finding a happy place

it's been a while since we blogged about life at the pike house.

in an effort to forget the craziness of dumping spices in a cup, unwinding a spool of thread and roll of toilet paper, knocking over a lamp and breaking it, along with screaming games of tag in the house and fights for toys -- and this is just this morning -- i decided to find a happy moment to remember.

this was one of those perfect days.  mr. pike and i took the kids up to lake erie at the end of august. the day was not too hot, but warm enough with a slight breeze.  the kids played in the sand and splashed in the water.  

little girl and little boy were delightful.  they often talk about going back to the beach, and i'm kicking myself why we didn't go up there earlier in the summer.  we could have had many weekends of sand, sunshine, and joy.  

now we have something to look forward to for next summer.  and a perfect memory to get me through the day -- or at least until nap time. 

celebrating 50 years of love

my parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this june.  the whole family, minus three grandsons, got together in soda springs, idaho (my parents' new home) to join in on the celebration!

we had a week to spend together as a family.  the cousins played.  we spent time at bear lake and alexander reservoir, playing in the water and picnicking.  had dinner at a cowboy BBQ in the mountains.

but my favorite activity was the day we spent doing 50 acts of service.  we divided our crew into three groups and went about the town doing good.  

we all donned on blue t-shirts (that two of my sisters designed and printed) and planted flowers; put flags on veterans' graves; delivered donuts to the police department, county court offices, and sheriff's office; sang at two nursing homes in town, sprayed for weeds in a local widow's lawn; donated my dad's favorite book to the library; picked up trash by the reservoir and city park; left detergent pods at the laundry mat; painted a wall of the Senior Center; taped $1 bills in the dollar section of the local ALCO; left inspirational quotes on car windows; paid for someone else's lunch; and many more.

my parents have always been wonderful examples of service.  they have freely given of their time, resources, and talents.  and have involved us, kids, in projects and opportunities as we were growing up.  and taking a day to serve others seemed like the best way to honor their marriage and legacy to us. it was a lot of hard work, but so fun, unifying, and uplifting.

and in between

once we got to idaho, it was lots of family time.  first in soda springs; then in island park.

climbing ladders at granddad and grand mom's new house

little boy ready to try hooper water

playing in the foam -- what a fun activity!

lining up for the parade.  bags ready to fill with taffy and tootsie rolls.

showing off the prize in their arctic circle kid's meals

watching the geyser (the world's only man made geyser)

little boy really experiencing the geyser and all of its glory

a very wet little boy with his very dry cousins

hiking s hill with uncle l.

almost to the top of s hill -- had to stop for uncle f. to catch his breath!

our beautiful soda springs

little girl learning the ropes from cousin k. down at the river

at yellowstone with our cousins

"another geyser," said little girl, who apparently wasn't very impressed
with old faithful after seeing soda's geyser

a cousins' play about helping mom
i gave it two thumbs up!

sunday walks

on sundays, we like taking family walks. last week we went to the lake. and it had been a long time since we had all been there together. i had forgotten how beautiful and calming it is there. time felt almost still, except for the setting sun.

there's something magical about the moonlight glistening across the water. and watching mr. pike and little girl skip rocks.

i love when we can slow life down for just a bit.

from thanksgiving

we love the sunshine of southern california. especially when we visit during the colder months of the midwest. little girl was in heaven, running around barefoot outside. (trying to go for a swim, but it wasn't that warm.) it was such a treat to spend time with mr. pike's family.

we also had a few days with my family in las vegas. we had a multi-generational family reunion on my mom's side of the family, and i was invited to give a presentation about my great, great-grandmother, mary mcquarrie.

two falls ago, my sister, little girl, and i took a little tour of scotland to see where mary grew up before immigrating to the united states. i guess our trip deemed the two of us as semi-experts on mary's life. so, mrs. wright and i put together a presentation to share with our family.

i loved reading through different personal histories that told about mary's life. she was an amazing woman of faith and humility. i wish i was a lot more like her.

while we were in vegas for the reunion we had a chance to visit the hoover dam. my mom's father worked on hoover dam -- he'd repel down the dam and inspected the concrete. that's some steep repelling. and we also got a look at the new bridge (which one of my cousin's helped work on) -- there's a lot of family history in the area.

it was a great trip to see so much of our family. unfortunately, the trip was too short. we'll just have to plan another one.

when the wrights are in town,

we play.

first a trip to lincoln park for lunch, cookies, and the chicago history museum. i had found this fun, retro cookie shop -- the cookie bar -- in a local parenting magazine. little girl and i had already been once before and thought it'd be a delicious stop with the wrights while we were in the neighborhood.

