June was busy! We went a dozen different directions. Todd and Gemma spent the first week of summer at Marble Mountain for their adventure week. They found a place to cliff jump on the drive up (super northern California). and they took turns reading chapters of Fablehaven out loud to each other. Apparently, Gemma was in charge of steering while Todd read. Yikes!
They had plenty - and I do mean plenty - of snacks to get them through the week.
They had their own little cabin with two bedrooms, but ended up sleeping in the same room to maximize their together time. The ranch they went to ran basically a weeklong summer camp. There were a bunch of other kids there between 9 and 13 years old with their families. There was tetherball, ziplining, shooting range, archery, and tomahock throwing, s'mores and night games galore, plus delicious meals.
The reason, however, that Todd and Gemma chose Marble Mountain is that there was horseback riding every single morning and river rafting three out of four afternoons. There was also time riding the horses in the stables, learning grooming and barrel racing, even decorating the horses for a pony parade.
They got to burn letters and designs into wood and take their art home with them as souvenirs.
Gemma is such an animal lover. I love this picture of her petting the dogs. They also got to feed the goats and watch baby chicks hatch. It was a pretty perfect week on a ranch.
Back at home, Hazel went surfing with Noah and came home so excited that she made it up on a wave.
Later in the week, I took Hazel, Delaney, Jack, and Shree up to the cabin. I was surprised by how much fun I had with the teenagers. God blessed me to feel comfortable around them!
Delaney gave Hazel and Jack dreds. Not a pretty look.
I got some time to myself - so glad Todd put up the yard hammock before we left last time we were up!
The girls went skinny dipping. The boys went mountain biking.
We spent some time on the lake. I listened to some Taylor Swift from my phone and felt super content.
Unexpectedly, we got afternoon thunderstorms every day. I pulled up a chair out on the deck (under the overhang) and soaked up the smell and the sound. Loved it!
The kids had a couple challenges we tried out - one where I read bread rot while they held water in their mouths and tried not to crack up and spit it out; another where they each tried to drink an entire can of soda without burping until they were finished.
And, of course, we enjoyed the rope swing.
Everyone reunited Saturday night and then split up again Monday morning. Gemma and Hazel went to girls camp - Gemma for her first year and Hazel for her last. Both reported that they loved it. We sent Jack to FSY with Henry Lloyd - he had a great time.
That meant I had a week alone at home. It was strange and it went by far too quickly. Todd even went up to girls camp Thursday through Saturday so I was completely alone for two nights! I went to a bunch of exercise classes at Joya, got a haircut and a pedicure, met up with Karrie and Katie for a hot tub and games afternoon, went out to dinner with Katie, checked in with the ladies I minister to, and did lots of extra cleaning and reading at home.
I went to the dermatologist and was told I had skin cancer spread across the bridge of my nose. I was prescribed chemotherapy cream to apply for a couple of weeks and my face looked pretty bad for a while. Hopefully that'll help Hazel balance out her craving for high UV days a little bit. I'm super grateful for an easy fix for skin cancer. I think it accumulated in that spot because I wear off my sunscreen with my glasses. I'll have to be more vigilant about reapplying whenever I go outside.
We reunited on Saturday, celebrated Todd on Father's Day, and then split up again on Monday. Jack went to boys' camp up at Lassen National Forest and had a good time, but enjoyed FSY more. Hazel had a special skills volleyball camp at the high school. I took Gemma and Clara up to the cabin for a couple of nights. It was super chill. We spent a lot of time on the lake, and back at the cabin, we played games or I read a lot while the girls played without me. It was interesting to see how Gemma still wanted to play make-believe dragon games with Clara, but was self-conscious about me overhearing her, whereas last year, she fell into her imaginary world seamlessly. She is growing up.
The girls swam all the way across the lake in life jacket diapers, and then needed me to rescue them for a ride back because they were freezing. It was a windy afternoon, and my toes were turning numb just from the water splashing up on them on the paddle board. When we got back to the cabin, they kept their swimsuits on and warmed up in the bathtub together.
We all met back up on Friday. Saturday we had a family date in the morning. The kids started with a basic muffin batter, and created their own flavors with unique mix-ins. Todd and I judged them on plating and flavor. That afternoon, we went piano researching. Jack's teacher said he has stagnated in his technical abilities and hoped we would consider upgrading to an acoustic piano. We went to the piano store and asked the salesman all our questions so we could know what to look for in a used piano.
We went to Half Price Books and purchased so many books and movies we had to buy a bag to carry them back to the car in. We had parked several blocks away and walked over. On our way back to the car, we stopped in at Ashley Furniture to look at the tables. Todd and I have been casually hunting for an upgrade to our kitchen table ever since we bought the cabin. The table at the cabin is super tiny and we knew it would be awesome to have our super extendable but very 80's looking oak table up there. Well, lo and behold, we actually found the perfect table and decided to buy it. It was a very exciting Saturday!
