The "little" lake

We went to a ski lake last night that is about 5 minutes up the road from our house. So convenient! It's a beautiful and relaxing spot to spend a Friday evening with each other. Tom, Dori and "Megan Stevie Dustin" (hear that in your head, said by Lily and all run together) joined us for some tube rides, swimming, playing in the sand, kayaking and a BBQ. It was a perfect way to end the week.

A few more pictures from our vacation....

Our first stop on our vacation up north was in Sacramento. We met my friend Tamara downtown by the capitol. She's a ER Dr. in Sacramento. We enjoyed a nice walk downtown and a great Mexican dinner! Here's Lily in one of the downtown parks.

Then next day, we got going pretty early to make the long and windy drive to Fort Bragg and Mendocino. We got settled (had to move the trailer because there wasn't enough space in the first spot) and enjoyed the evening. The next day, we went into Fort Bragg and explored the town, Glass Beach, and Noyo Harbor. Lily loved Glass Beach! Until 1967, the beach was the town dump! It was cleaned up but the glass that had been dumped there was/is tumbled by the waves and washes up on shore. You aren't supposed to remove the glass because it's a state park, but there isn't as much glass here as their used to be! Apparently, no on follows the rules! We didn't either! There were a few tide pools to explore there too.

Here's a beautiful sunset was enjoyed by just me (Charlie was at the trailer with the sleeping children.) on Friday night. This is Caspar Beach, which was right across the street from our camp site.

Lily learned to ride her bike well this trip. She met two kids that were camping there also, and they rode together for hours!

On the way home Sunday, we decided to drive the trailer across the Golden Gate Bridge and go to Golden Gate Park. Charlie is one of few people that I know that would attempt to take a 36 foot fifth wheel through the streets of San Francisco and still be alive to tell about it. We rode our bikes through Golden Gate Park, which was beautiful! The kids loved playing on the playground. We are looking forward to going back there some day!One side note, each of our kids have now visited the Urgent Care while we were on a trailer trip. Lily was the first about 3 yrs ago in Denver for a bladder infection. Grace went to the Urgent Care (County Clinic, actually!) in Fort Bragg. She had huge canker sores on her tongue and in her mouth! Totally random! Thankfully the Dr. gave her some medicine to help with the pain. She was up for two nights in a row, poor kid!

Short vacation up to Northern California

Last week, we loaded up the trailer and drove two days up to Fort Bragg and Mendocino, which is about 4 hrs. north of San Francisco. We stayed in a great campground, right across from the beach. The northern California coastline is beautiful!

Here's my family enjoying some snacks before dinner! Yes, I let them eat smores and squirt cheese. I shudder to think of all the preservatives.....

After dinner on Thursday night, we went to the Point Cabrillo lighthouse to check it out. It is still a working lighthouse, and you can actually stay in the lighthouse keeper's former diggs!

We drove home through the Alexander Valley and spotted this tree on the side of the road. It must have fallen over many years ago and had lots of vegetation take it over.

Parties 2 & 3, a first haircut, church 3 times, packing up for our trip....anything else?

We had a full weekend! Anna Marie's birthday party was Saturday afternoon, and even though it was a bit cool for the bounce house waterslide, the kids still managed to have a great time. It was very fun watching them have fun too. Kevin and Brooke invited other families over for dinner Saturday night (impromptu parties are the best!) to get the most enjoyment out of the bounce house, and I picked up dinner at Amigos on my way home from Praise Team practice. The kids were exhausted after a day of bouncing and playing.

Grace has been needing a haircut for a few weeks, so our niece Alicia brought her scissors over, and Grace received her first haircut in our backyard Saturday night. She was quite proud of it, and I am happy to say that her curls bounced right back!Party number 3 was for our Great-niece, Isabella, who is Erin and Jason's daughter. We headed to Boingos after church on Sunday afternoon. I forgot my camera for that one! It's a warehouse space that has 3 huge bounce slides and play areas for the kids. Happy 2nd birthday, Bella!

Now, we are getting ready for our trip to Northern California. We're leaving tomorrow! Charlie is at a golf tournament for Right To Life (He always gets out of the yucky part of packing up the trailer!) today, so I will be pulling kids off my legs, listening to crying and whining and trying to get all the things in our trailer that we'll be needing for the next 6 days! Who wants to help? ;)

Party number 1

Last night we headed over to H & T's Farm for a birthday bash to honor Grandpa Heinie. He turned 81 yesterday! (Grandpa's on the left, in case you couldn't figure it out!) Grandpa was so proud that his family had all come out to celebrate with him. Here are Grandma and Grandpa with the majority of their Great Grandchildren. (Well, my kids are technically Grandchildren.) Happy birthday, Henry! And, thanks, H & T, for being our fabulous hosts!

Part of the Club

When I was in elementary school, the girls were always forming "clubs." The decision about who would be a part of the club was a random one, but I always wanted to be a member of these clubs. It didn't matter what the club was for! I guess that's our human nature; we want to belong.

Jim and Charlie are both members of a club that no one wants to belong to. I caught the above picture yesterday morning before Shelley's Memorial Service. (I felt a bit like papparazi, sneaking a shot through the dining room blinds with my long camera lens!) They were two brothers, sitting for a moment on the morning of a really tough day. Charlie had been through what Jim was about to experience. I don't know what they were talking about, but I'd like to think Charlie was empathizing with Jim in a way that only someone who has gone through it can. There are others who are members of "the club" that I referred to who have encouraged Jim and Linda. I hope more of those people come forward to offer a hug or words that really can help to heal the gapping hole that is left with Shelley's death.

Shelley's Memorial Service was difficult but also encouraging. A friend of Kylie's sang a beautiful song, that she had written! Pastor Tim Allen and Pastor Steve Duyst summed up Shelley's life very eloquently. They both stressed Shelley's love for the Lord and her beautiful smile. I am hoping that those who don't know the Lord will be encouraged by her example. I came away from that service wanting to be a better person, mother and Christian. I also wish that I had known Shelley better. A slide show was presented that chronicled Shelley's life, especially her role as a mother. That was hard to watch. But we tried to smile through all our tears. Of course, after the service, we ate. What is it about tragedies that causes people to cook? :) I guess we feel like we can't do anything, so let's keep our hands busy and useful. It was wonderful to see all the friends and family of Shelley and her family there to encourage those left behind. Now it's on to a "new normal."

On a different but equally sobering note, please pray for Annette. She has been diagnosed with cancer pretty much all over her body. She's young and doesn't deserve this, but it's not our place to question God's plan. AJ is a strong Christian with a strong faith. It's still going to be hard for her and "her men" (She has 4 boys!).

Today, tomorrow and Sunday we have 3 parties to attend, and then on Tuesday we're leaving for 6 days in the trailer. We are very much looking forward to spending some time with each other and our girls.