Swim Team 2011

Last year, my two oldest boys joined the summer swim team with the parks dept.  This year all three boys and my youngest girl joined!  It was a lot of work, but they all did great.  My oldest got 1st place in freestyle in his age group at the citywide meet.
Back stroke:

 Breast stroke.....or is that dog paddle?

Fifteen

Our second child, and oldest son, turned 15 a week ago.  He just keeps getting taller and his hair is getting curlier and he's becoming a hard worker. We love him so much.

Yosemite 2011

We went to Yosemite the first week of June and met up with friends. It was pretty cold, with some rain.  We hiked to the top of Upper Yosemite Falls, the first time for most of us!  The good news is, it wasn't hot at all which made for easier hiking. The bad news is, it snowed on the way up! But we made it, and I was sore for a week. I mean really sore! Not in shape at all.  On the rainy day, we all stayed in our unit playing games. It was a blast! My 14yo son took some of these.

Top of Upper Yosemite Falls,a rather small creek just about to go over the cliff.  So scary.

I Made Jam!

I finally made my own jam!  My Mom and daughters helped.  I made freezer plum jam using the recipe from my friend Daisy (the recipe isn't listed, sorry).  The kids love it!  Then I made apricot jam.  The kind you cook and boil the jars and put the jars in boiling water and the lids pop.  Yum.  We still have lots of fruit, so I need to make more.

Very First Family Bike Ride

Finally!  We can ride bikes as a family!  Of course, when our kids were little, we had the trailers.  And the only place we would ever ride was in Yosemite.  But since the kids got too big for the trailers, they would ride their own bikes.  This year was the first year that our youngest, S, joined the others riding her bike around Yosemite Valley and our campgrounds.  But, our 11 year old, B, still cannot ride a bike.  So when the others went riding, I would stay with him.  At home, we just never went.  I did buy one of those trainers that fit behind a bike, but B ended up being too heavy for that.  While at Yosemite this year, my best friend suggested a tandem bike.  I'm sure the thought came up in the past, but not recently...I just never thought about it.  Maybe I figured it would be too expensive.  Anyway, I mentioned it to the Daddy and the next thing I know, he is emailing me that we are getting one for FREE!  At his company's Christmas party, one of the managers won a tandem bike.  During a conversation, the other manager mentioned he was working out.  E asked if he rode the tandem bike.  He said no, so E offered to buy it.  The manager said no, he could have it!  So the following Saturday, he brought it over!  It is awesome and B is finally riding a bike with the family! 
Today, we rode to a new frozen yogurt shop, had some yummy yogurt, and rode back.  It is just around the corner from our house, but it was a start.  I'm looking forward to many more rides.  The problem is getting to a nicer, safer area to ride, but at least now we can!
Here is a picture of B & E when we first got the bike:

Death Valley

We went to Death Valley in March.  We stayed in Furnace Creek Campsite.  On the second day, a dust storm picked up and didn't let up until the night before we left. We lost a roll of paper towels and a coffee pot broke.  I thought the wind would pick up our tents and carry us away!  We had a great time, though, seeing the interesting land formations.

 Sand dunes:

 Getting farther and farther away:

 See that little dot? TOO far away! Come back!

 Mosaic Canyon

 Natural Bridge:

 Dust Storm! Hurry to camp!

 Badwater Basin salt flat:

 The sign says "Sea Level" so we were BELOW sea level!

 No snow, salt!

 Really, salt!

 Painted by the Artist

 Windy:

 Storm on the way home!

 Driving home in a snow storm!