Debra, Part 2

A few more photos from Debra.  The top photos were from a sailing adventure with Jake and Donna, the boys found hiding in the cabin to probably the most exciting part of the adventure.

Summer camp fun, photos of Dan driving Woodstock, Ben and Josh in the tube, Dan Abrams sailing the sunfish and Josh sporting a vintage life jacket from my youth.

These photos are from the Black Hole, which is this amazing little pond the beavers have created.  Jake and Donna invited us along, so we put the canoe on the top of the motor boat and drove over to that part of the lake and then carried the canoe a short distance to the start of the Black Hole. Great to see the rocks, the lily pads, the beaver lodges and the black water.  

And a parting series of photos of Dan and Ben jumping off the dock.  The boys have all stayed in Debra, while I came home to work, so I'm sure there are more fun and games happening, sad not to be there to play along.

Debra

After many hours of traveling (a cancelled flight, a delayed flight, a 3:30am wake up call, 3 flights and 2 very well behaved children) we arrived in Debra.  We settled in, went grocery shopping, bailed out some boats, received Megan & Dan and hung out.

A trip to the Desbarats Farmers Market, love that Dan brought along his New Zealand New World grocery bag.  Ben and Josh enjoyed driving down the Debra river in the Woodstock.

And some water skiing fun, thanks Barsy for lending us a boat to go and play.  The boys tried knee boarding, Dan and I waterskied for the first time in decades and D2 showed us all how it's suppose to be done.

And no trip to Debra is complete without a jump off Whiskey.  Megan and Dan paddled over to rock with the boys in the canoe and jumped off.

Santa Cruz

Thiems Santa Cruz 2103 from Lobitos Creek Ranch on Vimeo.

Boys off having fun, thanks Dad for the video.

Happy Birthday Ben

Happy 8th Birthday Ben.

His enthusiasm for his birthday was contagious, as he's been planning his day for quite some time, clearly informing certain family members which Lego sets he wants, giving us a detailed menu list (pancakes with extra bacon and pepperoni pizza) and generally bouncing up and down with glee in anticipation.  He woke up at 5:40am this morning unable to contain his excitement and was bouncing on the sidewalk in his underwear waiting for me to return from the gym at 7:15 so he could open his presents.  He was delighted at the treasure hunt Dan created for him with clues to find his new remote control car.  At the dinner table he happily told us his favorite thing was, "the whole day" (as you're only allowed to use that line on birthdays and Christmas) and he finished the day with a skinny dip in Nana's pool, some chocolate cake and some chapters of Harry Potter with Dan on the couch.  Life is pretty fabulous at 8.

A few photos from his small birthday party on Sunday.

Kiwi friends, be proud, the institution of fairy bread and pass the parcel is going strong in our family.

Tree Top Adventure

We went camping, which I'll add some photos of later (maybe), and on our way home we stopped in Tahoe.  Auntie Megan decided that for Ben's birthday she wanted to give him an activity, not a materialistic item, so she sent us off to the Granlibakken Adventure Camp, "Treetop Adventure Parks and Ropes."  Let's just say they had a blast....  Thanks Megan, Dan is very jealous he didn't get to join the fun, so I'm thinking this may not be our last time to the ropes course.  

And since I didn't want to upload all the photos and videos separately, here's a video of some of the fun.

Camping at Lakes Basin

A few photos from camping last week at Lakes Basin campground outside of Bassets.  The boys went for a great hike on Thursday morning up to Long Lake and Friday morning we spent some time at Gold Lake paddling around and fishing.  It was great to dust off the vintage camping trailer and be out of cell phone range for 24 hours!  

Sydney & Skyler's Wedding

Congrats to Sydney & Skyler for a beautiful wedding.  (Love the venue, chuckle chuckle, thanks Mom for offering up your yard to these love birds).