Point Reyes Lighthouse

We went on some neat hikes while we were in Point Reyes. One hike was to the lighthouse. It was 308 steps down to it and well...308 steps up. It actually went well considering our kids. The last time we trekked up and down those steps, Blake had Jacie on his back in a backpack and I had Kenna so I would like to say that it was considerably easier. The fog had cleared and it was a beautiful sight. We were lucky because we only had to wait a few minutes for a park ranger to open up the lens room for people to view. The only loss was Avery's hat. As soon as we started the steps up, her cute, knit hat flew off her head just out of reach over the ledge. We watched it for awhile until the wind took it away. She was one sad girl for awhile.

Olema

We're back from our 3-week stint. Our first stop was to Olema campground in Point Reyes. We stayed 7 nights at this first campground. It was fun to reminisce a bit with the girls. Our last time at this campground was when Jacie was 2 and Kenna was 1. We enjoyed ourselves a lot. We had great neighbors who invited us to make smores with them a couple nights and filled us in on all the ins and outs of the area. They were quite amused with us when we first arrived and piled out of our van like a clown car at the circus. They had wondered if any more kids were going to pour out of the car.

Roots

"Pardon me, but your roots are showing." I have never dyed my hair but I may come to it soon as I am finding a gray hair or two. Anyway, I thought it was interesting that these roots are growing and breaking through the red rock. This was in Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.

Lifeguard training

Heart

Glass Blowing

Here is the guy that worked in Harmony. It was very cool because he talked us through all his steps of glass-blowing. He showed us all his other creations that were still in the kiln but cooled down. What a very neat art.

Harmony

On a whim one day in Cambria we stopped in Harmony. It's known for it's population, as you can see by the sign. I was glad we stopped though. It had a pottery place, a little chapel, and a glass blowing place. We were fascinated by the glass blowing.

Similarity

Hopefully when you see this picture posted we will be doing something similar to this picture on our trip. We are traveling up where the weather is cooler for awhile.

Ave

We don't have anything creative to call Avery. The best we've come up with is Ave. Perhaps because she is the simplest in personality too. She's very sweet, tenderhearted and sensitive. She's very inquisitive. She has never gone beyond the stage of many questions. Sometimes she asks questions that she already knows the answers to but most of the time she has questions about everything. Once I wrote a note in her lunch before she could read so it was in pictures. I wrote a D + (picture of a lightbulb). I was trying to say she was a delight but she thought I said she was a delight-bulb. That is exactly what she is. Oh, don't let her two little dimples fool you, she also knows how to assert herself when need be.

Hon-a-bun

Jacie hasn't been called that in awhile. I don't know if it's because she's older now and that name is more juvenile but either way she no longer goes by that moniker. Lately, we call her Jahs. She is turning into such a lovely, responsible young lady. She is very helpful around the house and with her siblings. It's funny though, because even as great as she is Blake and I were talking about how all of our kids can have a strong streak in them when they feel they need to be. It's good to see that they don't bend totally backwards all the time but choose to assert their way when they feel that needs to happen. It seems this summer with all of them home that they are all choosing to do that simultaneously but maybe that's just my imagination. :)

Hurricane Kenna

Kenna was dubbed Hurricane Kenna at a youthful age of 2 or 3. She has a fiery-ness about her that is both a lot of fun and a challenge. I can honestly say that she is more like a tropical storm now and hopefully some day I can say she is just Kenny-Cat. That's what we have been calling her the last year or so. I can't wait to blog about the times when her spirited personality is working for God's kingdom and is doing great things in God's name. She is a lot of fun and adds quite a bit to the overall level of excitement in the home.

Cards

Lately we've been calling him Cards instead of C-dawg. Just one day Blake started calling him that and it has stuck. This guy can be so funny sometimes. I found a bargain of a deal for him. It was a bathrobe. For some reason that is what I called it when I got it for him. He was eagerly waiting for me to wash it so he could wear it. I had it hanging on the door knob when he woke up the next morning and that is the first thing he put on. He told the girls, "You guys have robes and I have a bathrobe."

4th

We had a great day celebrating our freedom. We and a few other friends gathered at our friend's house for yummy food and swimming. There were a lot of kids (15) running around and having fun. Afterwards, they lit some sparklers.

Nostalgia

I hadn't thought it about it for years but all of a sudden, the girls wanted to choose someone to be it so everyone stuck their feet in, "Eenie meenie miney mo." I wish they would utilize that more with sharing things around the house. There would probably less fighting sometimes.

Junior

We were able to see a junior lifeguard group practice at the beach everyday. It was fun to watch all of them kicking and paddling in the water and around the pier.

Bubble Gum Alley

Ok, so I'm no Martha Stewart. First, she would not be pictured in Bubble Gum Alley. I'm sure she would be on a cobblestone rue that is over a few hundred years old where every town blacksmith has constructed some type of art work instead of an alleyway where everyone has discarded their gum. Second, she would have remembered to pack everything. Not only remember but giving 5 tips on how to do it efficiently, thus our trip to SLO. So one day one of my offspring tells me they didn't pack any panties. Hmmm...quickly my mind went to how long that could last. Then another of my children says he doesn't have any socks. (We all know what that means when we wear shoes with no socks, P U). So after much consternation and debating about where and how far we had to go we decided to drive the 30 miles to buy some of these items at a more affordable cost instead of buying panties that say, "My parents went to Cambria and all they brought back for me were these panties," for $29.99. Just to add insult to injury, the same young lad that didn't have any socks also replied to my inquiry of his wearing a sweatshirt, that "no" he didn't have a T-shirt on underneath. We made the most of the unexpected trip and checked a few things out. We were able to purchase things at a very good price and they are also stocked up for this fall for school. As an organized media mogul would pen, "It's a good thing!"

Elephant Seals

We were blessed by a generous family offering their home by the coast for a few days. The first day we went to the elephant seals. It's not their peak time to be on the beach but there were enough to watch. They throw sand up on themselves, for what reason, I am unsure. The last time we saw them it was raining so we enjoyed this time a little better.

Kissing Camels

This rock structure is called "Kissing Camels." We saw this amongst many other beautiful rocks in Garden of the Gods. We were delayed getting into Denver last Friday due to mechanical problems. So that made our quick weekend that much quicker. We missed one of the family parties for my Uncle Gerrit and Aunt Mary's anniversary party at Glenn Eyrie. So we packed a lot of thing in on Saturday. We ate a very quick breakfast and drove to Garden of the Gods for a couple hours. After that we were able to see all the family at my aunt and uncle's 50th anniversary party. After that we visited the Air Force Academy and Focus on the Family. From there we got to eat with all the remaining cousins and their families and then a few of us got to play a friendly game of miniature golf. It was so good to see all my family from there again. It had been 20 years since I had seen some of them.