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.

Before and After the Fourth of July

Garden Wildflowers we grew this year

Lucy in the garden

Jake and Sean playing by the Clackamas River

Sandy Boy!

Look at Bubba, he loves eating with his spoon!

Grammy Pam came to visit!

Rose and Baby Sean

Lucy riding the tire horse swing

Tiffany and Ben

My Dad

Katie, Mom and Amber

Pretty Polly!

My Little Guy

Zoe

Evan

Little Lucy with wild camping hair!

The babies

Beautiful Rachel

The kids love their Grandma and Grandpa

Jackson lets the kids love on him and play with him. He is very tolerant and the kids love him!

Summer started out well this year, with a visit from Grampy Dave and Grammy Pam, and a great 4th of July party out at the farm. This year Bob helped to organize a silent auction to benefit a group of young students from the Philippines. For the last several years, Robin's parents have been paying for the top students from one of the islands to go to boarding school, and Bob wanted to help raise money to support that mission. The silent auction was a success, raising $1500, and it was really fun. We had a great time camping for two nights, socializing, eating, watching fireworks and playing drums around the campfire. It is so much fun to let the kids run wild with their friends around the farm! We have such a wonderful "Portland Family" and I just love seeing all of the kids growing up, and the new babies joining the fun. It was great having my parents in town, and sharing our tradition with them!