Summer Vacation, Part II

We then drove to Grand Junction, Colorado to spend 5 days with my family. It was fun for the kids to spend more time with Grandpa and Grandma O'Dwyer, and also with their cousins, which they haven't seen much but in pictures. Most of us stayed in a nearby hotel (just not enough room for us at Grandma's), but each night a couple of the kids stayed with Grandma and Grandpa.

One of the activities we had planned for far in advance of our visit, was a surprise 40th Wedding Anniversary party for my parents. My sisters did most of the ground work since they live there. It was a very nice evening, and though the surprise was spoiled by well meaning friends, they enjoyed visiting with family and friends who came. We wanted to help Dad and Mom feel how special their marriage is.

Grandma (Judy) and Grandpa (Steve) O'Dwyer in front of cake

Cathy with mom and sisters (L-R) Cheryl, Cathy, Mom, Molly, Valarie, Laurie

Laurel with cousin Emily

Adam, Derek and Uncle Steve visiting

happy Katelyn (9 months)

One place we visited in Grand Junction was a Living Farm Museum. This man was telling us all about it. Unfortunately, it was over a 100 degrees this day!

Taking a tour of one of the original buildings

Katelyn had fallen asleep on Grandpa

With Grandma and Grandpa before we left on the next part of our journey

We had a fun time in Grand Junction. We enjoyed lots of swimming, playtime, a visit to a dinosaur museum, watching Toy Story 3, and just being with family.

Summer Vacation Part I

The first part of our almost 2 week trip began with a drive to Las Vegas. We decided that would be a good halfway point between home and Grand Junction, Colorado. We also have friends there now, so we had someone to visit and stay with.

Our friends, the Warden family, had previously lived in San Jose and had only this year moved to Las Vegas. It was fun to be with them again and catch up on things since we'd seen them last. They gave us comfortable accommodations and we enjoyed great food and visiting while we were there. The kids also loved getting to play with their friends and swim in their pool.

Mackenzie, Samantha, Jamie and Charlotte Warden

Adam with Noah Warden

Noelle Warden and Hannah

Family Camping

We started our month with a fun camping trip to Henry Cowell State Park. It is less than an hour away from where we live. In addition to our family, we enjoyed the company of another family who joined us, the VanDam's. They have four girls. Yes, Adam was the only boy there. Lucky for him he is used to playing with girls!

Tammy and Chuck VanDam

Sarah VanDam and Hannah

Mackenzie (L) and Adam (R) with Emma and Madeline VanDam

Jamie and Keira VanDam

We had a great two days! We enjoyed plenty of good food, visiting, playing games, a good long hike that included wading (or swimming for some) in a river, singing songs, roasting marshmallows and just enjoying the beauties of nature.

Derek and Chuck were the chief cooks

Laurel loved the hot dogs!

Adam was up first one morning and decided to put his new scout skills to work and built the morning fire

Derek and Katelyn on the hike

Laurel taking a break from the hike

most of our group inside the base of a very large sequoia tree

the trees we saw on the hike were sooooo tall!

our friend Emma threatening to eat a slug she found. Yuck!

Cathy during a rest

Keira and Jamie checking out the river. Turns out it was cool and refreshing!

Birthdays

This month was two family member's birthdays. Both of them have dark brown hair and brown eyes. Both of them are the 3rd child in their family. Both of them were born on the 30th of June. It is Derek and Mackenzie!

We were invited to our friend's home, the Sareddy's, for a swim and pizza party. That become the birthday dinner. We also enjoyed an ice cream cake that Mackenzie requested. Cathy made it from scratch (a much more complicated process than a regular cake!) It was frosted with whipped cream and was super yummy.

Derek and Mackenzie with their cake

The next day, their actual birthday, is when they opened cards and presents. Mackenzie wanted only one present and she was so excited when she opened her gift and discovered a brand new digital camera! See below.


It was so fun to watch her. She must have jumped up and down and exclaimed in joyous tones for a full five minutes. It is so fun to have Mackenzie in our family!

The harvest is sweet

June has been a very sweet month! Our backyard garden and fruit trees were in full bloom. The blackberry bushes began to ripen first and we were able to collect a full bowl of them every day or two. It was so nice to have fresh berries in our oatmeal. Not long after, we began collecting apricots and plums. The apricots especially were delicious! In our garden we had plenty of lettuce, onions, green beans and zucchini to enjoy. Even with one plant of zucchini, it is growing like crazy and we've been trying all kinds of ways to use it--freezing it, blending in grated zucchini with spaghetti sauce and grilling it (definitely the best!). It has been a great blessing and sweet reward to have all these fruits and vegetables to harvest!

