The Girls

The girls came up with Steve (my BIL) and family for the week of Camp Retz. They were a lot of fun, helped out with the boys, and were very adventurous, too!
Day one on the tubes, Elton can't stop grinning.

Within a few minutes, she standing on the moving floatie...almost like surfing!

Her big sister, EllyMae takes her turn.

And of course, she's standing within a few minutes, too.

Back on shore, the adventurous girls do a bit of cliff jumping.

I have to admit, I was biting my nails from afar. But Steve was in the water spotting for them, making sure they were jumping into water that was deep enough.

All 5 kids and Steve in his boat.

Elton was able to kneeboard on her first try, too, just like my oldest nephew.

The two sisters striking a pose, just before they tried to knock each other off the floatie.

And ending the day with smores on the deck, all 5 kids on a sugar high, just before bedtime.

Jimmy called them "Elton" and "EllyMae" all week, which is perfect since I don't like using kids real names on my blog.
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Big Brother

At seven years old, big brother R shows his little brothers what water sports is all about.
Not only could he stand on the moving floatie...

he tried knee boarding for the first time and...

not surprisingly, succeeded on his first try!

The rest of the week, he rode the high-speed tubes with the girls.

They wanted to go as fast as they could. It was Jimmy's goal to try to knock them off, taking sharp corners and going up to 30mph in the boat.

We had one day on the 'slow' lake. No tubing permitted and speed limits enforced.

But cliff jumping is allowed. Just watch out for your little brother below!

A day on the slow lake gave big brother R some time on the canoe with Uncle Jimmy.

And night time smore makings seemed to be Big Brother's forté. After 3 years at Camp Retz and 1 full year of Cub Scouts, Big Brother R knew exactly how he liked his smore: burnt to a crisp.

He's showing off his prized smore with the girls and his younger brother. A great way to end the day.
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The Middle Child

Middle J, at 5 years old, is oh so much braver than he was last year. It's so amazing to watch these boys grow up from year to year.
Last year, he would walk into the water up to his knees, but upon his own will, that was the furthest he would go. This year, he was constantly in the water and up to silly little antics that a middle child would be up to.

This year, we couldn't keep him out of the water.

He even did a bit of cliff jumping. You go Middle J!!

Middle J is my photography protégé. He's telling "Elton" to move closer to me so he could take a quick snapshot.

Even though he loved being in the water, still, one of his favorite things was being in the canoe with Uncle Jimmy.

A supah cute snapshot with his friend "EllyMae". Yup, his mouth is full of oreos, just like his little brother.

Middle J, with his older brother R, watch for their baby brother in the canoe with the girls.

Middle J is a little better at keeping the food in his mouth during smores night. Just a bit of chocolate under his nose.

This is our proudest moment with Middle J. He actually got on the floatie being pulled by the boats for the first time this year. Brave Middle J, yes he is! Can't wait to see what he'll be up to next year!

And he's becoming a helpful spotter for his Uncle Jimmy, too. He plays a very important role, making sure that Jimmy knows when the person falls off so they can pick them up. He has the orange flag in hand, ready to put it up if the person falls.

Middle J and Uncle Jimmy, the dynamic duo.
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The Youngest Nephew

Little D is the youngest of the nephews, but at 3 years old, he strives to keep up with his big brothers.
For the first few hours, he was content throwing rocks into the water.

And eating oreos. Similar to last year.

But soon, he was swimming in the lake with his daddy, happy as a fish.

By lake day #2, he was diving in: his version of cliff jumping.

Here's little D taking a swimming break with his friend "Elton".

A quick snapshot with his mommy and daddy.

Riding in the canoe, feeling the water, with his friends "Elton" and her sister "EllyMae" (Jimmy's nicknames for the girls).

Time for smores! Little D didn't like marshmallows, but loved graham crackers. As you can see.

Little D relaxing on the big floatie with his Uncle Jimmy.

This little boy can strike a pose, don't you think?

