It's the 4th of July

As a child, I would look forward to the 4th of July like other children looked forward to Christmas! I have such clear memories of the heat, swimming, skiing, sailing, BBQing, and of fireworks and homemade ice cream on the yellow jet boat! I can still see my Mom's darling bikini and my Dad's "cat styled" sunglasses, I can smell the smoke of the fireworks, and I can hear their rumble as they echoed off the mountain ranges!

As newly weds, Seth and I continued this love for the 4th. We would race from Santa Barbara to the lake with as many vacation days as we could muster! With Jacob and Ducey in the back seat our jeep we would sing..... "It's the 4th of July, it's the 4th of July!"

Now as the family and we have grown, we still try to hold tight to those carefree days of celebration .... where life just seemed so simple!

Magnificent Water

Our "Summer List" of all the fun things we want to do over our break has been created! On the very top, is seeing the massive amount of water in Yosemite. This has been an incredible snow year. Just 1 month ago our yard was covered with snow.

So as not to miss the height of the waterfalls in Yosemite, we packed the bicycles and a picnic lunch and headed to one of the most beautiful places in the world! It was inspiring.... the river was rushing and overflowing its banks, the water falls were enormous leaving us wet from their spray, the colors of spring were still everywhere with all the shades of green as if spring had just begun and wildflowers galore .

Josiah reminded us how lucky we are to be mere minutes from a National Park. While others may only get to see it once in their life time..... we get to experience it time and again, in all its seasons! And perhaps, by taking it in, piece by piece, each time we visit, you experience its grandeur even more!

It was good to be in this place!

Breakfast in Bed

Introducing the 2 silliest girls on the planet that you just cannot help yourself to love until your sides split!!

One special summer morning, these 2 sillies were sweet enough to bring their Mommy breakfast in bed. Although I loved it dearly, it was not the breakfast that endeared them to my hearts, but their words!

So I thought ..... these I must record!

"Mommy, we made this surprise all by ourselves.... Daddy said we could!"

"Do you know HOW we made these eggs so lovely?? We cooked them on "off" for most the time!"

"The only bad part of this delightful surprise .... is the kitchen!"

"We were thinking about cleaning up the kitchen too.... but we thought that making breakfast was enough!"

Gotta Love it!!

Let the fun begin...

Oh, I can already tell this is going to be a fantastic summer!! We spent our first few days on the lake being positively giddy. The girls tried just about every skiing instrument we had in the boat.... surf board, wake board, skies, doubles surfing, and just plain dragging on the rope! Summer has just begun and already Josiah is cutting in and out of the wake on her doubles!!

Exciting stuff!!

I can't wait to dive into all the fun adventures we hope to have this summer!!

Swim Lessons

Look out YLP, North Fork is taking over the pool!

To ease into our summer fun, we planned swim lessons with some of the buddies! It was fun to learn and then spend of rest of the day splashing and playing!

Last Day of School

In our house the last day of school is celebrated... not because we dislike school, on the contrary, we love school and will miss all our great teachers.... we just love the freedom from the schedule that school creates!! So, it was fitting that on the last day of school Billy Beam Day was celebrated with lots of games, water and sweet treats!!

A perfect ending to a great school year!

Kindergarten Graduation

Our sweet AdieBear is a Kindergarten Graduate! She looked so adorable in her little green cap and gown. And all her family was there to celebrate with her. But if you asked Adalie her favorite part of Kindergarten Graduation, it would be that her Daddy read all about her!

When Seth found out he was elected as a school board member, his first words were... "I will get to do the Kindergarten Graduation!" And when it was Adalie's turn to receive her diploma, he may have been a little bit biased when he said she was the most special of all the graduates today... or at least his very favorite!

So to Adalie who has learned so many things this year, we celebrate you!

Adalie Waltner is 5 years old and she lives on Sierra Linda. She likes to play with her sister. Her favorite color is blue. Her favorite food is pizza. Her favorite places to go are Disneyland and the water park. Her favorite rides are Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain. When she grows up she wants to be a flower girl. Her favorite flower is lupine. She says, "It is fun being a flower girl."

Note: a "flower girl" is someone to takes care of pretty flowers!