Our camping adventure and the story of our death defying dog

Howard Prairie

We were able to have our first camping trip of the summer this last weekend at Howard Prairie. Seems a camping weekend with Jason's brother and his family is an annual way to celebrate Jason's birthday. The weather was perfect. Not too hot, not too cold. Our campsite was perfect..at the end of the loop, close to the bathrooms and a good view of the lake with a few short steps to our own little beaches.

We took our wonderdog Rigley. For those who know...his main wonder is that he's still alive. Jed claims he's like a cat, having nine lives. He's survived eating De-con, the rat poison, a rattlesnake bite, and near drowning two times. The second drowning was just this last weekend.

Like most labs, he has a deep love for the water and swimming. The trick with him is that you MUST throw his dummy BEFORE he gets in the water, or at least make sure you throw one for him in front of him so he knows what he's swimming for. This dog refuses to come back to shore unless he has successfully secured his dummy. So, I know you are all thinking, what happens if he misses, or doesn't see the dummy? Well, he swims....FOREVER. The first incident, my Dad can tell you with much emotion and detail. This second event happened while Jed, my brother-in-law, took Rigs down to the shore for a swim. He knows very well about Rigley's swim problem. After a few minutes of him down at the shore, we hear Jed frantically calling Rigley's name to no avail and then a panicked call of help for Jason to come quickly. Yep...our wonderdog had missed the dummy and was swimming, and swimming and just kept swimming.

Now we have Jed, Jason, Casandra, Kylie, Saiah, Brianna and myself down there YELLING at Rigley to come back. I was hysterical. The dog would just not turn around. I had this sinking feeling we were all going to witness our poor pup going under the water and losing him forever. It's truly a TERRIBLE expereince, one I've now had to watch two times. As I was screaming for anybody on the lake with a boat to please help us and praying to God to please have Rigley turn around, Jason came back with his binoculars to see what Rigley was doing. Yes, he was really that far away. With the binoculars we noticed that miraculously, Rigs had turned around and was coming BACK!! Praise God! Oh, what relief. Now, I was just praying that he had enough energy to swim all the way back to shore. Sure enough, he made it. Not only that, but he bounded up to shore, and was of course, ready to go out for more. Our dog is delusional.

If you click to look at the picture larger size, you will notice the buoy Rigley swam out to. It's at the top right of the picture.

So, that was our excitement. We had a wonderful time camping, relaxing, laughing, building hot campfires, watching the girls play, eating, hiking and dipping our toes into the lake. Saiah and Kylie were even thrilled to find that they were walking on two dead fish. Really. They thought it was cool. Cas on the other hand....not so much.

Saiah learned to skip rocks

Hanging out by the campfire

Casandra chopping up a log

Saiah sitting by her campfire she made

Jason's dream of Mountain Biking

Jed Mountain Biking

Happy Father's Day

These are the precious words of Saiah as to why her Daddy is the best. Thank you Jason for being such a wonderful father and husband. We are truly blessed!

"My Daddy is the best daddy. He takes me on special trips like Nevada and camping. I love him so much. He plays soccer with me, even when he has a headache. At night he reads "The Little House on The Prairie" to me. I liked when he let me stay up really, really late one night when mommy wasn't here. I love him very, very, very much. Daddy lets me mow the whole side yard, even though he wanted to get it done quickly. This is why he is the very, very best."

"Remember when I was this small?"

Well...I've been anxiously awaiting the end of the school year to be done with commuting back and forth and getting up at an unreal hour(I am NOT a morning person), struggling to get my daughter out of bed, working with a bunch of cute yet often crazy group of kids, and just wanting to relax and enjoy some downtime. Then...it hit me. Wait. End of school year means that my Scooterbug will no longer be a Kindergartener...but a FIRST grader!!! Oh wow. Made me a bit sad. Sad, but mostly proud.

Saiah has done wonderful this year in Kindergarten and enjoyed all of her good friends at school. She will tell you that her best friend is Trey and that he has asked Saiah, wait, make that told Saiah, that he is going to marry her. Yikes. Saiah has the good mind to ever so smartly say..."Trey..that won't be until I'm like 16". Ha!! Saiah enjoyed doing "Blue Book", which I believe is math and recess..of course.

Tonight was Saiah's graduation. A bunch of cutie pies singing their hearts out, reciting bible verses and full of giggles.

CONGRATULATION SCOOTER!!! WE LOVE YOU AND ARE SO VERY PROUD OF YOU!!!Funny...they must all think something is in those mock diploma's!!

Celebrating at DQ was Grandpa and Grandma Magallanes' treat and Cree was there as well. Good times!!

Seriously...I think this is hilarious

Maybe I laughed hysterically at this because I had breathed in too many noxious paint fumes all day today as Jason and I painted the outside of our house. Nonetheless..this just really made me laugh. I don't know..maybe it's not that funny. "Did you eat a lot of paint chips as a kid?"

Lumberjacks

Jason and Jed were back in their element and loving every minute of it. Born to be woodsmen, they didn't have a need to go woodcutting since their folks moved from their hometown of Alturas, CA five years ago. That all changed when Jed reverted back to his small town roots and moved to Etna this past spring. The need to stock up on wood is now not only a necessity for Jed now, but is a warmly welcomed feat for the two brothers that grew up in the woods. Jason is thrilled to be back out in his element using his Stihl 039!

I'm happy for them. I think it's crazy to love the hard work of woodcutting...but that's my man!! In fact, today, the day after, Jason's words were "I'm ready to go woodcutting again!!".

I Feel Pretty

I will always think of my little girl now when I hear this song. Saiah just finished her first season of Ballet and did a great job at her recital today. I really like the group of girls in her class. It's been fun watching Saiah learn ballet and grasp the fundamentals. Perhaps this is one of those moments when a mom lives through their child. I had always wanted to be full of grace and never even dared to think of trying ballet. Saiah enjoys it and will continue in the fall. But for this summer, we have a BREAK from both ballet and soccer!!

Saiah's on the left in the front row

Goats, pigs and llamas...oh my!

Saiah's school had a fieldtrip to The Farm last week. It's a great little place for kids to experience all sorts of animals, up close and at times...very personal!! Bailey, The Farm's own mild mannered European spotted deer enjoyed munching on anything and everything. It's quite comical. Saiah's favorite was the baby goat and seeing a rooster hop onto the back of a sweet little goat. Pony rides were a hit as well.