Mini post

The weather is cooling down! It is a much needed change from the usual summer three digits we are use to having in this area of Southern California. My projects are piling up....so many pictures to scrap...here are some mini albums that will house pictures from our summer memories. *"Little Man" was inspired from the fabulous Krisite.

Keep on packing...

Here's a few more lunches from this past week.

Do you pack?

This started out because Hannah told me I made boring lunches. Now there are two other fabulous mom's who are joining me with my quest to avoid boring lunches. Well, one fab mom is afraid her new pre-schooler won't eat during the day and the other fab mom wants her daughter to eat healthier.

Every morning on Face Book, I post a photo of the lunch boxes I pack for her. Here's a peek at some...

No more boring school lunch boxes. All of the boxes come home...fully eaten and enjoyed.

in review...

Wanted to share a few shots from August...

Cody playing travel baseball. Here he is on the mound.

This is a Cody's summer hair.

Dave turned 40 this year and here is his traditional birthday pie...coconut cream pie. This time I didn't call and order it from Coco's. I baked it myself.

Making pastry dough for more pies and tortes.

Hannah started tennis lessons at the club. She's been playing since she was 6 and now wants to be more involved in the sport.

for fun...

I baked some itty bitty chocolate cupcakes. Hannah invited some friends over and called for an itty bitty chocolate cupcake tea party. They decorated and set the table, pulled out the tea set and served itty bitty snacks to each other.

The last of July...

I know... I'm need to hurry it up and fill you in on the rest of July.

Poppers in the backyard for the 4th...no fireworks allowed in our county. Stay-cation fun! Made ice cream in a plastic bags. It really works!

Water balloon toss in the front yard.

Hanging out at the park in Big Bear.
While brother scooters at the skate park.Celebrating Cody turning 14 years old.

Hanging out at the beach with friends. Boogie boarding... and digging for sand crabs.

More of July...

The trail description for Fern Lake Trail on Trails.com is as follows:

Fern Lake Trail- June Lake Northern California: This hike is relentless in its ascent but short enough and definitely rewarding enough to be worth the workout.

We agree 100% . This was the most rewarding yet the most strenuous hike we've ever taken. Both the McCoy and Walker families decided to take a hike to Fern Lake. With packed lunches, fishing gear and waders in tow we were off. The incline was steep but the views of June and Gull Lake were incredible.

We backed tracked a little to see a really cool log bridge at the fork of the Fern Lake and Yost Trail. With the rushing stream under the fallen log, it reminded me of something you would see in Never Never Land. The weather was mostly cool until we hit a muggy, swampy part of the trail. There were some beautiful wildflowers but also swarms of bugs. Good thing for bug spray.

Because of our large party it took us 2 hours to get to our destination. Here's a photo. Quality is not so good because I didn't brave taking the Nikon on the hike. Cell phone cameras are convenient, huh?Here's Dave right after he caught his first "Golden Trout" on a barb less lure. It has been called the "Fish from Heaven." Small and beautiful, distinctive and spectacular and only survive at such high elevation. This trout with its vibrant colors evolved over thousands of years adapting to the high country meadows of the Kern Plateau. Sorry I did not get a photo of it. Dave wanted to release it back into it's habitat as soon as possible.

With vast Internet resources, here's what a golden trout looks like.Okay next post will finish off the month of July. Thank you for visiting, see you again soon!

A bit...

As promised here's a little bit for the month of July.
It's been a family tradition of ours to visit a National Park every summer. This year we spend a week camping at June Lake with our friends the Walker Family. We took a day trip to the Devil's Postpile National Monument. This is what it looks like at the base of the pile.A hike up the pile and here's what the top of a column looks like. Amazing... 100,000 years ago, lava erupted from a volcanic vent. The lava cooled and began to shrink and stress, cracks formed and with the right cooling conditions the columns were shaped into hexagons.Since we were already hot and sweaty, we decided to continue on and hike to Minaret Falls. Hannah got tired and Cody didn't mind an extra work-out. Too cute.We went a little off course to get as close as we could to the falls. The water was so refreshing!Here's Hannah being sworn in as a Junior Ranger for the Park. She was then presented a ranger badge.Many hours were spent fishing while at June Lake. As for me, I savored the scenery.Dave really liked float tube fishing. Final fishing score was: Dave-6 Cody-7 Hannah-9 I'm not too sure how official the scores are. I recall that Hannah seemed to have been the one who reeled in the most fish, regardless of whom the pole belonged to. We saw alot of wildlife. Here are some ducklings and their mama. My camera wasn't ready for the shot of an eagle catching a fish.One of the highlights of the trip was crawdad catching at Gull Lake. Here's what dinner looked like two of the nights.

Gotta get...

Gotta get...back, back to school. This time always reminds me of Grease w/John Travolta and Olivia Newton John. Summer fun is over and it's time to get back to the books (with all the singing of course). Here's how Hannah and Cody looked yesterday morning.

Hannah had to have the red converse! I'm too much of a miss matchy so, I had to spend extra and get a black pair too.The skater shoes live on for Cody, if he could he'd wear them on the pitching mound.