We had a great time going to Silver Lake at Brighton in the beginning of August. Tomo and Jujuice's nanny was out of town, so I was watching them. I had been wanting to go to the lake all summer. It is so pretty and it is nice to get out of the heat of the valley. Although, on this particular day, the valley was a beautiful 85 degrees--unheard of in August. Even still, it was great to take a picnic and walk around. We also drafted Gogo and Hunt to come with us. The ducks and squirrels and other critters relentlessly tried to get our picnic food. The Prince did not like the land critters. They made him a little nervous. I can understand because there were at least 10 scurrying about at all times. V loved the ducks. She mostly liked finding rocks along the trail. It was a slow walk around the lake, but everyone still had fun.
The Prince loves to sing this song with Jujuice. V is starting to learn it, too. She tries to do the actions. She is very good at the "hooray" at the end.
For my family vacation this year we went to the cabin. It was great. Most of the family was there from a Tuesday through Saturday, almost unheard of for our family. We usually get up together for a quick over night, possibly two nights, but rarely more. I think everyone had a great time. It was fun to be there long enough that we did activities we usually don't have time for. We went fishing, river rafting, horse-back-riding, hiking, and more.
All the kids got along great. It was fun to see Jujuice, Taroline, the Prince, and Gar-Bear form a little group. It was particularly great because when the Prince would tackle Gar-Bear, I didn't have to worry at all. Gar is the last of a family with 5 boys and only 1 girl, and that girl is a very athletic tomboy. He can handle himself. Plus, he got kicked out of nursery for wrestling earlier this summer. It was so great not to feel any guilt. Gar-Bear would get tackled. The Prince would get tackled. Then they'd run and chase for another round.
Little V spent a lot of time with the nanny that came up, too. They would sit on the front porch and throw rocks for hours. I was so grateful it wasn't me sitting out there. V could not have had a more delightful time, and I was happy to let her.
We also took the family Christmas card picture. Luckily I have a professional photoshopper (it is actually called a digital artist) in the family that can spruce up the picture for us. But here are some shots that don't need it:
But the best part of the vacation was the Talent Show. That's right. We do a talent show. And I know other families force their kids to go through this same humiliation because it was a major scene in Dan in Real Life. When I watched that scene the first thing I thought was, "See other families do this, too." And to those of you who are thinking, "That was a movie." I respond with, "Art mimics life." Unfortunately, I didn't get much of the talent show on video because I was chasing my kids around, but here is the highlight of my footage:
