Mid-August Adventures 2013

Scrunchy face! In a drawer!

Family Camp trip to Mt Hood National Forest

Having fun in the woods

Jake loves camping!

Scrunchy face!

Our beautiful girl

Hammock fun with Daddy!

Big trees and my little girl

LucyKat

Campsite by the creek

This fort was built by whoever camped at the spot before we did.

Look Ma, I'm driving!

Bubba just loves to read books, on his own.

Our friends left these flowers for us after a visit. They were so beautiful! They bloomed for quite some time.

Sunflowers were fun to grow!

We grew a great eggplant bush this year, It was awesome. Rose grew them as starts!

Sunflowers in the yard

Jake loves eating with his fork and spoon.

Tiffany, the bachelorette!

Sisters in the sunflowers

Hall and Oates concert!

Hood River, Oregon. The Columbia River.

Lucy cleaned the whole room on her own, and it was her idea! She also cleaned the sink all on her own as well.

Summer sunflowers in the yard

Jake just loves to read books!

Playing with her puppies

In mid August we were able to take an overnight camp trip with the kids out in Mt Hood National Forest. We lucked out with a great spot right on Barlow Creek, which is near the White River. It was so nice to get out into the woods, hang out together, playing and relaxing.  The kids had lots of fun exploring, and we had to keep a close eye on Jake as he kept heading for the water. It was ice cold, and he would go running in, then start to cry, but then want to go right back in again, He was just over 13 months old on this trip, and really beginning to walk well. Lucy had fun climbing trees.  I love taking them camping! We all had such a great time.

The next weekend my sister and I went out to Hood River for Tiffany's bachelorette party.  It was a fun time! We stayed at this house with an awesome view, and went and saw Hall and Oates at a venue overlooking the Columbia River. It was nice to have an overnight trip away from home!

During this time period I kept a few notes on the kids. Lucy continued to show me her personality. She feels things very passionately when not getting her way, that is for sure, Some epic fits have occurred, though they are decreasing in frequency thankfully!  She has been very interested in how many years it will be until she becomes a teenager. Nine years Lucy, nine years until you are thirteen. She spent a large part of the summer obsessed with the fun.song "Some Nights".  It is so endearing hearing her sing the song, and she sang it a lot! Lucy has special friends at preschool, especially her friend Ella. They did swim lessons in early summer. She also played with Stella often this summer, having sleepovers several times. They are very sweet together. Lucy still loves doing artwork and looking at books, and playing in the yard. She helped out in the garden quite a bit. We grew some great flowers, tomatoes, basil and eggplant. I'm glad she likes to play in the garden just like I do.

Jake just loves his blanket. He really loves it! At 13 months he was walking really well, understanding simple instructions and eats with a fork and spoon, and wanting to drink from cups. He trys to brush his teeth and hair, and is just so cute when doing those things! He likes to scribble with markers, and do stickers and paint. He just adores books, and sometimes prefers to just sit and look at them by himself. He also trys to sweep the floor, and loves to stand on a chair and "help" cook dinner and do the dishes. He loves playing with balls and was zooming a car around the house going "vroom". One nice, warm Summer evening we all took a walk up to the park near our house, and he walked the whole way.  He was shouting in excitement the entire way, as if to tell us all how happy he was to be walking around the neighborhood like a big boy.  He is a light and a joy, just like his big sister Lucy. We are so blessed and lucky to have them in our lives.

Tahoe Phish 2013

Kelly and Amon

My honey

Lake Tahoe

 

So pretty!

Having fun!

Loving life!

Old Friends, seeing Phish together for almost 20 years!

Kyla, boater extraordinaire!