I can't resist one last photo of a his precious cheese-face!
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July, You've Lost Your Charm.

more at icanhascheezburger

Well, my affection for July has officially ended. It's over 100 degrees outside. When I'd rather be at the air conditioned dentist office than at home sweltering, it's gotta be pretty bad. Actually, I have to admit that I don't mind going to my dentist. They give you a hand paraffin wrap while they're cleaning your teeth. Soft hands and smooth teeth, what more can you ask? Ever heard of Spa Dentistry? Well, it helps take the stress off of going to the dentist when you're pampered while they're torturing your gums. In addition to the paraffin treatment, they also offer a lavender shoulder and neck wrap. I don't like lavender so I declined. And if you're in for a longer appointment, you can watch DVD's or listen to music, or receive a warm or cold eye relaxation mask, or even sit on a massage mat. It may sound shi-shi...ok, it is. But it's Worth It. Love my dentist.

We spent the 4th of July with the parentals and my youngest SIL.
Not the greatest photo but it'll do. I've said this before, I'll say it again: My Mother-in-law is the best cook ever! She made baby back ribs, oven-fried potatoes, corn on the cob, a fresh green salad. And homemade strawberry ice cream for dessert!
These are flowers on a tree that's blooming in my MIL's yard. They kinda look like fireworks, don't they?

Afterwards we headed to the hideaway and stayed till Monday. Puttered back to the bay area, car troubles. Again. But since we were late coming home, we got to see this crazy sunset as we got back into town.Smokey skies. Those wildfires you may have heard about? Nasty buggers. But the sunsets are beautiful.
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Liberty

“Liberty is the possibility of doubting, the possibility of making a mistake, the possibility of searching and experimenting, the possibility of saying No to any authority--literary, artistic, philosophic, religious, social and even political.” - Ignazio Silone
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Here's something fun to try: In iTunes (or wherever) create a playlist search of "America". These are the first few songs that came up on my search:

"Voice of America" by Asia
"Peaches" by The Presidents of the United States of America
"American Idiot" by Green Day
"Give Me Novocaine" by Green Day from their American Idiot album
"Feelings" by Offspring from their Americana album
"She's Got Issues" by Offspring from their Americana album
"Kids in America" by Kim Wilde
"America" by Yes
"Young Americans" by David Bowie
"America" by Simon and Garfunkel
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Hello July

Hello July, you very well may be my favorite month. Despite the your typical hot days, you surprise me with uncharacteristically cool days, like today for example. It's almost 10am and it's only 58 degrees and breezy. Which is great because with all the wildfires your neighbor June gave us last month (over 1400 when I checked yesterday), it's been mighty smokey in these regions and your breeze helps me breath better.

Well July, here are another few reasons I love you so much:
-I is an American and I loves me some fireworks on the 4th of July.
-We celebrate 3 family birthdays: My BIL Steve's, mine and my MIL's.
-3rd annual family and friends week extravaganza at our hideaway.

I know July, that in the past I've made claims that the summer months are oppressively and agonizingly hot, but this year at least, you are starting out in the lead. That is till November rolls around. But right now at this moment, you're my favorite.

Daylily in my neighbor's garden at the hideaway last July.
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Boyhood haiku

He's always climbing
Only stopping for a snack
Dirt mixed with Oreos

submitted to One Deep Breath Haiku Challenge
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The Long Road Home

Jimmy and I had a quiet 3 days to ourselves at the hideaway. One of the days we spent 6 hours exploring trails that hadn't yet been discovered - by us that is. We made a big loop by driving south on Highway 108, north on Highway 49, east on Highway 4, east on Hwy 89, south on Hwy 395 then back down Hwy 108. We didn't start our adventure till 4:30, so we had less than 3 hours of quality daylight to shoot some photos. However we did have the full 6 hours for quality time together...till I fell asleep about 5 hours in. But it was more like a long blink. :)

Angels Camp
One of the highways we drive on our way to the hideaway is Highway 49. Its number is derived from the gold rush of 1849 and runs along gold country in the Sierra Nevada Foothills. Angels Camp is on the 49 just a bit north of where we turn off so we don't typically get to see the town. It's most noted for its Jumping Frog Jubilee. We saw a couple of sculptures in town; this one was in front of the fire station.

Lake Alpine
About 60 miles east of Angels Camp at an elevation of 7300' is Lake Alpine. We got there around 6:30 and it was a crisp 61 degrees outside. There were several campers, but compared to our nearby Pinecrest Lake, it was practically deserted. In fact, there was only 1 boat in the lake and less than a half dozen people along the shore. On Pinecrest, there would be at least a dozen boats and over 50 people on the shoreline, even at that time of day with that cool temperature.

