Indian Summer

The past few weekends, we have soaked up the last of the warm sun for the season. How I LOVE sitting on the beach in a swimsuit in September. We spent some more time at the beach in Coeur d'Alene and the next weekend, headed up to Palmer Lake.

Dan taught Lola how to make sand castles.

 A tie to the beach?

Little stud

 Lola's first canoe ride. With her favorite chair, snacks and shades, she was all set!

 Lola is my little helper, often entertaining Mac and teaching him all she knows.

 I'm cherishing the fact that they adore each other right now.

 Playing with her ducks while the deer made their way across the lawn for an evening snack.

 Another first...smores at the camp fire.

 They were a hit! This is the face of a smores-loving kid!

 Mac wasn't impressed by the smores this year but I have a strong suspicion we'll all be enjoying them by next summer.

 And the most exciting part of our trip... in late afternoon, I saw 6 deer in the yard and was so excited, since we've only ever seen three at a time at dusk. I grabbed my camera, but before we knew it, there were nine deer, and then there were twelve deer! We couldn't believe it! Then we herd the sound of mooing down the road and Dan realized there was a cattle drive just down the street. We hurried up to the front gate and watched a huge herd of cattle, some cowboys and a cowgirl make the last leg of their trip.

The cowboy in this picture came up to the gate to let Lola pet his horse. He told us this was the third day of their trip, coming from Palmer Mountain and bringing the cattle to a pasture at the end of the lake. When Lola herd the mooing she said, "Mama, I don't like their snorting!" We explained that was the sound of them mooing. When she saw her first blonde cow, she very excitedly exclaimed, "Look guys! It's a lion!!!" Again, we corrected her but I think she likes her idea best :)