Summer

This summer I was granted a leave of absence from work so that I could enjoy a crazy summer long vacation.  That’s why I haven’t been blogging–that and I haven’t figured out how to blog from my iphone yet.  Dearest Husband has a little more than a month off every summer (he works in education).  During that time in past summers he has been in school for his Masters degree or we have been moving etc.  This was the first summer in what seems like forever that he’s been able to take a break.

We started out with a week without kids. The most we’ve had to ourselves is 3 days so this was a huge deal.  Cheers to the kids being old enough to fly on an airplane by themselves!  Once we picked up the kids we were on our way to the Redwoods in Northern California.  Humbolt State Park has a great junior ranger program where you sign up to send the kids off by themselves with a ranger for 2 1/2 hours each day.  Every day was a different program–both kids enjoyed getting the metal badges at the end.  While we were there we decided to visit Eureka, CA to see the 4th of July fire works.  The family has been watching the SciFi channel Eureka’s back episodes together.  Every one of us loves this show!  There’s science stuff and love stories and crazy occurrences–really it’s a great G rated show!  So The Boy was very interested to see if the Eureka was anything like the one on TV.

For me Eureka had a special meaning.  My birth mother died there before I got a chance to meet her.  At one point in her life she was very transient.  I’m not sure what her life was like in Eureka but currently there is a large transient population.  I tried to imagine her walking down the same street with several thrift stores and 2 different used book stores (which says something when a little town can support 2 used book stores!)  My birth mother apparently had a number of tattoos.  Passing by counted people there covered in tattoos, I wondered what she would have looked like now if she was alive.  BTW I have a few tattoos and am currently potting out my next one (perhaps on my 40th birthday).

Then we made our way to Oregon to see a dear friend of ours.  Dearest Husband and I used to dance with her twice a week in a class where we met.  It’s not really a class.  It’s more like a dance experience.  We even took our kids to a dance.  The Boy got into it immediately with another friend who we know who just happened to be there!  With The Girl it took a few songs but she slowly sinked in and was fully enjoying herself by the end.    The we headed off to Mount Rainer to visit Grandparents.  My mother and father are Wado Dog’s God parents should anything happen to us.  Wado Dog had a great time there  on the mountain.  My father took us on a hike up the mountain where we saw snow in July.  My mother, my daughter and I made a cheesecake with a very special family recipe. We ate venison and caught trout and had a wonderful time.

Next was a visit to Dearest Husband’s brother and his wife in Seattle where they took the kids and we had a night in Seattle to ourselves!  The kids adore their Aunt and Uncle so it worked out well.

The off to Yellowstone where we got to see Dearest Husband’s other brother and then Grand Tetons.  Except when visiting relatives we were camping.   The kids love camping!  The Boy especially!  By the end The Girl wanted to be home in her own bed with a shower.  It was an unforgettable adventure which ended in a week in a beach house in San Diego with my in laws. I adore cooking with my mother in law and we got a chance to make the best gazpacho I’ve ever had!

So now I have no excuse to miss a blog!

I’ll keep you posted!

Jennie