Monday, August 10, 2009

What a blessing! We were able to pull off another Mammoth trip this summer. Lorin had an inspection in Reno. He could buy a plane flight and rent a car,OR we could drive to Mammoth and he could drive in from there. We were only going to stay a few days, but ended up staying for a week.


We met up with a family we had met there 4 years ago. Brooke and Trevor have stayed in touch ever since. Trevor's brother Wyatt, their parents and grandparents were all there.

All but Faith and I went bike riding on the mountain. She and I hit Schatt's Bakery instead. I talked to one of the Schatt's family and got caught up with news of a childhood friend. I have a phone number now, so I hope to connect with her again


Faith was all about baiting her own hook. She only hooked herself once, "but it only cut a little bit of skin".



Jason likes the bike park.He learned how to ride a two wheeler when he was three years old while we were in Mammoth. He was only riding a few days when he first went to the park. Now he flies through the air.

Another highlight of the trip was visiting with a trolley driver. Lorin had ridden the trolley to go to the rental car. He talked with the bus driver, found out he was a mule packer. Lorin told him about my past with outfitting, and who to look for. Later that morning the kids and I get on a trolley, out of the blue the driver asks "is there anyone who had been in the Bob Marshall Wilderness?" I looked around me baffled and kind of raised my hand. Then he told me he met my husband earlier and that we had things in common. The kids and I sat on the trolley through his whole loop and talked mule packing, outfitting, dudes and cowboy ways for the whole trip. After that, every day we rode the trolley, we ran into him and had more visits. It was fun to run into someone who could hold the same conversations as you, conversations you hadn't had in years.

The Rest of July




Summer is still running at full speed. We have been able to fit in a few trips to the beach. We have a regular group of friends that we go with every year, mostly from the homeschool network. Although, I have yet to have my boogie board contest with Debra Jackson. We must fit it in soon.





We also met up with some of Lorin's family. I love going to the beach. Anything to get out of the heat of Temecula!



We have also had a great time with the Grandkiddos, Sean and Riley. Roxane is working nights and Matt has some day jobs, so we were able to help out a bit with the kids. I always have a great time going out with them and watching people's faces as they try to figure out the "Gramma" and "Mom" as the kids range From Brooke 12 yr old, Sean 9yr old, Jason 8 yr old, Riley 6 yr old and Faith 5 yr old. Last of all is Baby Brody, but he doesn't get to hang with us yet.

The kids had one over nighter party with Stevi and Natalie, David and Anna. Of course, as a good home school family should, we had a little reading time before bed. Oh did I mention Guacamole the Chameleon spent the night also? Faith is a fan of his, packed him around on her head for quite some time. Jason on the other hand really didn't want to hold him.