Grabbing summer by the horns

Let's see... we've had a busy two weeks... what to tell you about...

Well, I could tell you about Phoebe's last day of school (anticlimactic), or the stomach flu that was our parting gift (which, given that it was short and no one else got it, may have actually been something she ate), or the sleepover birthday party (oh my gawd), or the camping trip (really... did we ACTUALLY plan that on the heels of school getting out and a sleepover???), or the baseball game (oops... I may not have taken any pictures of that)...

Hmm... I should spare you pictures of the stomach flu (oh... you didn't really think I took pictures of that... did you???)... Phoebe's actual birthday is still upcoming (it's coincident with Father's Day this year)... so let's cover the camping trip... shall we?

We camped very close to home... at the beautiful Henry Cowell State Park, because we weren't really sure how well it would all go over. Luckily the girls seemed to like camping... maybe, in part, because of this spot!

It had a great tree with long limbs for playing games on...

We went on a couple of hikes...


And we spent lots of time relaxing at camp. The girls LOVED the hammock... which was great because it kept them occupied... and luckily Mike packed a second hammock... because he and I logged almost no time in this one!

The girls even made up some game called Purple Aliens that had to be played in the hammock. I'm not really sure what it was about... but there was lots of giggling and heads poking up from the hammock.

And, of course, we had the requisite campfire...

...and marshmallow roasting!

Wildlife around camp was fun to watch too... the picture below is of the American Robin we watched build its nest. You can see the bird flying up to the nest (not visible)... it's the reddish blur just below the lowest branch going out to the left.

Before we left we built a fairy house full of gratitude for the space.

The girls were pretty proud of our creation... it was truly a group effort of collecting the building materials and the actual plan and assembly.

We had a wonderful time... at least until the kids got tired on the last day and started bickering incessantly. But we won't mention that part now, will we? ;-)