A Day at the Beach

I went a little photo crazy during our love trip, especially on the day we walked around the beach and the surrounding neighborhoods. Laguna Beach is just so cute! The best/worst moment was when I was trying to take an "art" shot of my red toenails in the sand with a wave swirling around them. I told Ren to watch for big waves while I had my eyes down...apparently the boogie boarders in the distance were more interesting! Next thing I knew a big one got me, splashing my whole lower body and the right side of me all the way up to my ear, including my camera! Luckily, the camera is still working and no worse for the dunking it took.

After the camera splashing incident, I decided to climb some of the big rocks. Just as I was on top of a BIG one and peeking over to let Ren take my picture, a very young lifeguard boy sheepishly made his

way over and mutters, "You can't climb the rocks." "Well, I've already climbed up here, so can't I take a look around before I come down?" I asked, just slightly miffed at my fun being ruined. He looked over his shoulder and said, "Well, two of my supervisors are here observing me so you really have to come down." Sheesh! It was all I could do to be obedient to the nice young man and climb down...I hate rules sometimes! Still, I adore the beach and we had fun regardless!

Me just after the wave hit me

Our Laguna Love Trip

Two weeks ago Ren and I stole away for a "love trip" in California. Aside from the fact that Ren was sick and his eardrum ruptured three days before, requiring us to cancel our flight and drive there, it was lovely to get away from it all. (And everyone knows that my "all" is a LOT of people!) We stayed at a gorgeous Bed and Breakfast with an ocean view called Casa Laguna. One morning while we were waiting for our gourmet breakfast to arrive on the patio, I decided to snap a bunch of pictures. I just had to show everyone this little piece of heaven! There were courtyards and bricked walkways and oodles of flowers everywhere!

Our only complaint...it was COLD! Now, I'm the last to complain about  being cold...especially coming from triple-digits in AZ, but I've  never seen the beach like this in late July. The clouds and mist  didn't burn off until very late afternoon, if at all, and I soon  discovered that I had not packed well for temps in the high 60's.  Luckily, I did pack warm, fuzzy socks and wore them whenever the  occasion permitted. :D It was a perfect way to spend my birthday!  Thanks for the wonderful trip sweetie. I love you!

Hannah's Turn to Camp

It seems only fitting that I dedicate a post to my ONLY DAUGHTER leaving me for a WHOLE WEEK to go to camp. *sniff, sniff* I have to admit I sent the boys off with a little happiness in my heart to have a quieter, cleaner house; but sending my Hannie off makes me sad. There will be far too much testosterone here with only me to combat it!

We had to laugh as she prepared for camp...Zach noted as he watched her packing construction paper, cute signs, fun notebook paper for writing letters and adorable little gifts for the campers that: "Girls sure pack differently for camp than boys do!" (or something like that) Then she told him that they would be water-proofing matches using melted crayons in the YW Value Colors. Hahaha! How can she leave me here with all these barbaric boys who just don't understand the need for cuteness?!

This year Hannah is a YCL (Youth Certification Leader) so she gets to play big sister to all those younger girls. She'll be awesome. She's so excited and happy and I think she remembers what it was like her first year when she missed home and felt so out of place. But just in case she gets a touch of that homesickness herself, I wrote her a note for each day she'll be gone. The boys and Ren wrote her notes too, since she sent secret letters in their bags when they went off to camp.

So, here's praying that my Hannah has a great week, doesn't have to evacuate because of forest fires burning in the area and gets to shower a couple of times. We'll see her on Saturday morning when we drive through Flagstaff and pick her up on our way to a family reunion in Idaho or Wyoming or something like that. Hannah calls it Wyomingaho. I'll finish with the limerick I wrote for her to read on Day 4 of camp:

Ode to Hannah

There's a girl named Hannah I know

Who off to girl's camp did go.

Now I'm alone with the boys

and the stink

and the noise!

Well, I'll see her in Wyomingaho!

The Intrepid Campers Return

They survived!!!! (Mostly.) Late Saturday afternoon, three extremely filthy boys with grins on their faces and stories bubbling forth from their mouths, arrived on my doorstep. They unloaded grimy sleeping bags, mud-caked tents, well-used rain ponchos, and tons of other camping paraphernalia on my front porch and... left it there. Thanks boys! I made them pose for a picture to document just how dirty they were. The picture definitely does not do it justice. Jonah's face looked like he'd survived an explosion with only the area around his eyes looking remotely flesh-colored. I was afraid to inhale through my nose, so I cannot attest to the smelliness thereof, but I'm sure it was spectacular.

Their report consisted of manly anecdotes of fire and farts, snoring and spelunking, pouring rain and puking, and rifles and ricocheting bullets (Zach actually got hit by a bullet that ricocheted off something from the firing range). He proudly displayed the bullet for me with a big grin on his face. Jonah and Cody both ended up getting a little of the stomach flu we had here at home and threw up sometime late in the week. Reports from their leaders warmed my heart when they explained how Zach embraced his little brothers to help them feel better when they were sick and scared in the medical tent. Awwww.

They also participated in the "Man Up" challenges, racing with car tires attached to them, flying on zip lines, building human walls, and lots of other things I'm sure they related to me, but they didn't stick in my brain.

Ren stayed for two days (and one night) and came home relatively unscathed. He did complain that he was freezing all night long (poor man) and that while he was awake in the night he heard a myriad of sounds. Snoring of course was the main melody of the night symphony, but the harmony consisted of numerous passings of gas, sleep talking and the screaming and swearing associated with nightmares. While he was there, Ren had a chance to have a few heart-to-heart talks with Hannah's "boys". When he got home she asked him how her boys were and when he started to give a report on her brothers she said, "No! My BOYS." Oh, all her guy friends. He gave her the report she wanted and I couldn't help but think, if she ever marries any of these guys, at least Ren knows them pretty well now.

I'm happy to have the boys home, even though the house was amazingly quiet while they were gone. I wish I could have had a glimpse of them up there camping and dealing with getting up at 6:00 a.m. every morning, working through physical challenges, getting supported by other boys and men around them and suffering through heat and downpour without too much complaining. It does seem to bring out the best in them. I really need a hidden camera on these trips so I can understand all about this male bonding thing. I know they need it and that's why they leave the women behind, but I think we'd all appreciate our boys more if we could catch a glimpse of what moves them on a primal level. (Besides flatulence.)

Gordon and Sherman and the Juiciest Watermelon

Note: In case you don't get the Gordon and Sherman reference, you can refer back to this blog post.

They might grow up with a complex, but it can't be helped...I adore taking photos of my two littles! In those rare moments when they are happily engaged in something so incredibly full of personality and photographic potential, how can I not hover over them and capture as many slices of that moment as I possibly can?

Way back in May when the weather was suitably summery and we could still hang out in the back yard (this post will explain all about that Arizona hot thing), I looked at the back window and beheld Gordon and Sherman eating endless slices of watermelon and relishing every minute of it.

Unfortunately, once they realized I was taking pictures of them AND discovered my frustration when they closed their eyes, they took full advantage of that information. Most of the shots I got of them they are either closing their eyes to provoke me to squeals of frustration and mock anger or hamming it up big time for the camera. No longer candid but still cute.

Their Dad decided to offer his aid and introduced a new element to the situation...

After 15 or 20 minutes of this, they were STILL eating watermelon! It is highly doubtful that anyone else got more than one piece; more doubtful still that they ate any dinner after this marvelous hors d'oevre.

What more can I say -- I adore these little guys and am thrilled they keep me young and supplied with quotes and great pictures. And thank heavens, of course, for watermelon!