August 2013

Against our better judgement, it being monsoon season and all, we went camping one night at Santa Barbara, a beautiful campground in a canyon up in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.  We set up the tent, did a short hike along the stream bordering the campground, and had just gotten our fire going before it started to drizzle.  We were able to cook our tin-foil dinners over the hot coals luckily, but we had to huddle under the porch of our tent to eat.  The drizzle turned to a steady downpour that continued for 12 hours straight through the night.  The tent which is at least 25 years old (the one I grew up with) wasn't exactly water-tight.  Everything was very damp in the morning, but the kids seemed unfazed.  They LOVED camping. 

Relaxing while listening to big sister read a book.

First day of kindergarten for Sasha

I can't believe how quickly the time has gone!  Jack is continuing at Momentum Bilingual Preschool this year 3 days/week. 

Sasha had to miss her 3rd day of kindergarten because we drove up to Estes Park, CO to attend my cousin Emily's wedding at the YMCA Camp of the Rockies.  What a fun weekend we had!  My parents rented a cabin for all of us and there was lots of time to enjoy all the activities at the camp.  Highlights included pony rides on Shortcake (Jack's) and Cupcake (Sasha's), miniature golfing, swimming at the huge indoor pool, and most of all the craft shop.  Sasha is a craft-o-holic declaring that she is going to be an artist when she grows up ,so this huge, well-stocked shop was heaven for her.  She spent hours in there carefully painting a ceramic fairy.  She asks almost every week now when we can go back to that camp with the huge craft shop. 

The outdoor wedding ceremony was just beautiful and the kids were on their best behavior for the most part.  Phil and I (or maybe just "I") enjoyed dancing late at the reception after the parents took the kids back to bed in the cabin. 

Michigan 2013

 Our annual Lake Michigan vacation is always much anticipated by everyone in our family.  Now that the kids are older and have more memories of the place they start looking forward to the traditions up there weeks before we pack to go. 

Pretending to surf.  This is the third summer Jack has worn those swim trunks!  From the looks of it he is due for a new one with more coverage next year.

Making snickerdoodles with grandma

Chocolate frosted donuts in Frankfort

One new thing we did this year was go to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park. 

I included this picture only to document the less than ideal picnic we had before going home.  It was so unpleasant as to be almost comical with whining kids, lack of seating, strong cold wind blowing all the food and bags around, sand everywhere, and rain 5 minutes into it.  I guess there has to be a low point to every vacation....

Beach grass jewelry and crowns were a theme this year.

Sasha and Jake with their Harley second cousins.  We all hung out together on Portage Lake one day.

Several years ago I told Sasha about a game called "Greased Watermelon" that we used to play at kids camp at Little Eden.  It has been her dream to have a greased watermelon competition since learning about it.  Here Mary manages to haul it to shore with a pack of Smuckers in pursuit.

The kids attacked the watermelon like vultures when it broke on shore.

Doing crafts with grandma. 

Sunset before watching fireworks from the boats out on Portage Lake. 

July

 On the 4th of July we drove to Telluride and stopped at Echo Amphitheater on the way up.  It's a huge natural bowl carved into the side of a cliff where the kids could hear their shouts echo at least 5 times.  These shots were taken on that short hike.  

We met Zach, Christina, Nicholas, and Andrew Bishop there and enjoyed a long weekend in our condo that we had rented in Mountain Village.  Some highlights were riding bikes around the ski area, riding time and time again over the mountain in the free gondola, doing the "spider jump" (Sasha's term for those bungee jumping trampoline things), playing in the river, and walking around the quaint old town. 

Singing on the gondola

Andrew and Jack

The flowers were gorgeous all over town.  Sasha went on a flower hunt during Jack's nap one day and came back with 16 different kinds.  The low point of the trip was when Sasha fell backwards off of the couch and slammed the back of her head on the coffee table edge.  She had a good sized deep laceration with quite a bit of blood.  Something had to be done so Phil found the local ER, talked to the doc there and came back to the condo with supplies.  We laid Sasha down on the bathroom floor of the condo, Phil put 3 staples in the back of her head and called it a day.  Sasha was really brave and stayed amazingly calm through the whole thing despite the lack of anesthesia! 

Sasha executing another of her creative ideas.