....and coming up next

The little chef with the charming style and disarming smile.......

Mom's School Project

The edits are a little rough but that isn't the point of the project (on which we only have 6 days to work) so Mom doesn't mind sharing. It's actually for use with a great tool called Voicethread It's one of the many things she'd love to spend all day with creating lessons and staff development and it is definitely worth checking out.

Anyway, Hallie was so unbelievably adorable, the little segment deserved more that just being handed in to the professor. Enjoy the next Food Network Star!

Big Bear Lake

Summers spent at the lake are some of the fondest memories of childhood. Our latest lake memory came from just one day but was glorious nonetheless. Thanks to Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Mike, and in celebration of Natalie's visit to California, we got to spend a fun afternoon in Big Bear. After meeting up at the cabin, and the necessary reorganization of family members, we headed down to the dock. Our skipper, Uncle Mike, took care of the arrangements and led us to the boat. Once the young 'uns had their life jackets secure, we got under weigh. For one wonderful hour Uncle Mike skillfully sailed us around the lake while we enjoyed watching the kids, looking at the beautiful homes and spending time together as a family. There were few others on the lake and, though overcast, the weather, complete with cool breeze, was pleasant and comfortable. This was definitely one of those 'moments' in time that will always be a special memory for our family. It's a very special thing - to experience an event that is not only bringing up parents' memories of times gone by, but creating memories in the children that will be recalled and shared on a similar day in their future. Will we be sharing our memories of this with their children - our grandchildren? Such a joyous thought.....

It was the first boat ride for Hallie and Anna (discounting the various happiest boats on earth) and Natalie played her role as the guiding cousin beautifully. She told the girls what to expect before encouraging her grandpa to find some waves. Even she wasn't expecting the dousing that that came next. The next adventure for the two older girls was to try to get dry and stay warm for the rest of the ride. Hallie was a little grumpy about the chuckling that occurred after the wave crashed over the side but recovered quickly and laughed about it - having earned her stripes - and retold it to her dad later on. The rest of us managed to avoid the waves and had only to shake out our shoes a little. Anna had fun watching but did not want to sit "where we get wet". The sounds of the water, and our voices talking and laughing - caught on the wind are still easy to hear even now.

Once docked, we unbuckled the kids (only to re-buckle them in the car) and headed back to the cabin for lunch. Everyone contributed to the fine picnic lunch we shared on the deck of the cabin. We counted quail and chipmunks and watched the birds congregate around the bird feeder. The sun finally came out but never making it too hot for us to enjoy the sights and sounds of summer in Big Bear. The girls even took a trip down to the nature center with the grands. They explored the exhibits and even came home with some grandparent inspired items from the gift shop. The girls didn't want to stop playing and would never have been ready to head home. The time to go finally came and luckily, everyone was sleepy enough to coax into saying goodbye until the next time.We couldn't have asked for better weather or a more wonderful afternoon.

Star Spangled 4th

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