Dardanelles
One of the coolest part of our road trip was seeing different views of landmarks we've only seen from Hwy 108. The Dardanelles Cone is one of those landmarks. This is the view we're used to. And this one, too. Gotta admit that it's cool looking from Hwy 4, too.

Mosquito Lake
Probably the most picturesque place during our adventure was Mosquito Lake. Don't like that name though. Ewww. But the sun was at that perfect 'golden hour' angle and was shining on this cabin beautifully. The lake is at a breathtaking (literally) 8300'. But we traveled higher still to...

Ebbetts Pass and Tioyabe National Forest
Just as we crested Ebbetts Pass at 8730', we saw this momma deer and her two little does grazing along the highway. She was a lot more cautious with us humans in our big motorized killing machine than the other clueless deer we had encountered this weekend. The deer in this neighborhood really don't seem that frightened by cars. You'd think they would be because many of them have unhappy encounters with vehicles. And visa versa, too. Not only should they be afraid of our cars, but they should just be afraid of us in general. Because hunting season is right around the corner and really, they are just too easy of a target. And I think that at the VERY least, the human with the rifle should have to get out of his car. Now I'm sure there are hunting rules about where you can and can't shoot your rifle, but I'm just sayin'.

Ebbetts Pass is on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range and in the Toiyabe National Forest.
I just learned that most of Toiyabe National Forest is in the state of Nevada, which shouldn't be that surprising since Nevada is probably less than 25 miles as the crow flies from where we took this photo. (V, if you've read this far, that link was for you!)

This remote cabin is probably boarded up for the winter and won't see its owners till late spring unless they have a snowmobile. The highway closes at first snowfall and doesn't re-open till May or June.

This was the only waterfall we saw during our 6 hour road trip. We joked that now we could go home! And we were about half way thru - it was 7:30pm.

Carson River
We stopped along the East Carson River to eat dinner - sandwiches I had packed. It seemed like a relatively popular place to camp and fish. Personally, it's a bit rural for me. This was the last photo of the evening. Darkness quickly fell upon us. But we decided to drive the 6 miles out of our way to Markleeville, the county seat of Alpine County with a whopping population of 197. We figured we should at least drive thru the town since we were so close and will never be in this area again.

We got out of the car one last time on Hwy 108 at Sonora Pass. It was after 9, we were at an elevation of 9624' and it was a chilling 51 degrees outside. But the stars filled the sky. Jimmy even saw a shooting star.

A long and winding road
Along the way, Jimmy's trusty Volvo crossed 194,000 miles. That car has seen us through quite a lot of adventures. It's been to New York, eastern Canada on the Trans-Canadian Hwy, and countless trips up and down California. I hope it will see us through quite a lot more.
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The youngest

The youngest of three,
Left behind while the two swim.
Has fun on his own.
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Drought

(click on photo to enlarge).
We had a d.r.y winter and our lakes are at near record lows. Last year, however, we had near record high's. What a contrast.
This year, we had to launch the boat in the dirt. We've never done that before. Putting the boat into the lake was a breeze, but taking it out was another matter. Especially in Jimmy's front wheel drive volvo. But by day 2, we realized that all we had to do was put more weight on the front tires. So my BIL Steve, and I sat on the hood of the car, and Jimmy easily drove the boat out of the lake. I'm sure it was quite a sight for all the onlookers. Especially when Jimmy quickly stopped at the top of the makeshift ramp and I nearly fell off the hood in the front of the car.
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From a 4 Year Old's Viewpoint

I have to share a few of my favorite photos that my nephew took.
This is the very first photo he took. Pretty good, huh? That's his little brother, his mom and his proud Aunt Madeline.

His big brother making goofy faces. Silly smiles seemed to be a theme that week.

This photo cracks me up. Because his mom and I were laying on the granite rocks on the other side of this boat and couldn't see them at all. But we heard a young woman say to my nephew "Hey little boy! Take our picture!" so he did! And this was the result. Little did they know his aunt would publish it on the internet for anyone to see. lol.

The next day, he started getting creative with the camera and did a couple of self-portraits. This was his second attempt. The first one he wasn't smiling, so I think when he reviewed the photo, he realized that he should smile first. Cracks me up! He also took some photos of his shadow. Which I've been known to do also.

This photo is mostly for Phin's benefit. We've been taking photos of our feet for as long as we've been snapping photos of each other. It's kind of like verification that we've been there if we've stepped on that ground. And again, without any coaxing from me, little nephew took these feet self-portraits on his own.

