ryland had this nice dinosaur t-shirt on. On the front it had a dinosaur and the writing on the shirt said "I have a secret". I noticed it right away and asked if the secret was on the back. Keri said yes and turned Ryland around so I could read the back. Click on the picture if you can't read the small writing. What a clever way to announce that Keri and Mark are expecting baby #2! Oh course I was excited beyond words and had a few tears. Baby Doo is expected to arrive in this world in early February! This time we will know if Mark and Keri are having a boy or a girl. Any guesses from you before they find out? My guess is a girl. Disclaimer to my family...this is not a contest and there is no prize! Yippee! Another baby to kiss!!!!

Tiger Hunting

Today was Keri and Ryland's last day in Spokane for a while. Mark left this morning. Keri, Ryland, Kristin and Layne were all here for a few hours today. Nothing better than watching your kids with their kids. Layne hunts imaginary tigers in the house. She has come up with weapons to fight them as you will see in the pictures. Forgive my blurry pictures. Tiger hunters can't hold still while they are hunting. Ryland was taking a nap during most of the hunting. Here are the hunters planning their strategies for the hunt.One of the best ways to scare the tigers is with the weapons and angry faces. This tiger hunting is very exhausting. You need a snack and a little rest afterwards.


Maybe even a little distraction called television. Look at this concentration. After all the tiger activity Ryland woke up. He wondered what was going on and gave his best tiger GRRRROOOWWWL.
Keri and Ryland will be on the plane in the AM. I can't even put into words how totally and completely wonderful it was to have all the Doolittle's here with us. I love seeing the cousins play. It is so rare that all three of the "Fuller Girls" are together these days. That even happened during the visit. Priceless. I love them all!!!

Doolitte Scramble Day

AHHHH! The memory card in my camera crashed at the end of the day yesterday. I have to reformat it and if I do I lose all the pictures. I don't think there is any way to save the pictures. If anyone knows how to save the pictures chime right in and let me know.
The day started about 8 AM. Ryland came over. Layne followed shortly after. The two of them are always excited to see each other. Grandpa Mike went to the store and got muffins and juice while I made scrambled eggs. We set up the kids table in the backyard so the kids could eat outside. Kristin brought an alligator pool over so while the kids ate I got that set up.
After breakfast there was playing, a movie, more playing, and then a dip in the pool. Layne and Ryland loved the pool even though the water was brrrrrr cold. After the pool and naps it was time to join the golfers at the golf course.
Keri and Mark's team won the scramble again. 4th year in a row. This year they had some competition from Aunt Robbie's team. The Doolitte team won by one stroke. Katie got the prize for closest to the pin and Kristin got longest drive. I can't remember who won the other prizes.
After golf was over we headed up to Steve and Jennifer's house for a BBQ. Wow, great food and lots of family. The Fuller side of the family was all there. Even Sally and Scott flew in from Alaska. It was good to see them all. I think the highlight of the BBQ was watching the kids and Mark swimming. Great stunts off the diving board. Mike even got into the action. Keri has a great picture of Mike coming off the board. Hopefully, I will snag it from her to post.
Even though I didn't golf this year I had a great day with the grandkids! They are precious.

Christian Motorcycle Association (GANG) Rides For the Son

In my class last year we were talking about riding motorcycles. Mason, one of my students, made a comment about me being part of a motorcycle gang. I asked him what gang was that???? He said the Christian gang. I laughed and have called the CMA the "GANG" ever since. I joined the Christian Motorcycle Association (GANG) last year. I have been slow to get involved but I am picking up the pace. Today Mike and I rode with members of the CMA to Hayden Lake, Id. We visited Camp Mivoden. This week the camp was hosting a camp for the blind. Lots of activities and the motorcyles were part of the fun. We rolled in and then waited for the group to arrive at the motorcycles.
The kids and adults enjoyed sitting on the bikes, honking the horns, listening to the loud pipes, and talking with us. We all enjoyed it too!
We rode home in the rain. I don't mean a little sprinkle. It really rained. Mike and I weren't really prepared for the rain. There was only a 30% chance of precipitation and we were counting on the 70% dry!!! We were both soaked when we got home not to mention cold. Riding a motorcycle when you can't feel your hands is a neat trick. I wanted to stop and take a picture of the storm but I wanted to get home and in dry clothes even more. We left Spokane hoping to be a blessing to others and more than anything we were blessed to be part of the group and to meet new friends at the camp. God is good!!!

Football, Softball, and Baseball

Sports, Sports, Sports! Mike and I went to our first arena football game. Craziness! Lots of offense and a little defense. The Spokane Shock are going to the playoffs and there was a big crowd. All cheering like crazy for the Shock and for the coupon for a free chalupa if the Shock scored more than 55 points. Honestly! The chalupa was a big thing. It made me laugh. They did score over 55 points and there was actually a chalupa cheer if you can believe that! It was a blast.

Today we did something we haven't done in a long time and I really miss it. We watched Kristin play in a softball tournament. She still has it. She hit a triple and several doubles. She creamed the ball over and over again. I think she gets that athleticism from her mom. :-). Today was the single elimination day for them. They had to win 4 games to be champs. The lost the third game in the bottom of the 7Th. She had a good time and felt like the team did great!


Tonight we went to a Spokane Indians game. It was Harley Davidson night. Motorcycles lined the field before the game. Otto, the mascot, even went for a ride.

The Doolittles have been taking care of Ryland while Mark and Keri are in Monterey, CA. watching the Red Bull MotoGP. We met the Doolittles at the Indians game and they brought Ryland (of course). We took Ry home with us. We made the swap during the game. Ryland just loved the game. Really! He laughed and clapped and said, "Baseball" over and over. He liked Otto too, from a distance! It is always fun to see Jennifer and Steve. Mike and I really enjoy their company.
And what were Keri and Mark doing while we were at the game??? They were hanging out with the celebrities at the race. Here is a picture of Keri with Katie Holmes. We didn't hang out with the famous celebrities this weekend but we spent time with our own personal celebrities. Family and good friends. It was an eventful weekend!

