Fall Fun

 Fall Soccer was great.  Each week the boys practiced in the evenings and then had games on Saturday.  Both boys have really come to like soccer.  Her Dakota is defending the goal. 

A great moment where Dakota is going for the ball.

 Wren in action.  He plays mostly as a forward.  He is quick, strong and makes great passes.

He is also makes great shots on the goal.  Here you can see a completed goal.

Our yucca plant had an interesting growing moment this year.  Most of the leaves came up through a hole in one and so were held together in this beautiful group. 

Fort building is always a bit hit for the boys.  We had to do some tree cleaning on one of our cedar trees to get out some diseased branches.  This became the fall play spot.  Now it is filled with most of the raked leaves and continues to be a great spot to play.

Wales

I went to visit my sister in Wales two weeks ago and am just getting to putting up the photos.   The thing I enjoyed most was hanging with my sister with no particular agenda.  Just go with the flow.  We got lots of walks and some great sight seeing in but sometimes we just chatted in and hung out in the car while Ayla finished up a nap.  Every moment was great.  Here are some of the highlights...

 Walking down the lane to Shifty's parent's house.  They live just a few minutes walk from Emily and Shifty's house.  I was completely fascinated with the hedges (a dominant part of the landscape around Herbrandston).

 

 

 A panoramic shot of St. David's Cathedral.  The stone work was amazing.

 Just minutes from their house is the amazing Welsh coast.  Beautiful and rugged.  This spot is about 15-20 minutes from home.

Sweet Ayla with here Aunt "hidee".  I woke every morning to the sweet sound of Ayla saying "Hidee".  It could not get any better.  :  )

 We did get to visit a couple of castles.  This one (Llahrghn Castle is near Dylan Thomas's writing studio at the Boathouse.

 His writing studio was sweet and in a picture perfect spot.

 A friend asked me to visit Dylan Thomas's Boathouse since I was going to be so close.  So I did.  It was one of the highlights of the trip because it drew me to an amazing little town and location that I may otherwise have missed.  Thanks Dylan Farnum. 

This is looking back at the town of Llahrghn (sp?).

 Happy Sisters!

 Happy hiking family.

 I forget now the name of this area.  But it was my favorite spot. The limestone cliffs drop down into the water.  The tide changes 18 feet between the low and high tides.  And the color of the water was simply fantastic.

 Another few pictures of these cliffs.

 Okay...this is not the best picture I have ever taken but I needed one with the amazing chef and her fabulous creation.  This meal with 10 "veg" and a roast beef and a roast chicken was what they call Roast Dinner.  It had the critical pan of "roasties," which are the golden potatoes that you see in biggest dish close by.  I think I must have eaten at least 3 full servings of just the roasties.  The amazing thing was that I took Ayla upstairs and read her some books, played with the balls, read some more books.  And in what seemed like a very short time we were back downstairs and Emily was pulling out 10 "veg."  "Veg" is their shortened version of vegetables. but it is both singular and plural.  So 1 "veg" and 10 "veg" are both grammatically correct.  The main point is WOW! Super yummy dinner.  We got to eat with Shifty's parents and it was wonderful to share some time with them. 

I cannot possibly convey the joy and fun I had in Wales with pictures and words. It was fabulous. 

Wren Goes to Camp: Dakota and I go to Lummi Island

Wren went to Camp Orkila for a week on Orcas Island (one of the San Juan Islands).  While he was at camp.  Stuart and I had some adventures with Dakota.

Here is Wren heading off to camp.  He had a great time and when asked, "Did you miss us?" he responded with, "Not to offend you but no. I didn't have time to miss you."  We thought that was a perfect answer and it meant that we had picked the right time to have him go to camp.  He is looking forward to next year.

 While he was there, we headed first to North Cascades National Park where we found many cool things including Yoda's house. 

Dakota found his old wise self and was a lovely companion for the whole week.

He became a Junior Ranger at the park.

After that we came home for a couple of days and then headed to Lummi Island to visit our friend Robin.  She has a log cabin that is surrounded by beautiful gardens.

 Her niece, Shoshana lives in a trailer on the property.  We had a great time picking blackberries and making a crisp.

 Dakota found a bird nest hidden in the brambles.  He brought it home to keep as a treasure.  Like mother...like son.

One day we walked all the way across the island to the beach. 

 Robin and Dakota got along really well and had a great time exploring together.

At the end of the beach, we found this giant tree fern fossil.

All in all, a lovely week with Dakota. 

July Part III: The Beach

And then the beach.  Off to Crescent Beach, Florida for a week of family beach time.  The daily routine went something like this.  Wake up, watch the sunrise, do yoga/go surfing, eat breakfast, go to the beach, go to the pool, eat lunch, rest, go to the beach, go to the pool, eat dinner, sleep.  And read books in between.  All this done with 21 members of the Chapin Family. 

It was wonderful, relaxing and lovely.

Cousin Love!

One evening we went in to St. Augustine and checked out the fort.  

Here is the sunrise.

Every year when we go to the beach, Stuart makes a maze on the sand at low tide.  This year he made 2.  The first was a turtle and the second was a shark.

Turtle!

 Shark!

 Keith brought the magic carpet for some awesome surf sessions.

Playing in the sand was always a big hit with the kids.  All I had to do was dig a big hole in the sand, let it fill in with some water and voila! Kid magnet.  Drippy castles, wall building,  then defend against the incoming tide.

This old tortoise seems to show up every year.  

This year Stuart made a video with his new GoPro video camera.  Click on the link below to see it up loaded to YouTube.  Or just watch it here.  I hope it works. 

Crescent Beach 2014: Chapin Family

July Part II: City of Rocks

After the river trip, we headed home for a quick turn around.  Unpack from the river trip.  Repack for the climbing trip.  Off to City of Rocks, Idaho.  We reserved a campsite for a week of climbing, hoping for the best.  Although we did not get a ton of photos, we had a wonderful time climbing.  Each day we got up early, had a hearty breakfast and headed to a climbing destination.  Mostly we followed the shade each day, climbing on the west faces in the mornings and the east faces in the afternoons.  The boys set up their hammocks and read books or looked for forts in the rocks.  Stuart and I climbed.  It was wonderful.

Here are some of the images we captured along the way.

Sunset looking up valley toward "The City."

One evening after climbing we decided to explore the "Window Arch."

We went to a geology ranger talk and found out that the name for the carved rock is "Tafoni." Here is Wren climbing through some tafoni.

 And Dakota "hiding" in some tafoni.

 And the sun captured in the tafoni.

 Although most of the days just Stuart and I climbed, it seems like all the climbing pictures are of Wren and Dakota.  Here is Wren climbing with his tape gloves. 

 And Dakota having a good time going up.  He did not really like the going back down part.

 This is what the City of Rocks looks like.  There are lots of giant granite formations scattered all through out the area.  So much climbing. 

Wren had the camera for a little walk and took this photo and the next.

 I blew this image up so you could see the chipmunk peeking up from behind the rock.