Is it Summer Yet?

We had a couple of days where the weather was 100 degrees, then it pummeted down into the mid-70's the next day! Big change, but I'm glad that we aren't in full-blown summer yet. When it was hot, the river raised up pretty high (mosquitos came along with it), but now that it has cooled down, the river has gone back down. What was interesting was seeing the kid's reaction to mosquito bites. Jimmy's arm, eye, and forehead puffed up so bad that I thought he was needing medical attention. Emma has a bite under her eye and it swelled up pretty bad, too. Thank goodness for Benedryl and Calamine lotion!





Mom and Monte drove out here, arriving this past Sunday. They mainly needed to get the trailer on the upper property in good enough condition for Monte to live in. That meant removing the rat evidence (to put it nicely) and getting the other things in order. They left this morning to head back to California, but hopefully we'll see them again soon. The kids really enjoyed seeing them both! The crazy thing about their visit was that those Grosbeak did not show up at the feeder AT ALL while mom and Monte were here. Good thing I have pictures to prove their visit!

Jimmy found a HUGE dandilion (maybe they are always this big here, but I've just never seen them), and made his wish--to be Bob the Builder! Then later that day, we saw cousin Bruce (who works for the County maintaining the road here) working out in front of the house, so Jimmy quickly dressed in his 'safety' gear, and showed Bruce how his clothes look just like Bruce's clothes. After that, Jimmy says he wants to be Bruce when he grows up! The boys LOVE that Bruce works with construction equipment.

Finally, Dad found this critter outside one evening. He says it's a gopher snake (I personally don't know). The kids are really excited about all the new animals they get a chance to see here!