fat suburbanite dad: July 2013

It has been really hot here, so we took the kids to cooler temps. We took the kids to Alpine Lake and Union Reservoir and a river. I forgot to get pictures of the kids and dog swimming in the lake and reservoir. At least I remembered to take pictures of them tubing. They had a blast! The river was in gold country, so there were a bunch of people panning for gold in the river. The gold panners told us that gold is now selling for $3,000 an ounce. I think I am going to buy a gold pan.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

A Pleasant Visit

Hubby's Aunt J and Uncle A came out from Oklahoma and stayed with us over the weekend. It was so nice to see them and visit. I hope we didn't wear them out to much, so they come back and visit with us again.

I think the obvious title for this pic is "legs".

Evidently Uncle A makes a good chair to rest on.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Happy Birthday Cousin B

My oldest niece is turning 17 today. I remember when she was just a sweet little girl and now she is a poised, brilliant and multi-talented young woman.

Here she is teaching her young cousin (the boy)to skate. It was his first time on the ice and he and the girl still talk about how much fun they had that day with their older cousins. Even as a young girl, B had patience. She has always been incredibly helpful and responsible and able to make everything she does fun. Have a great 17th birthday!

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Happy Birthday Pumpkin!

Today my baby turns 8. He is a kind boy with an adventurous spirit, hilarious sense of humor and loving soul. It seems like only yesterday when he looked like this.

And now he is going down into caverns, riding his bike with no hands and occasionally no feet, while he stands up on the top tube of his bike (which hubby rightly said would give me a heart attack when I saw it) and helping out with the little kids, like his cousin Z.

Have a great birthday! We love you very much.

Monday, July 8, 2013

R.I.P.

We had an unexpected death in our household this weekend. Boscoe, was killed by a coyote on our street. Since we live in the suburbs, it was very shocking to find our 14 year old cat dead that way. We are close to some foothills and we know there are coyotes and probably a mountain lion in the hills, but it has been awhile since the coyotes have been seen here. Boscoe has safely patrolled a three house area for the 13 years we have lived here. After our neighbors found out about Boscoe, we have been hearing from other people around our area that have had them in their front yards. He will be remembered as the cat that would be sure to remind us if there was no longer any half and half in his bowl,an awesome foot warmer, garden napper and the sweetest, gentlest cat there ever was.

Ecclesiastes 3 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. It was Boscoe's time. You are missed!

Monday, July 1, 2013

Spelunking

It's 100 plus degrees out, so we decided to explore some caves and do a little spelunking in the nice 57 degree caves.

This is the "womb room" . You can climb down into it and crawl around in a room the size of a crushed car. It is the " claustrophobia test" they make the all day cave expedition cavers go in at the beginning of the tour to see if they can pass.

So of course the boy was the first to volunteer to go down it. His sister wasn't far behind.

Once the boy found out there is an all day adventure tour he asked how old you have to be. Our guide told him 8. He told her he would be 8 in two weeks and will come back after that to do it.