Quarry Lake

Steven was so happy that there were opportunities to fish so close to the vacation house.




So we went with him one day. John is leery of sitting on a bug, because he's a pansy like that.

You can't even imagine how FRIGGIN' cold the water was. Holy smokes! It was really, really difficult to go into the water but John wanted to go in, so a Mama's gotta do what a Mama's gotta do.

He does not look impressed does he? But trust me, he was having a great time. Really, he was. Although, I felt bad that we didn't bring any water toys for him to play with. We remembered to bring some on the next trip.

Wearing a white shirt to the beach was probably not the smartest idea. Lesson learned.

Summer Vacation III

The other thing that Steven wanted to do was go for a scenic drive. Gah. If you know me, then you know that I would prefer not to be in a vehicle for longer than 4 hours. AND the thought of a scenic drive is never at the top of my "to do" list. So because I love my dear husband, we went on a drive. Where? Where are we going?

John: My "nap". My "nap"! (map)
John: Here. Turn here.


Oh, there. That's where we're going.


And we stopped for lunch. So gorgeous.


This was the view at lunch. Breathtaking.

I wanted to stop to take a nice scenery picture. Isn't it beautiful? And then a couple minutes later, Steven did the old "drive away as she reaches for the door handle". Haha, jokes on him because John got a little upset when he realized that Mama might be left behind.

Unbelievable, huh? I would hate to drive this stretch at dusk or at night...or at the speed limit.

At first glance you'd think the waterfalls would be the focal point. And then you realize, holy shit, look at Cindy's camera lens.



Wishing Well. I wish for...these are my wishes, right there.

Relaxing on the deck.

One degree away from a brain freeze.

This is my perfect vacation picture.

Summer Vacation II

One thing that Steven really wanted to do was a family hike. I wasn't sure about John's ability but Steven was adamant that we all go. Doesn't he look like the great outdoorsman? The running joke leading up to the vacation was that we would go for a hike but Steven would "take a knee" in the parking lot before the hike started and dramatically wipe his brow. Then he would selflessly tell us to "go on without him".

John grabbed Auntie Two's hand and that's who he wanted to walk with.

Steven & John in front of the falls. In hindsight, sort of a bad idea to take this picture since the camcorder got all wet. :(

Taking a water break. Too bad its so fuzzy but isn't he adorable? He loves the camelback.

I love this pictures. John looks so happy. Steven's eyes are OPEN!I'm not sure why but I feel a bit like Wilson from "Home Improvement" in this picture.

We asked the family at the next table to take our picture. This picture was taken shortly before Whitey lobbed a grape at John, bounced off his head and straight down my shirt. Then hahaha, everyone laughed. Then Steven & Whitey tried to do it again.

Johnston Canyon, such a nice hike.

Although, we did have to carry John on the way back on the hike. Poor guy, he fell and scraped his leg. He didn't want to hold auntie's hand anymore. Steven & I alternated carrying him back while he cried.

This picture is after he was cleaned up and got his bandaid. So he was sort of happy.

And then not so happy anymore. :(

And here are my boys in the hot tub after a hard day of hiking.

Chillaxing with a drink in the hot tub.

Showing off their muscles for the girls. (okay, well just me)

Summer Vacation

Summer Vacation 2010! This year was outstanding. We rented a house for 2 weeks. I am so glad we got to have this family time.

The Griswald's on vacation!

Isn't this gorgeous? This is the view from ONE of our private decks. I love this house.

Happy Birthday Part II

Since we were one vacation, we had a mini-party for John's birthday.

AND even though I stipulated NO GIFTS, as you can see, no one listened to me.

Yummy birthday cake. John picked this cake out. He wanted the blue one. BLUE ONE!

Full of hot air but still can't blow out the candle.

Cake? Frosting for me, man!

Overheard on June 27th:
Steven: Are we doing anything for John's birthday?
Me: We're having cake on the 4th.
Steven: No for his actual birthday.
Me: No, I wasn't thinking of it.
Big pause
Me: Should we get him a gift? He doesn't need anything. He's got so much stuff already.
Another pause
Me: why don't we get a small cake or cupcakes or something? Yeh, go pick up a cupcake for him to eat on the 30th.
Me: Does this make us bad parents? Not celebrating his birthday? We're bad parents.

Happy Birthday!

Oh how the times have changed. At times it seems like it was just yesterday that John was born. But then at the same time it seems like John has always been with us, I can't remember the time before John.

First Birthday. Such a baby. Look at those chubby arms and chubby, chubby legs. He wasn't walking yet but cruising along on furniture. I had to remind myself not to hurry him along and he'd walk when he was ready.

Such a great picture. Sometimes I wish I could transport back and capture the moment and done more things. Had more memories for John. Bittersweet I suppose. I'm glad that my parents were still alive when their grandchild (only) was born. I'm glad they were able to share in the first 2 years of his life. But I wouldn't be human if I didn't think "What if".

What if my mom was still alive? What if I would have had a baby sooner? What if I had more children? What if she would have spent more time with him? What if we would have moved back? What if. What if. What if.

I think I'll always be a little sad when I remember mom.

Birthday Number TWO!

No longer baby looking but toddler-ish. Look at the hair, no more chubby baby arms. Walking, running and the ability to swing deceptively harmful plastic golf clubs.

Here's my boy. Birthday Number THREE!

Not that this is how we celebrated his birthday. Yeah, that's our idea of a party. What little boy doesn't enjoy running around naked and peeing outside?

Birthday boy. Look at how much he's grown. This is after his haircut and they put gel in his hair. Not sure why but no matter what I do, I can't spike his hair like this again. :( Also, he cries when I try and gel his hair, he thinks it's not "cool". Although looking at us, John's probably got more fashion sense than both Steven & I combined.

Posing for the new camera. Yes that's right, I bought a camcorder. Picture quality isn't great but video quality is outstanding. I can't believe that it's taken me this long to buy one. Really should have bought one right after John was born. Just imagine how much I could have recorded!He's such a thinker.

Couldn't you just smother him with kisses?

John is three years old today. THREE years old. Can you even believe how fast the time has gone by? He's a walking, talking (sort of his own language), busy, energetic, smart little boy. Sometimes I stop and watch him while he plays and I can only imagine what is going on in his head. He's very creative and can create these incredible play scenarios. I wonder how much is environmental and how much is simply genetically hard-wired into this brain.