Friends Forever

We had 2 special guests come visit this week, my college roommate Meg, and her daughter Sarah!  

What a wonderful time we all had together.  Meg and I were practically hoarse at the end of our visit as we talked non stop for 24 hours!  

We didn't need anything more than the pool, food and our friendship to perfect our visit!

 

A visit to Illinois

The boys and I took a quick trip to visit Grampa and some of our Illinois family.  We hung out with Grampa, enjoying a slow morning over coffee, visiting and just being together.  The boys helped to clean up the sticks from yard and then had fun burning them!

Then we went to visit Uncle John and family.  I took all of the boys to a fishing hole where they caught a few fish and explored the area.  Then we all came back to cool off with a swim in Uncle John's pool!

 

Lake Hume and General Grant

We left family camp and stopped at Lake Hume, just 30 minutes down the road, for a little fishing and lunch.  Monticeto made a sack lunch for us which Ben proclaimed was the best sandwich and apple that he'd ever had!  Everything tastes better when you have a view like this!

The boys all took a turn fishing and Nick was happy to catch a few fish.  Finally!  His first catch in California!  

A few hours later we were off again and drove through Kings Canyon.  Such pretty scenery!

A little further down the road we visited a grove of giant sequoias and General Grants tree.  

These trees are so amazing.  We visited a different grove last summer, and we were just as impressed this year seeing the giants, as we were last.  Sequoias only grow naturally on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

General Grant tree was named after President Ulysses Grant in 1867 and holds the distinction of being the Nations Christmas Tree.  President Calvin Coolidge gave the distinction to this tree in 1926.  

It is the second largest tree in the world, thought to be 1650 years old!  

In 1956 President Dwight Eisenhower declared the tree a national shrine to those who have died in war.  It is the only living object to hold that honor.

The diameter of the tree is 107.6 feet at the base and it is 267.4 feet tall.

 What a truly wonderful vacation we had this summer.  We are all feeling refreshed and ready to return home and tackle all that awaits us with the end of the summer and the return to school, just around the corner!  

Of course we are already making plans for our next vacation!

More Monticeto fun!

Our beautiful view for the week. 

At Ben's request, and a big thumbs up from me!  Eric, Ben and I went on a horseback trail ride.  There were less horses this year, not enough for all of us to go together, so Nick and Sam stayed behind at camp.  It was a fun and peaceful ride through the forest and into the low lying mountains.

Ben always makes friends with dogs wherever we go!

The theme for Family Camp during our week 6 was Rock and Roll vs. Disco.  Campers are encouraged to dress in costume for the theme night/dance party.  Of course Eric and I were excited to join in, the boys not so much!  But they begrudgingly went along for a picture and with our plans to be the Village People!  Unfortunately, our clever costume was lost on the young staff.  They had no idea who the Village People were, only that they sung the YMCA!  Oh well!   

All of the nightly activities were held outside this year.

The counselors performing for us.  

They are a group of talented young adults that seem to really love their summer job of leading our kids through activities and making sure everyone is having a fun time.

Ben made a friend this year, Matthew.  He is from the LA area.  The boys exchanged PS4 account names to keep in touch. 

 

We are leaving camp feeling rested, refreshed and reconnected!  

Goodbye Montecito Sequoia for now. 

The boys have already told us they would like to come back next year!

Sequoia Monticeto Family Camp

Our next stop in California was back to Monticeto Sequoia Family camp.  Last year was our first time here and I knew then that it wouldn't be our last!  We were so happy, ecstatic, in shock! to be able to attend family camp with all that is currently happening in our world right now, with the pandemic still in full force.  It was different at camp this year, but still held the same Monticeto Magic that we all remembered so well.  There were a lot less campers and staff this year, but the same amount of fun!  This year the favorites for the boys were: all the lake activities, including paddle boards, kayaks, swimming and just plain ole horsing around on the dock, air rifles, especially destroying cans of pop! Sam and Nick both tried mountain biking, and liked it.  Eric and I enjoyed hiking with Nick, carving wooden spoons out of planks of wood, we tried a yoga class together, sitting pool side reading books, and we just enjoyed being outdoors in the cool, crisp, mountain air taking in all of the beautiful nature surrounding us.

I was so proud of my wooden spoon!  I plan to use it for cooking up great pots of chili this winter!  

There was a wilderness skills class this year that we all attended.  The kids learned how to make shelters, we all made a pine needle tea with fresh water from a nearby creek.  We learned how to start a fire with a shoe lace and so many other useful wilderness skills if we every get lost in the great outdoors!

Mount Baldy hike with Nick.  

Eric and I hiked this last year.  It was fun to experience it with Nick.  

and a bit terrifying at the same time!

 

We hiked to the Topokah Falls waterfall.  

It was a beautiful hike to the box canyon and the falls.  I was content to sit on the edge of the cliff and take pictures and enjoy the scene, while Eric and Nick scurried down and got as close to the falls as possible!