slices of life July edition

July is truly a blur in my world, between the mayhem at the motel and some fun adventures on our days off I feel like I'm going to blink and it'll be September.  So while I'd love to document all of our summer adventures, let's just cal this the slices of life July edition and know that I've missed things and life will go on.  The photo above is the boys in the 4th of July parade, for more photos click here.

These photos are from the Children's Festival, a great Renaissance Faire for kids, click here for more photos.

Taking a leap into Lake Tahoe, thanks Megan and Dan for the fun afternoon on the boat.  We all tried water skiing.

And it seems that one of the main things to do in the summer is to go swimming at Nana's house, so the boys did some fun action shots.

There are more photos and fun, but for now that'll do....  the boys are currently up in Debra and I'm either busy working or busying playing....

Backpacking in Grouse Ridge

The boys are on a river rafting trip this week with my mom, so we had a 24 hour window of freedom from work related stuffola and decided to go backpacking.  We started at the trailhead for Carr-Feeley Lakes in the Grouse Ridge area (off Bowman Lake Road off Highway 20) and walked about 2 hours.  We were headed for Penner Lake, but there was a large group ahead of us, so we ended up turning around and walking back down the trail and ended up at one of the smaller lakes off the Crooked Lakes trail.  We've been backpacking before, but the two of us had a hard time remember the last time we'd gone together (Dan went backpacking with Wes in New Zealand and I went to the Mount Aspiring Hut with Jodi), so perhaps the last time the two of us went backpacking together was our summer road trip to Alaska in 2001?  Who knows, too long.  We're already talking about taking the boys along the next time.  24 hours in the woods with no cell phone reception is just delightful, especially when your expectations are to take a hike, a nap and eat your one pot wonder out of the pot. 

I'll drink my coffee with this view any day!

Happy Birthday Ben

Happy 9th birthday to Mr. Ben.  

Ben started his day wide eyed and excited in a tent camping and then was so excited to wake up the whole camp and open presents.  Thanks to Auntie Megan and Uncle Dan for the chocolate chip pancakes and bacon.  After returning from camping Dan and Ben sat down and watched The Hunger Game (Ben has read the books), while Josh and I went to the movies and ran errands.  He spent the afternoon playing Legos and playing Mine Craft and counting the minutes till his friends came over for a sleepover party.  Orion, Tobin and Tavish came for a swim in the pool, pizza, multiple player Mine Craft and a movie night (Despicable Me 2) and a slumber party in the living room.  

Has anything changed from last year's excitement?  Ben scanned his birthday wish this year and electronically informed various family members which Lego sets he wanted and face timed Lisa to reminder her to send him kettle corn.  Josh spent the weeks leading up to Ben's birthday politely informing random strangers that it was Ben's birthday in ____ days and today informed the check out lady at the grocery store that it was his brother's 9th birthday.  A Mine Craft Creeper cake was special ordered and otherwise things were the same.  

Dan and I continue to be thankful for our roles as parents, amazing to think we've been on this adventure for 9 years already, below are a collection of a few fleeting moments.

Camping in Downieville

The boys went camping for 4 nights up at Lakes Basin (and I went to work, so there will be no photos from that trip to share), but I spontaneously met up with them on the North Yuba last night after Mom decided to ride her bike to the campsite and invited Megan & Dan to join her (so we crashed the family campout).  Always fun to go camping, even if it's for 16 hours.  

The photo above is what Josh was doing while Ben dragged out the process of eating his green beans, his "favorite vegetable" according to him.

Uncle Dan gave Josh a few pointers in the fishing department, many thanks for encouraging the little man.  

 

And the birthday breakfast....  so sorry to the whole family for Mr. Ben's let's all get up at 6am and start celebrating ASAP.

A visit to the coast

Earlier this month we went to the coast for a few nights, I have been meaning to share the photos and life has gotten in the way.  So, better late then never, right?  The top two photos are off the back porch of Dad's house watching the fog roll in while having a campfire.  I enjoyed watching the boys hang out on the porch earlier in the afternoon, so easy to see myself in that exact same spot.

Really, what trip Half Moon Bay is complete without a loaf of artichoke bread?  We're sorry to say that there was no bread left by the time we met up with the Renekers.

A walk out to the point with Dad and Rebecca.  We camped at Costona for 2 nights and they joined us for the afternoon and a lovely dinner at the restaurant at the campground.

The great part about this photo, is the one below is from the last time we were at Costona in August of 2004.  There we are in the exact same spot in June of 2014.... some things really don't change....

Great to spend some time with Ben, Katie, Roy and Henry, even if only briefly.  The boys had fun playing together.