Rosalia Bike Rally

We had to check it out. The Rosalia Motorcycle Rally under new management. Rosalia is about a 40 mile ride from Spokane. It was a perfect day for riding. 80 degrees and sunny. We didn't quite know what to expect. Would it be wild and crazy or calm and peaceful. It was calm and peaceful. Not sure what happens at night! There were a lot of different bikes for sure. The streets were lined with motorcycles.

Some people came for the food and some for the drink! You will notice a theme with my other posts with the food picture. I love my tacos!
Some people came to work on their tans apparently! Wouldn't that hurt if you hit the ground! The thought gives me the chills.
I get into the fancy paint jobs and the way the motorcycles look more than the engine and pipes. Check out these paint jobs.

There was even a pinata race. I am not sure how you race pinatas. No doubt a lot of time and training goes into it. Maybe the skill is not breaking the pinata before you cross the finish line. We never saw the pinatas in action. We spent a couple of hours roaming around looking at the food, people, motorcycles, and vendors wares. You will see Mike wandering here. It was worth the trip but it always is on the motorcycle. It is really about the ride not the destination.

Cousins

Kristin and Keri had a golf date on Wed. Mark and I had the pleasure of spending time with Ryland and Layne. Kristin had done some shopping and found a slip and slide for the kids to play with. Fun stuff. The kids never really did figure out the belly slide and there were a couple of pretty good crashes but no injuries. Ry and Layne had a great time just playing in the water.



After the water adventure we moved inside the house for some music. We were serenaded by Ryland and Layne on the piano. I see a musical group in the future!
Relaxing with Fruit Loops and cartoons came next until the mom's came home. Then the giggling and tickling cranked up. I think kids laughing is the best sound in the world! Happy, precious times. I love every minute!


More to come!!! Keri and Mark will be here another week and a half! The Doolittle Scramble is in a week! I am watching the grandkids but I will go take pictures for sure.

Hudson Said It Is Only A Bear!

For two days over the 4th of July weekend Mike went up into the Selkirk Mountains. He traveled around on his 4 wheeler . He just loved it and wanted to show me the sights. Yesterday, we packed up and headed to Priest River then up to the Selkirk Mountains. Now, I was a bit hesitant because we were traveling way up to the peaks of a couple of the mountains on the 4 wheeler. When Mike went up last time he saw 2 moose and friends saw a bear! HMMMM! Is this safe? We arrived and loaded up the 4 wheeler with a lot of stuff! Mike kept saying we don't need all this but just in case we get lost or stuck somewhere we will be glad we have it. That doesn't do much for my confidence about sharing space with wild animals. Here we are loading up the bear spray and more! Does that little can really bother the bears?
I was first behind the wheel of the 4 wheeler. The road didn't look too bad to me. This will be a piece of cake! Nice wide road, space for us and the animals! I think I drove for about 4 miles and then the road got a little more rocky and narrow so Mike took the wheel. The scenery was just beautiful as we climbed! We arrived at the top of peak Number One! Wow! It was like being on the top of the world. Mike wanted to explore a little and took off walking. There was no way I was staying by myself. I tagged along saying, "Don't get too far ahead of me!" I liked the safety of the 4 wheeler but I was not as nervous as I thought I would be. There was a fire in the area many years ago and a fire lookout was on top of this peak.Next destination. Mike drives us off this peak and when the road (I use the term road very loosely) gets better I drive again. I am getting the hang of this driving! It is pretty fun!No animal yet. The 4 wheeler is pretty loud so Mr. Bear knows were are coming. I drove for a while longer and then we were in new territory for Mike and he took the wheel. The roads were getting narrower and way more rocky.We started talking about getting back to the car and what time that should be. I was thinking before it got dark and Mike was thinking about hanging around in the wild until dusk. HMMM. Don't the animals come out at dusk! We came to this little indentation in the mountain and it was our next turn. OK, this little trail is not passable on a 4 wheeler and their is no way I am walking. Guess what! We went up it. Once the turn was so sharp Mike had to turn a little and then back up the 4 wheeler and turn some more. I keep saying I was really being a trooper! Right? Since this was new territory Mike wasn't sure if we could find a place to turn around. Soooo, we walked up the trail. I didn't like that. Again, I liked the security of the loud 4 wheeler. We walked up and saw there were lots of places to turn around so we hopped on and continued until we got to this beautiful meadow. We even found some snow if you can believe that.

We were as far as we were going. I wanted to share with someone that I felt like I was on the top of the world. I checked to see if I had cell phone coverage. I text messaged Katie! Mike called Tony to share where we were. I did add a few words to the message Mike left. Mike said there were no animals and my comment was, "We are in the wilderness and there are bears here somewhere!" I might of ended it with an AHHHHHH! I got a phone message back from Hudson, Tony's son, that there was nothing to be afraid of it's only a bear!!! Mike set up his spotting scope and I actually relaxed and took a little snooze on the 4 wheeler. Mike saw a couple of female elk and I had a great view from the 4 wheeler. I did keep a close watch on the clock. We left a bit before dusk. Mike didn't want me to be afraid coming back. Whew! Thanks Mike.

I didn't get a picture of the tiny little rocky, steep, trail we were on to get to the meadow. I was too busy holding on for dear life. It was really narrow and very rocky. We ended up seeing the 2 elk, some rabbits, and a deer. We never did see a bear or a moose. I would have liked to see either from a very safe distance and while I was on the 4 wheeler. It was a great day. A fun time together in God's country.