Brad and Viola

Happy together

Right after Phish at the Gorge, Marc and I got to fly down to Tahoe for our own independent Phish shows. Two nights! Randy and Bob watched the kids in Portland for us. It was awesome! So very nice. We had a fabulous time relaxing, visiting with some great friends that we hadn't seen for a long time, exploring the lake and taking in some amazing shows. The second set on the second night was a miracle to me and really really special. The Tahoe Tweezer...one for the ages. Look it up and you can read all about it! Phish at its finest. We were also able to take a memorable trip around the lake on Kelly's friend Kyla's boat. Wow! It was my first time visiting Lake Tahoe, and it was great to get a tour from a local and see some of the sights on the lake.  We also saw some great friends from Humboldt at the shows. It really was a good time. Before we left, I had been able to visit my chiropractor and doctor so my back was feeling somewhat better, thankfully.  We were so happy to be able to take this trip and enjoy some downtime together. Much thanks to Randy and Bob for caring for our children while we were out playing!

Phish Gorge 2013

Jake Carson, 13 months

Lucy, dancing on night one

Stephanie and Matt taking it in

Rose's first show!

Tutu and Bubba!

Rose with sleeping Sean

Auntie Stephanie

Sean

Can't quite believe I made it

Happy 60th Birthday Randy!

Aunt Ronda

Cousin Mason

Colonel

Jake really enjoyed the show this night! He watched a lot of it!

Jake

Little Lucy

Smile!

Having fun

Lucy, Marc and Uncle Matt

 

Mason, Stephanie and Karin

This year we had a big crew for Phish Gorge. Marc's whole family! Bob, Randy, Ronda, Matt, Stephanie and Mason all came, and we camped with a group of about 20 friends and their kids (if they had them!) Robin brought Rose and his kids Evan and Sean for the first time, and Jim, Polly and Zoe and Miles came for the first time as well. It was great to see every one and get some time to relax and celebrate together. It was a special weekend as it was Randy's 60th Birthday. Happy Birthday Randy! The shows were great and I think everyone had a good time for the most part. Phish shows can be kind of intense and it is a party for sure.  It was about a hundred degrees out, so we spent most of the daytime under shade and in the kiddie pool we had at the campground. It was so hot that some glue on my hat melted. There were some wildfires burning close enough that all of the smoke rolled in on the second night. It was very smoky, and you could see flames far (far) off in the distance. In the morning it had rained ash! I hadn't seen that since growing up in Southern California. I had some major issues with my back and had difficulty walking for a while. It was awful and I was so grateful for all of the help and patience I was given.  I didn't think I would even be able to walk in to the second night, but I made it!  Jake paid close attention to the music and the light show, and Lucy had fun at the campground and playing with her friends. Miles has already said that he wants to go see Phish at the Gorge again!

String Summit 2013

Sisters! Marc's Mom Randy and Aunt Ronda

Just what we want the kids to do when the sun goes down!

Marc's Dad Bob in front of Ken Kesey's Furthur Bus

Kitty Lucy

Hanging out!

Jim and Todd , with a band playing up on the Furthur bus behind them

The kids love to play with GrandPappy Bobby

Saturday Brunch Potluck

Beautiful Girl

Daddy and Jake

Always a good time

Little Jake, so cute

LucyKat

Festival Momma

String Summit 2013 was a great time, as always! We camped with a large group of friends, some of which we really only see at the String Summit. It was awesome. This year Marc's Mom Randy, Dad Bob and Aunt Ronda came. We all enjoyed having them there. Lucy and Jake loved playing with all of them, and Marc and I really appreciated the help!. The String Summit is such a fun, relaxing time. It is a big party filled with tons of mellow, happy people.  Yonder always delivers solid sets of music, and there were many other fun acts. The past two years there have been bands playing in between sets on top of the Furthur Bus, which Ken Kesey and the Pranksters used to travel the country back in the day. It really is a piece of history. It is parked up on top of the hill, near where we like to watch the shows, and it is a nice bonus to our spot, having a prime place to watch some new bands. It is great to be able to spend several nights camping with so many friends, dancing to music and making memories. We are lucky to be able to go to this event year after year. Lucy loves playing with her friends, dancing and camping, and Jake just really took it all in. He loved the music! He was a bit of a party boy one night, waking up and then staying up to take it all in...the lights, the music and the dancing. Don't worry, they wear earplugs and we watch them like hawks. Jake really practiced his walking while we were at the String Summit this year...the terrain is so uneven, he really improved his balance, and after this weekend he was walking on his own, without needing to hold someone's hand, at 13 months.