There were a few with heads chopped off or were blurry. But every single photo was worth looking at just to see what he saw and what he decided to capture.
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Summertime in the mountains

Had an amazing 8 days with the family at our hideaway. Here's the goofy bunch of characters on our deck.

We were at the lake every day except one. 6 of the 11 of us decided to camp overnight at the lake so they were too tuckered to go back the next day.
Jimmy and Ginger, his sister, are in the canoe towing her girls around the point where I'm standing. This was our first lake day, before Jimmy's brother's family joined us.

Jimmy's boating the kids around the lake. In tow, on the frequent flyer is...
my 9 year old niece and her Uncle Steve, my BIL. Tubing seemed to be 'the' activity of the week.
Ginger and her 11 year old daughter, were next on the tube.

Here's my little protégé, hee! I let my 4 year old nephew borrow my little camera in the waterproof case and he took over 300 photos! It's awesome seeing the photos they take from their perspective. He even took a few self-portraits.

Awesome kids. Great family time. Love 'em all!

Camp Retz

We're getting ready for out next adventure: Camp Retz. Last year was the start of the tradition when Jimmy's brother and his family joined us for about a week at the hideaway.

Here's the splash my BIL left after jumping off the granite boulder. The water is pretty cold because the 5600 foot elevation lake is filled from snowmelt. But last year was a very hot summer and the cold water was refreshing.

There were 3 boys, age 5, 3 and 16 months, and their pooch kept close track of each of them. At one point, Jimmy took the 3 year old out in the canoe and the dog went into the lake and tried to swim after them since the dog didn't trust Jimmy.

This year Jimmy's sister and her family are also coming. Hopefully, the parentals, another sister, Jimmy's cousin, and another secret guest will join us for at least a day, too.

I hope you all have a great week. I will probably be MIA till nearly August. I'll have my computer, but as I've mentioned before, we only have dial-up there. And I suspect I'll be exhausted every night after spending the days with 5 nieces and nephews under the age of 11, and their parents, that I'll barely have enough energy to crawl into bed much less wait for dial-up.

Cheers!
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Flowers for the Fourth

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Happy 4th of July

This doesn't really seem like an appropriate photo for the 4th of July, now does it? Ya don't typically associate cold glaciers with fireworks and bbq's. But really, my mind is one track right now. We're leaving Thursday for our quick 4 day trip to Anchorage. We leave Thursday night, arriving in Anchorage at midnight, just a few minutes after sunset.
Aside from the wedding, I'm reconnecting with a friend who I haven't seen since we graduated from high school. She was one of my closet friends in grade school and jr. high, but immediately after high school, we lost touch. I had heard through the grapevine that she moved to Anchorage, so when I knew that we were going, I signed up for a free trial membership to Classmates.com and contacted her. We haven't seen each other for over 20 years so it'll be awesome to see her again and chat in person.

We're going to the parentals for the 4th of July celebrations and fireworks. Wishing you all a fun 4th, week, weekend, and summer!

Hubbard Glacier, July 1995
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Graduation and gluttony

We're home from our quick trip to San Diego for our nephew's graduation from UCSD. When we weren't in the car, we were always busy with family and friends. Which always leads to lots of opportunities to eat good food in gargantuan portions.

On our way down to San Diego, we stopped for lunch in Santa Barbara at a little taqueria joint that was supposedly boasted by Julia Childs. I ordered a pork taco and a tortilla stuffed with spicy beans. When I placed the order, the gentleman reiterated that it was Spicy. I thought about it and decided to go ahead and get it. Well, here's a word for the wise: when the Mexican order taker looks you in the eye and tells you "it's spicy" that means that he can tell by looking at you that you won't be able to handle it. We also ordered a dozen fresh homemade corn tortillas for the road, and they were gone before we got to Long Beach.
Before heading down to San Diego, we stopped in Laguna Beach at the graduates parents house (Jimmy's brother) for a few minutes to stretch and enjoy the sea breeze. We arrived in San Diego around 6:30 at Gil's, Jimmy's long time friend and our best man at our wedding. Two of Jimmy's other buddies from high school were there, too. Of course, we headed out for dinner, a delicious Japanese seafood buffet and aside from the sushi, I couldn't resist the tempura - which is oh so tasty but oh so caloric. I definitely had that "I'm on vacation" mentality happening.
Saturday morning, woke up at 5:30 so we could meet the rest of the family to carpool to the graduation. Graduation started at 8:30, but we got there early enough to get seats in the 3rd row.
Nan had commented in my previous post that she wished us a great speaker, good air conditioning, comfortable seats and less people than a large city. I have to laugh because as you can see from the next 2 photos, none of those came to fruition.