Hazel has become Noah's regular barber. She's cut his har three times now, I think. She also cut her friend Maz's long, past-his-shoulders hair into a crew cut this month and I must say, she did a great job! Looking at the next few pictures, I'm wondering if she might consider a career as an esthetician.
I caught Hazel curling Jack's eyelashes - while he was on the toilet - and while they both should have been going to bed.
Chrissy's family came over for dinner, and afterward, when Chrissy and I were playing games and Todd was gone at a stake fireside, Hazel pulled everyone else into a makeup fiesta and catwalk.
Just had to include this picture because Ginger loves Gemma so much and it's really cute.
We hosted the Bingham family reunion at our cabin. Ryan, Xiao, and Zoe flew out the day before and left the day after, so we got to have them at our house for a little extra time. What a treat! Zoe just turned two and is super intelligent and surprisingly verbal. We all adored our bonus time with her, and it was nice to connect with Ryan and Xiao too.
We borrowed the George's pop-up camper for a couple extra beds, so Todd towed that up in his truck and I took Ryan's crew in the van. We had a few hours at the cabin to ourselves before all the crew driving showed up, but only Todd and Gemma put swimsuits on and got in the water, although Jack did play on the rope swing in his clothes.
Scott's crew stayed home because Caprice is in her third trimester of her pregnancy and that drive is just too long when you're that far along. Mon, Dad, and Kathryn left early and enjoyed a few days in Yosemite before coming to the cabin - genius! Emily drove Grade out on her own, while Doug and Isaac stayed back so Isaac could compete in a track meet where he did awesome and qualified for regionals. Chris and Jodi were the last to arrive, but we had everyone at the cabin by 9:00 Thursday night.
Todd and I planned a few Survivor-themed competitions for the reunion. We drew names out of a cup and ended up split into two teams, the French Toasters and Zoe's Champs. We held kayak races around the dock. Each team randomly paired up and the younger of the competitiors got to choose whether they raced on green or orange kayaks, or on paddle boards. Jodi went cheap against Chris and chose green, which Chris was too heavy for and really struggled to stay afload. One point for the French Toasters!
Jack and Gemma went neck and neck. Jack took the kayak on the outside placement with plans to cut Gemma off as they began, but Gemma surprised us all by running through the water a few steps before jumping on. This gave her a three-foot lead that she barely held the entire race.
Kathryn capsized during her race with Todd - point for Zoe's Champs! Todd and Hazel went for a bonus race that escalated to Todd running across the dock to jump on Hazel's paddle board, struggle to try to pull her off, grabbing HALF her paddle by pushing the disconnect button, and then losing said paddle in the water. Xiao described Todd as "wild and fun."
There was lots of downtime at the cabin, playing games, building with toys, and chatting.
Kathryn brought a camping hammock - mosquito net included - with her and slept in it outside two of the three nights. I thought that was so hard-core cool.
One of our challenges was Bubble Toes. Each team had a bin full of marbles and soapy water, and a cake pan. With thirty seconds per foot, everyone raced to collect as many marbles as possible. Zoe's Champs came out ahead, largely thanks to Ryan!
You could tell we were having a party at our cabin based on the lineup of cars out front and the camper pop-up.
We did convince half the crew to contribute to a service project as we worked on making our yard fire-safety compliant. Todd pulled up a ton of quaking aspens and bushes, which Dad, Chris, and I gathered and piled up at the base of our property. I even got Grace to come out and pull down a tree or two with me. Jack used the weed whacker to mow down all the plants near the house that had grown too tall. Hazel, Emily, and Kathryn weeded the stairs and driveway. It was such hard work, everyone went for ice cream afterward.
Hazel captured this captivatingly attractive picture of Todd with dirt in his teeth. Wowza.
I even got everyone to participate in a Survivor food challenge! Each team member could earn their team a point with every item they dared eat. It was a lot of big talk for only medium-scary food: Vienna sausages, cocktail onions, silkworms, edible pinecones. Everyone felt super proud of themselves - the French Toasters earned three more points than Zoe's Champs - it was a close competition! Almost everyone ate almost everything.
Our last afternoon we spent a long chunk of time at the lake, basically lunch to dinner. No competitions, just relaxing and playing. Everyone had a chance to get out on the water.
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Sunday morning everyone took off pretty early. Todd took the kids home in time for our home ward. I hung back to get everyone out the door and make sure the cabin was clean before closing up. And bonus! We got another day with Zoe at home! She and I played cars and had a great time. My heart is aching a little as I write this. Chicago is too far away.
