Genetics at work

So this is what happens when you plant your zucchini next to your yellow squash.

The Zombie Apocolypse

This summer when we weren't traveling or in summer camps or watching TV or swimming the kids spent a lot of time with their Playmobile.  It is funny how the way they play changes.  For some reason this was the summer of the Playmobile Zombie apocalypse.

After the battle.  The humans didn't do so well.

Just to make it clear.  If you have hair you are a human.  Without the hair and I guess brains as well you are a zombie.

Before I saw this set up I got the question, "Can zombies climb stairs?"  It seems like this would be important to know.

Yet another hideout from the zombie attackers.  The big house got taken over by fairy princesses and unicorns.

 

 

 

Self portraits

Here are a couple of self portraits by My Girl.

life size tracing

surfer girl in action with water dripping from her hair



 

My Girl and her friends are obsessed with fairies.  She reads the Rainbow magic fairy books regularly.  Luckily there are hundreds of them.  Luckily for me she can read them herself.  They are all about the same and I get a little bored.  They play fairies at recess and each have their own fairy name.  I have even been chosen to be Queen Titania, queen of the fairies.  It is quite an honor.  But if you ask her, they aren't "playing" fairies they ARE fairies.  It is quite serious I assure you.  She is also quite clear about the fact that these are the nice fairies, not the tricky, sometimes mean, Irish faeries, with an "e".

 

When they aren't playing fairies it is Rescue Princesses with the addition of one Rescue Prince.

Poetry

During the last week or so of school Buddy Boy's class wrote wish poems.  Here is his.

 

(read from the bottom up sort of)

 

I wish I was

a flying guy

soaring over

the clouds and sky

 

 

 

He has always wanted to fly.

Camping III

Our last camping trip of the summer was another Cub Scout family camp at Camp Pico Blanco.  It is a beautiful place south of Monterey and inland a bit.  We came here last year and had a great time.  The one bad thing that happened was that we forgot My Girl's bag.  Since we didn't have any back-up I went back to Monterey to pick up a few things.  It wasn't a total waste.  I got to see some beautiful scenery including the sun set over the ocean.  As I was eating my dinner in the lovely spot I even got to see several whale spouts.  That pretty much made up for the extra hours in the car.

 



The camp is in among the redwoods along the Little Sur river.  There isn't much of it left right now but the kids had a great time throwing rocks into what little water there was.  There was a little water front area where we played and canoed and I got to try stand up paddle boarding.  I like it a lot.  It was a little tricky because I was using a canoe paddle that was much too short and the water was extremely crowded with canoes.  I'd like to do it again sometime.

The major attractions were the river and the hammock.  Why are hammocks so much fun?  The kids found it endlessly entertaining.

 

We also checked out the shooting and the crafts of course.

I'm having fun in Cub Scouts and I think Buddy Boy is too.

Camping II

Later in the summer we met friends in the Sierras for another camping trip.  It felt quite remote, an hour off the freeway.  It was actually right next to the Boy Scout camp where Dad worked for a couple of summers in college.  It is on the banks of a beautiful mountain lake, Lake Sterling.  It was a spectacular location at the end of a rather sketchy road.  We should have known when we passed the sign that said, "4 wheel drive only" in our mini-van with a canoe on top.

We got there late in the afternoon.  There had been a thunderstorm just before, but there wasn't another drop of rain.  The severe drought continues.

The lake was quite low.  There were rocks and tree stumps showing that are normally under water.  This lake is actually a reservoir so we saw stumps of the trees that have been underwater for a long time.

We spent a lot of time out on the water in the raft and canoes.  It was fun to cruise around and land and explore.  There were lots of rocks to scramble around on.  We even went to the far side of the lake to collect firewood.  Our side of the lake had been pretty well picked over after a summer of campers and Boy Scouts.

The kids, the girls especially, spent a lot of time on top of this rock next to where our tents were pitched.  They ate their meals up there and had story time there as well.  It was great to hear the older girl telling the little ones stories during and after lunch.

Dad and I walked up to the spot where he called me 13 years ago during the summer he worked at scout camp.  It is the only place where you can get cell service.  We weren't even dating at that point, but he called anyway.  I'm glad he did.

The littler kids spent a lot of time digging holes in one of the best tent spots.  This wasn't just random digging.  They were building a stage for a performance later in the day.

There was singing in solo and duets.  The girls were really sweet.

After the singing we couldn't pass up the chance for toasted marshmallows.  We also toasted the shoes that had gotten soaked during the day.  That's the way it goes when you camp next to a lake.

There was time for whittling...

 

and fishing.  The fish were quite safe since there were no hooks, line, or bait.

There were also experiments in physics.

The kids loved "mermaid rocks"  These were huge rocks with just the tips exposed.  You could walk from the bank to the rocks, but it was more fun to arrive by canoe.  The other side had a shallow spot then dropped off into the deep cold water.  It was fun to find the warm currents where the water flowed through the cracks in the warm rocks.  The water was cold so they would swim and freeze and then warm themselves up on the rocks until they were just too cold and it was time to get dry.

 

 

On our way down we passed quite a few people out on dirt bikes and ATVs and huge 4 wheel drive trucks on their way up.  I think it might have taken a bit of wind out of their sails to see a canoe-topped-minivan coming down their adventurous road. 

It was a fantastic trip.   I'd like to do it again next year. 

A Camping we will go...

I know I am pretty slow about posting, but blogging has taken a back seat to living life.  I don't want to give up on it since this how I share what we are going with family and friends and also a sort of online journal.

This summer we had a great time camping.  We went on three camping trips to different spots and they were all great.

Our first trip was a Cub Scout family camp at Camp Cutter.  The nice thing about this camp is that it is pretty close, but still out in the middle of the woods.  The other nice thing is the tents.  During regular scout camp these may be reserved for staff, but we made good use of them while we were there.  Smooth level wooden floor?  Yes, please.  Friends with walkie-talkies are a bonus.

Of course there was arts and crafts, which at Cub camp means leather work.  Always a hit.

For this kids the best part was the fishing.  We were pretty lucky.  There was not only fishing, but actual catching as well.  That is a rare thing.  These fish weren't so smart.  They took the bait over and over again.  They weren't scared off by all the people in canoes or the hordes of boys fishing.  At the store they sold fishing line, a hook, and a wooden bead for a bobber.  The boys found their own stick and they fished Huckleberry Finn style.  The kids love-loved it.

I enjoyed the archery.  I'm getting better.  Still need more practice.

Of course there were camp fire skits.  It was an amazing backdrop with the pond/lake trees and setting sun.  Since it is family camp the little sisters get to participate too.

The afternoons were sunny and warm and the mornings were cool and foggy since we were on the ocean side of the mountains.

This trip was a fantastic way to start off the summer.