Here are the graduates getting their diplomas, outside in the sun. San Diego has temperate weather and it was probably only in the 70s, but when you're sitting in the direct sun for 2 1/2 hours, even 70s is hot. Despite having to wake up so early, we were thankful graduation was early because it was only going to get hotter. Those poor graduates in their black robes! We couldn't imagine what it would be like if it were in the 80s or hotter.

And as far as we could see were friends and family members there to support the graduates. There was an estimated 10,000 people there. And this was just one college's graduation from the university system. But the great thing was there were no tickets or limitations on how many guests the graduate could invite. There were 13 of us at graduation, then we headed to a celebration lunch at PF Chang's where the graduate works and 24 of us gathered in his honor.

After the celebrations, we headed back to Gil's house and chilled for a couple of hours. Our niece joined us for the evening. Before heading out to dinner, we stopped at the Campland RV Resort so she could visit with the Machado family (Jimmy's sister) for a little bit. So fun hanging out with the family. Love 'em all!
After our quick visit, we went to Pacific Beach for a tasty Mexican dinner. The best part though was the companionship and laughs. Gil drove his BIG Toyota Land Cruiser, which was perfect since there were 6 of us. Ashley and I squeezed in the 3rd row bench seat, while the boys all sat up front. They're all bigger than us, so it was the logical thing to do. When Gil parked the car, the boys hopped out of the car, shut the doors and TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT US!! We couldn't get out of that back seat without one of them moving the seat up for us to crawl out. No, they didn't do it on purpose, they just shut the doors and went on their way. 2 of them paid for the parking, the other 2 headed into the restaurant to get a table. Ashley and I were CRACKING up. We could.not.believe that they just left us in there. But it was so freaking funny, too. When Jimmy and Sly walked by the truck after paying for parking, I pounded on the glass so they heard us in there. The windows were tinted, so they couldn't see us. Jimmy called Gil to bring the keys to unlock the doors. Ashley and I laughed even harder because we heard the phone ringing in the car - Gil left it behind. Anyhoo, they finally let us out, they were very embarrassed and we laughed about it over drinks.

Here's the motley crew after dinner during a walk along Pacific Beach. Ashley's such the good sport hanging out with all the "old" folks. She's so cool. Totally comfortable with everyone, no matter who or how old they are.

Sunday, before heading out of town, we had breakfast with Gil in Encinitas. Their claim to fame is "Manhole Sized" pancakes. They are. Yes, I had one but I could only eat about 1/4 of it along with the bacon and 2 eggs that were served with it.

We parked next to this cool workshop. Loved the colors, so had Jimmy take a photo.
Before heading up the coast towards home, we stopped for a Father's Day lunch in Claremont at Jimmy's brother's house. More food, YAY. But they bbq'd pizza and I've been craving pizza for months. I'm so glad I held out, because this was the best pizza I've had in years. I ate 6 slices! Which probably worked out to about one CPK sized pizza. I visited my dearest friend Danielle for about an hour, also. She just moved and now lives 7 minutes from my brother in law's house.
On the way home, we opted to eat in the car. Snacks included a Krispy Kreme donut, which nearly made me barf and a Subway sandwich.

Graduation and gluttony fulfilled.
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Weekend Already?

Time flies. Really...is it already 10:30 on a Friday night on the first day of September?

Last weekend, which only seemed like yesterday, the Chancey's came to the cabin with us. It was the first time the twins had been on a boat and they loved it. They loved lounging in the big water tubes too, as you can see, hanging out with Jimmy and their daddy.

This weekend we're staying local. Visiting the Brewer's and their newest little baby who gleefully made her entrance this week. Also going to the Bowen's for a birthday party. ABowen just turned 5 and WBowen will be 2 very soon.

This weekend marks the unofficial end of summer. I'm not ready. I love fall, Halloween, the crispness of the air...but I feel like I'm still stuck in July so it can't possibly be fall yet. I've had a great summer, though. Spent with lots of activities and lots, LOTS of kiddies. I am Auntie Madeline and I love it.