"For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come."

Matthew 4:28-29

Anniversary

Derek and I celebrated our 14th anniversary yesterday. Each anniversary has been a wonderful time to reflect on the years past and all that we've experienced and learned. We can see so many blessings for us over the years.

With a nursing baby, we couldn't plan a trip to celebrate this time, so we settled with a visit to the ring store. My ring has been lost for many years, as well as Derek's. I was so excited when Derek told me we should replace our rings this anniversary.

Our new rings are simple bands of white gold

This is my ring close up

After the ring store, we went to a nearby italian restaurant and enjoyed a nice evening of good food and visiting. We love to talk about how our lives are now and what dreams and ideas we have for the future. It is wonderful to be married to a kind and supportive husband!

A day at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

One of our days with Aunt Cheryl we drove to Santa Cruz. We spent some afternoon time at the beach, and then we spent the evening at the Beach Boardwalk. It was our first time there, and we had a great time riding the rides and eating pizza. We forgot how cool it can get in the evening, and since we were all in summer attire, we had some shivering children (and adults!) by the end. It was a lot of fun though and we're glad Cheryl gave us a reason to do something new!

Laurel and Samantha eating watermelon

Katelyn in her sun hat

Aunt Cheryl

Laurel enjoying the sand

Jamie, Mackenzie and Adam had fun playing with the boogie boards

then they had fun playing in the sand

Hannah, before she joined the others in the water

Katelyn spent most of the time in a tent, so she wouldn't eat the sand

Visit to San Francisco with Aunt Cheryl

Cathy's sister, Cheryl, took some of her vacation time to come visit us. Our first day together was a trip to San Francisco. We realized we hadn't been up there in a while and it was fun to have a reason to go there again.

Our first stop was at the Aquarium of the Bay. We had a nice time there looking at all kinds of interesting sea and land animals that live in the bay area. Derek and some of the children touched and helped feed the bat rays.

Adam, Mackenzie, Jamie, Laurel

After we spent time at the Aquarium, we spent an hour or two at Pier 39 (which is where the Aquarium was). We ate lunch at a great seafood restaurant. There were large windows with great views of the bay and Alcatraz island. Afterwards, we watched some sea lions, a juggler show and Cheryl did some shopping. Adam, Mackenzie and Jamie enjoyed something new--a mirror maze. They thought it was pretty cool even though it took them a little while to figure out how to get back out.

Hannah was still at Girl's Camp, so she is missing in the picture.

Katleyn

Jamie looking through a telescope

After our time at the Pier, Derek, Adam, Mackenzie and Jamie got out their bikes and rode all the way across the north part of San Francisco to the base of the Golden Gate bridge. The rest of us drove over and met them there. Derek loved the ride, though he said it was super windy which slowed them down quite a bit. One of the bikes wasn't working well, and that also helped to slow them down. But all three children did such a great job and made it all the way without help. It was about 4 miles.

Mackenzie, Adam and Jamie after their bike ride

Once the bikers joined us, we walked over to the bridge to get a closer look. It was very windy up there!

Golden Gate Bridge

Derek, Mackenzie, Laurel, Samantha, Jamie and Adam

Adam

Laurel didn't like all the wind in her face and she was covering her head most of the time on the bridge

A view of San Francisco from the bridge

Fun with visitors

We love to have visitors. We get extra visiting time with family or friends, we enjoy more game playing, and the children get to ride the air mattress. What's that you say? Take a look below.

Play camping

Some of our children are very excited about going camping. They just can't wait until our reserved date in early July, so they asked for a camp-out in the back yard.

The tent's all set up and ready to enjoy

Adam made a special sign to make it look like they were at real campgrounds

Here are the campers--Adam, Laurel, Mackenzie and Jamie

School's Out!

Last week was our final week of the school year. Our Co-Op had an afternoon swim and BBQ to celebrate. At home we had an evening of hearing the oldest children give reports that they had been working on.

Everyone is excited for summer! We bought a membership at the pool across the street, so we are looking forward to swimming more often. We are signing up for the summer reading program at our library, and making one day each week for inviting friends over to play (Friend Friday). We also hope to plan a camping trip or two.

Hannah is getting ready for Girl's Camp this week. It's her second year and she is super excited. She had such a good experience last year. In July, Adam will attend New Scout camp. It's two days long with one night camping with the dads.

With these and a number of other fun plans, it should be a great summer!