Banks Lake 2011

The Rig.... all ready to leave for Banks Lake

Banks Lake happened one month ago. Yep, I'm very very behind in my blogging and in everything else too. So to briefly sum up the trip..... it was awesome as usual. Mom, Suzy and her girls traveled up here and came with us. I've always wanted some of my kin to join me on our annual extravaganza. Laura came about 4 years ago and this time I got 5 extra family members. Score! And most importantly we added a new baby to our family. Darren picked up a baby Chihuahua on the way to Banks Lake. Gavin and Drew named her LaFawnda and Gillian re-named her Roxy. Gillian begged and begged and BEGGED for a baby Chihuahua ever since her friend got Lightening, so we picked up his sister. Now we have 3 dogs. Now I feel like crazy dog hoarder lady. But she is pretty cute.

We visited the Grand Coulee Dam. First time we've taken the tour in the 7 years we've been going to Banks Lake.

Georgia made friends with the Valentine girls, Veraty and Xela. She didn't know their names, just called them her friends.

Our beloved Buzz Bomb tube was fun for all.

Darren the Dog Whisperer

Nasca, Jenny and I all got up the courage to jump off of a 45 foot cliff. Crazy, scary, fun. That's me in the middle. I always make sure I plug my nose way before I hit the water.

Gavin spent most of his time jet skiing. He got pretty good at it.

Drew also picked up jet skiing pretty quickly too.

Alice cracks me up. She's always doing something. Always into something. I love it. Yes, this is a paper bowl on her head. I don't know why.

Cute, sweet Mary

I didn't get many pictures of Suzy so this is proof that she was there at the lake. It was so nice having her there. I love that people always say that we look so much like sisters, it makes me happy.

For the past 2 years I have convinced Darren to shave a big long mustache. I think he looks very very handsome. I think he IS very very handsome.

Everyone at camp fell in love with Roxy so the Pedigo's picked up the last pup of the litter on the way home and named him Coulee. This is Brooke, Coulee, Gillian, and Roxy.

Anderson Island

I am way behind in blogging. This post happened on July 16th. I took the girls to Anderson Island for a CrossFit annual party. Our friend Steve has a house there and we had a big barbeque and lake party. Typical Washington weather but warm enough to swim.

Gillian and Lightening, the baby Chihuahua

Drew and Gillian caught on quickly to stand up paddleboarding

Cowboys and Cowgirls

My dream in life has always been to be a cowboy. Since I'm a girl I guess that I would have to be a cowgirl. As long as I could get dirty and ride horses I was happy. I am so pleased that my kids like riding. The biggest surprise is that Gavin has really taken an interest in Chuck. He rode his bike to the ranch with Spencer the other day to hang out with the horses. He has also taken up listening to country music and wearing cowboy boots. This is a big change from listening to bands like "Disturbed". Even though lots of people say that country music has lyrics only about boots, tractors and horse poop, it is generally uplifting and positive. So, I'm happy.

Fireworks and blood spatter

Gavin had to leave early on the 4th of July for scout camp. He was bummed because that is his favorite holiday. We usually go up to the Indian reservation and get the "good" fireworks--ones that could blow a hand off. So we got away without spending a hundred bucks on explosives, nice. We went up to Bryce and Becky's for dinner and some fireworks and then over to Bub's and Joelle's.

Somehow Darren managed to shut his finger in the door of his truck. He slammed it all the way shut. It was pretty gory. I have a feeling that he will be leaving the blood spatter for a while as a reminder to remove his finger from the door jamb before shutting it. Pretty awesome. His finger is mashed up pretty good but since he is a tough guy he has just put a couple of bandaids on and called it good.

Snuggly

I love my Gilli. I really do. On my trip with Drew's class to the zoo I snapped this photo because it reminded me of how every night is with Gillian. And I do love her..... It's just so hard to sleep with her. She spends half of the night trying to sneak in my bed. One time I was half awake at 2:30am and with my eyes half open I watched as she quietly and slowly lifted my covers and stealthily slipped underneath and cuddled right up next to me. It's nice for a little while until I doze off and wake up with both arms asleep and numb and I'm all sweaty. So I take her back to bed only to wake up 2 hours later with her back in my bed. Sneaky little thing she is. Darren is in Scottsdale this weekend so I told her she could sleep with me. Tonight I will be smart and put a pillow between us and tomorrow morning she will wake up pouting at me because I put a barrier between us. Time to go to bed now. Wish me luck. I do love her so...... really, I do.

Great aspirations

For two weeks now I've gone around with a hockey puck sized hematoma in my left butt cheek. My rear is still bruised and painful and swollen. So yesterday after landing on my rear during a workout and screaming in pain I decided to go back to the doctor. My bump was growing and getting in the way of every day life. I couldn't lay on my back or sit on my left cheek. He sent me for an ultrasound and the radiologist said that it needed to be aspirated. After a shot of novocaine he put a large needle in my hockey puck and sucked out all of the hematoma. He got about 70cc's out (over 2 ounces) and now I can sit. I still have painful lumps and bruises but the uncomfortable butt implant is gone. Good riddance butt lump!

Wenatchee

Gavin and Spencer on the tower of rafts

Whittling sticks around the campfire is a Greenhalgh favorite

Gillian and Karma

Last weekend we took our annual river rafting trip with our friends to Wenatchee. And of course what trip would be complete without a trip to the ER? It happened on our first run about a quarter of the way down the river. I got thrown from the raft and dragged through the rapids. I was violently slammed onto a submerged rock and hit my rear end and my foot. It was (and still is a week later) excruciating. I thought that for sure something was broken because I couldn't put any weight on it or move my toes. They put me on crutches, which was difficult because of the open blisters on my hands from the previous days workout of 140 pull ups

Both hands had stinging blisters

So I got to sit around the camp with the dogs. Our friends the Valentines had a lot of friends and family there and pretty much everyone brought their dogs. One of my favorites was Ruby, a Bull Staffordshire Terrier-- super muscly. She also grunted and snorted like a pig. Cute.

Ruby

Despite the injury we had a blast. Super nice weather and lots of rapids.

My foot after the swelling had gone down

BEWARE: Below I will be Twittering some PG-13 pictures. They are just too amazingly grotesque to not share.

There, you have been warned....