little girl and mr. wright took a seat (mrs. wright took photos), while i chose a few flavors. this round we tried oatmeal cranberry, potato chip chocolate chip, lisa marie presley (a peanut butter cookie with chunks of peanut butter cups, chocolate chunks, and banana chips), and minty num-num (a minty, chocolate cookie). they have a great selection of unique flavor combinations.


next, a stop at the chicago school of HOT YOGA. (you know, to burn all those cookie calories.)


how about finishing the day with a ride? it was nice of our landlords to lend us their bikes, so the wrights had some wheels. we headed down to the lake and then to our favorite cupcake shop (which turns out to be closed mondays. but, don't worry. we went back on tuesday and wednesday!)



little girl always likes it when we head to the beach. she has a thing for rocks, and they're are lots of them there.

day two: a trip to one of our favorite BBQ restaurants, smoque, followed by a tour of frank lloyd wright's home and studio in oak park.

but all this running around takes its toll. i love this shot that mr. wright took on our way home from oak park. we played hard. and had a lot of fun. mr. and mrs. wright, when do we get to play again?

the girls

my sister asked me to share a picture from the girl cousins' photo shoot. for a while, miss nevers was the only girl cousin on the pike side. it's a lucky thing baby girl pike and nevers came along. those two additions evened things up between the boy and girl cousins.

my mom sent matching dresses out to the pike reunion as a special treat for the girls. which brought about a little photo shoot.

all the girls were pretty tired by the time we took the pictures. we'd already taken baby blessing pictures and family pictures. miss nevers only agreed to the girls photo shoot after we told her that she could hold the babies. and both baby girls couldn't make another round of pictures without their pacifiers.

once the girls took their positions, miss nevers was absolutely adorable with the babies. she held their hands and kissed their cheeks. and after each of these actions she'd say, "i kissed the baby's cheek," or "i'm holding their hands."

for all the coaxing we had to do in the beginning to get the three on the couch, the memory of miss nevers with the babies was completely worth it. and we did get a few good shots.

dining out

during an unexpected turn of events, the weather in our neck of the woods reached 83 degrees today. with the sun shining, it was such a pleasant day.

after we came home from work tonight, mr. pike asked me what i had planned for dinner. i said, "well, i have chicken in the fridge defrosting. but, i haven't decided what to do with it. what do you want to do have?" "how about mcdonald's?"

how could i argue with such an offer. i wouldn't have to cook or clean up. (although, mr. pike usually does the cleaning up.) so after the gym (ironically enough), we stopped by mcdonald's for dinner. i suggested that we take our dinner to the lake.

we enjoyed our hamburgers and fries as we watched the waves roll in. it was such a beautiful evening -- it brought back memories of last summer. mr. pike found a few flat stones and skipped rocks after dinner. i watched, providing the necessary encouragement and applause.

here are some rock skipping shots from when the pike brothers visited. we had to take them to our favorite spot on the lake.

a brotherly visit

last week mr. pike and i enjoyed a visit from the two younger pike brothers. we took them for a tour of our town to show them around.

what a treat to have them around. we took them to see all our favorite sites, including a stop at the famous "bean."

mr. pike's favorite time to be in the city is right at dusk as the city lights shine against the dark sky. this time of night reveals new character to the majestic skyline. we love the beautiful architecture that has been preserved around the city.

memories

a few of our memories during our trip to california -

we have many more - however, some of the documented memories are still on other cameras. the ones not documented, live on in our hearts.

where dreams come true

we arrived home this week on a snowy night. mr. pike and i had just left the los angeles area with its 65 degree weather and beautiful sunshine. it was paradise.

mr. pike and i love being with family - spending time together making memories. this trip was especially meaningful with the recent return of mr. pike's brothers - mr. pike III and mr. pike IV. they both just returned home from serving missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. mr. pike III spent two years teaching in boston, and mr. pike IV spent two years teaching in buenos aires. and it was my first time meeting the two mr. pikes in person.

it was a trip of firsts and of dreams coming true. here are some of the highlights:

• mr. pike's first trip to LA
• a trip to dodger stadium with the mr. pikes and me (i can't wait to go back for a game!)
  
• mr. pike's first taste of in & out burger (it was so yummy!)
• the mr. pikes swimming in a very cold pacific ocean (mr. pike IV's first time)

the trip to the ocean was quite amazing. i was sure the men wouldn't last more than three minutes in the water. but they endured. and after 30 minutes of body surfing and swimming, the mr. pikes were finally ready for lunch. (i had been ready for the past hour. but then again, i'm almost always ready for a meal these days.) i was the photographer, and here are some of our shots.