Summers are MADE here....

Whispering Pines,

Sierra Nevada Mountains,

California,

June 2013.

Rock collection COMPLETE,

after just an hour at our beloved cabin.

Sillies need to be released,

after two days of car travel.

Owies kissed and my boy snuggled.

Dinners devoured.

Fun from the unexpected!

Even mommies can play!



Then...

the RAIN started.

The Californians blamed us Oregonians.

Rain stayed (uninvited) for TWO DAYS.

No respite for the cabin bound.

Cabin Fever has new meaning for us all!

Grammy and Jill in a heated domino match.

Henley learns a few of Aunt Jill's tricks!

Kelsey and her Uncle John (aka Papa) get lost in their books.

Beau's valiant effort to enjoy his cabin time.

(No fooling us, we know where you would rather be.)

Are we having fun yet?

Nana and Grandma in their element.



 Hazel worked on a cheerful drawing...

Tim (aka Bad Guy) added an optimistic SUNSHINE

to Hazel's optimistic RAINBOW.

(Mother Nature, do you appreciate good art?)

FINALLY, on our 3rd day the weather softened.

No sun yet, but at least a break from the RAIN.

Our crew headed to the Calaveras Big Trees State Park.

Trees are gorgeous on a cloudy day...

 

 

 Up, up, UP in the sky,

the trees grow so HIGH.

 

Weary boys get to ride on strong shoulders.

Back at the cabin,

the rains left some great puddles behind!

A performance of THANKS for clearing skies!

Hazel's Beauty Shop

Open and ready for victims...I mean customers.

Wednesday, the SUN shined.

Time to hit the creek for cool relaxation and PLAY.

 COUSINS!

 Friends came to visit.
Papa and Steve have been friends for AGES.
Fun to see their grandkids play together.

 Hmm.
Henley needed to go potty.
We said find a tree, over THERE!
His there was different than our there.
Carol was a good sport.
lol.

 Holden learned how to pump water from our well.

 

 Darling little Nate, just 10 weeks old.

 "Where's Holden?"

 There he is!

 Showing Charley some serious love.

 Laughing together at bubbles!

 Aunt Pammy corralled the crew for a story.
(That is a feat!)

 Then, it was off for a day at the Lake.

 We LOVE Lake Alpine.

 AND, we LOVE our cousin Mick.

 Hey, why don't Daddy and I get a float?

 Sweet Cousin Kelsey,
SO proud of her!

 Some kind fellow lake-goers shared their chalk with Haze.
Now that was a great idea!

 Mick, did you catch that with your bare hand?
(He didn't, but it would make for a great story.)

 Daddy and his little lady.

 Swimming lesson.

 Story time with Nanny.

 I stole a moment with my littlest fishy.

 Evan was SO proud of his catch of the day!
(He caught TWO.)

 Well, hello Handsome!

 My littlest "big" kid.
Growin' so fast Holden boy.

 A rare rest for the three.

 Henley found this gun.
A lovely chunk o' bark.
He protected camp for days with this weapon.

 My sassy and sweet lady.

 Creek play I say!

 

Hen 10 in action.

(His favorite show these days is Ben 10.)

Mommy made him his own Hen 10 superhero watch.

(Hasn't taken it off in about a month.)

Playin' away the day.

Daddy gets a refreshing shower.

Soakin' in the rays in Nana's shades.

Henley paused a MOMENT in the granite chair.

Washing away three days of cabin grime!

SO refreshing...

A better brain-freeze cannot be found.

Balancing Rock's name is safe,

the Garner muscles couldn't get it to go.

(There is always next year!)

Whale Rock looked a little hungry this year...

Henley for lunch!

And then a Mommy arm.

Wiped out camper boy.

(Holden gave up his bottle this memorable week.)

Mommy's feet needed a scrub,

I mean a SCRUB!

Henley boy needed a good cleaning too.

Followed by a snuggle by his Great-GREAT-Aunt Patty.

Holden was next.

My water LOVER.

 



Holdie enjoyed a Papa snuggle.

Jessica & Kelsey, our ROCKSTAR cousins!

They were sooo wonderful with the little Garner zoo.

***

A week at Whispering Pines comes to an end...

and we start planning ahead for next year.

July 2014, we can't wait!