keeping cool

It's almost July, but June isn't about to go out with out making a fuss. She has brought some incredible heat the past couple of days.

We are doing what we can to stay cool.

This includes post dinner pool parties in the back yard and trips to higher altitudes and snow run off at Donner Lake. I also splurged and bought otter pops for the kids (yum).

 

Going Coastal

Last month my college roommate asked me if I wanted to go camping. It would just be us girls and the kids. Truth be told, I don't know that I have ever camped without a guy around, but this didn't stop me. I instantly said, "YES"! I mean look at where were going, how could I say no?

 

The bad news had to do with multiple loads of gear in a wheel-barrel down the very steep hill, but I got over that part pretty quickly due to the good news which included no tent or sleeping on the ground and the view that looked out directly to the pacific ocean.

So, I filled up the car, the cooler, the camp box, and the kids. We drove over the mountains and through the woods and found ourselves just outside of Stinson Beach, California.

 

Hello beautiful world.

I haven't seen my friend Amanda since O's first birthday, she hadn't met Fifi yet and we both had our fingers crossed that the kids would hit it off. Truly, we had nothing to worry about.

We hung battery operated twinkle lights and LED chinese lanterns, popped open a bottle of wine for us and a stuck a straw in the juice boxes for the kids and let the fun happen from there.

Wave jumping, hermit crab searching, running up and down, up and down the hill from our cabin to the parking lot. We managed to avoid the poison oak, a total plus since the place is covered in it and I made the mistake of telling the kids we were going on a nature hike, encouraging them to collect plant samples, oooops!

The weather couldn't have been more pleasant, especially since we had been in the 100s the week before in Reno. We giggled with the kids, they giggled with each other, we laughed our heads off at old stories and talked about new happenings in our world.

 

Every night we had an amazing sunset. It felt like the golden hour was actually an hour long. Each of us soaked up every last drop of it's lovely goodness.

I shot a ton of film, my iphone got a workout and my DSLR did the trick when the other two were out of juice. I got extra inspiration when an fellow cabin camper and I were talking and he mentioned that Dorothea Lange used to stay in these cabins. I am trying to hunt down a copy of the book, To a Cabin.

What a fantastic time we had, thanks again Amanda! You always introduce me to the coolest places.

Want more camping goodness? I am blogging about getting out with the kids over on the Reno Moms Blog today. Head on over for a fun read.

Stomp Rocket and Mustaches

We are officially in the birthday season.
O's BFF, L just celebrated her 4th birthday, which means O and Fifi''s is only two weeks to go.

 
 During our pregnancies, E and I hoped that the kids would be buddies and sure enough, they are the next generation of giggle twins.

When I asked O what he wanted to get L for her birthday he instantly told me, "She really liked the stomp rocket that I got for my birthday last year. Can we get her that"? He always blows my mind when he pulls something like this out of his memory bank.

 

So a stomp rocket it was.
Here it is in action....

While the kids jumped and send the small red and yellow rockets into orbit, the adults were entertaining themselves with other things...sticky mustaches to be exact. We were cracking up how we instantly looked like our dads. 

Happy Birthday L,we love, love, love you!

Almanor

Camping, for the second weekend in a row. It means a lot of laundry, a lot of dusty dirty kids. But it also means family fun and good memories for the O and Fifi in the making. I can see why I our friends make a week out of going up to Lake Almanor, a weekend really isn't long enough.

We rolled in on Friday night and got set up and settled in to camp. The kids were hungry and tired from the week so we didn't' make it long at the camp fire.

 

Saturday morning we rolled out of the sleeping bag early and got coffee and eggs cooking and slapped the kids in their swim suits and sun screen.

The mud play started early. How could it not when the water is only knee high for well over 25 yards out? I try hard to let the kids just be 'in it' when we are camping. Not worrying too much about how dirty they are getting. It's a lot easier when the lake is there to rinse off in when it's time.

The dads took turns on the kayaks. Andy was so proud of his silly dog tricks.

The kids floated around in about 2 feet of water and had the best time squirting each other and dumping buckets of water off the side of the 'boat'.

There was a lunch time complete with a  dance party, complete with cherry juice.

Shot through the heart and your to blame...

 

And then I put my camera away because I needed some float time and cooling off.

I brought it back out again after dinner.

These are some priceless shots, if you ask me.

What a great crew of kids there was. Everyone got along really well and had so much fun.

The ride home was hot and more hot.

Good think for the Polka Dot stop in Quincy, CA.

soft serve, baby. soft serve.

 

someone is tiiiiiired.

I got an ice-cream headache I ate this so fast. I had to, it was melting so fast it wasn't even funny!

One weekend I want to take a drive on my own so I can stop and snap photos of all these great barns and abandoned buildings...

Until I get that figured out and organized... these are the shots your gonna get.

I didn't really want to go camping this weekend. I have had a nasty cough and we haven't been home for one weekend yet this month. But Andy talked me into it. I caved and really, once we are out there, I am okay with it all. Or have to be or I will be miserable. I am glad we have such great friends and that we are getting the kids out camping so much. They love it. It's a crazy full summer,