Hello Again...

I have just about a gillion posts backlogged from over the summer. This is the quandary when you like your blog to be chronological.

Is there a disease called blogger's block? If so, I've got it big time.

In fact, on my list of things to do for over two months: blog.

Part of the delay is that I have been turning the beginning of the blog into books for 2007 and 2008. Love having the hardcopy books, but super time consuming.

This is all to say -- get ready for a deluge.

(Oh! And because I love to have it chronological you'll have to look after this post to find the new ones.)

Six Flags

There is a Six Flags not too far from us and this year we decided to get season passes. The pass is a good deal if you go at least twice and we have definitely gotten our moneys worth this summer. Plus, a lot of our friends have passes so it has been really fun to meet up with them and have more moms on deck when it comes to watching strollers and riding roller coasters.

The boys are really fun to ride rides with now because they actually like to go on more than the kiddie rides. They love any ride they are tall enough for. There is this one crazy, spinning roller coaster the boys call "Tony Hawk" that BiggiE especially loved.

Jelly Bean may be a toughie in other areas of life, but so far her amusement park enjoyment has been confined to the carousel and tea cups.

Here are the kids with some of their best friends, Caleb and Lily


The only ride Jelly Bean was sad to miss was the river rapid one that all the kids were going on together. Look at those tears.
She is so mini I'm afraid she has a long time to wait before she can go on many rides. She doesn't even reach the bottom of the sign saying she is too short to ride...

Damien and Roman

We were so thrilled to have Os's cousins, Damien and Roman, visit for a week. We packed a lot of fun into one week. I may be biased, but they are the greatest guys. I actually had several friends comment that Damien and Roman made them think having teenagers wouldn't be so bad.

They were so great with the kids. Damien and Roman, you have the first three members of your fan club out here in CA. Plus, literally every time I got up one of them would ask, "Can I help you with something?"

I was a bit of sap inside having them here. I have such fond memories of playing with Damien and Roman on the Outer Banks, NC when they were the same ages my boys are now. I felt very nostalgic.

Add to that the fact that their dad passed away this year under pretty horrific conditions and these guys are remarkably together even with all they've been through. The first night they were here they were playing with the kids in the boys' room and I was in the kitchen quietly crying because I just love them so much.

So we had a GREAT week and I took a lot of pictures...

Fort fun on the first day.


We went to Six Flags. Roman and the boys rode the scrambler at least three times.


Damien was kind enough to ride with Jelly Bean on her favorite ride, as she says, "the tea cups". Huge Damien is a good juxtapose to itty Jelly Bean.


Munching popcorn while watching the dolphin show.


Jelly Bean leading the way on our hike in Jack London State Park.




Bedtime stories

Everyone gets their own book read at the same time with so many readers available.


Drew came up and all the guys went canoeing. It is fitting that these three shared a canoe because Drew, BiggiE, and Roman are all cut from the same cloth.




Cards and laughter




No trip to CA is complete without a trip to In-N-Out.


It is so fun to enjoy the redwoods with someone who is experiencing them for the first time. Roman had never seen them before and was all awe.




It's hard to beat the backdrop at Baker Beach.


Kudos to these crazies for getting in the water. They come from a long line of Thomases that HAVE to get in the ocean.








These photos show the kids' pure enjoyment with Damien and Roman around...




We love you, Damien and Roman!! Will you come again next summer? Please...

Moose's First Backpacking Trip

Os and Moose were psyched to head to the back country with Jason and Carson.

The car was filled to the brim...







Contemplating the raging river below...




Happy Hikers (Check out all the snow behind them! In July!)

Not a bad place to set up camp.



Carson is in pretty good spirits despite having to make a little trip to get his cut finger fixed on the way home. Apparently, a rock gave him a little smash.

All in all they had a great trip. They came home dirty with big smiles on their faces. The boys learned all kinds of things from how to hang your food at night to how to start a fire without a lighter.

I think it might be the beginning of a great tradition.

Camping - French Meadows

We enjoyed our Fourth Annual Camping Trip in the French Meadows. This campsite is a 2 hour drive off I-80 and Mosquito Ridge Road has to be one of the curviest paved roads in the US.

We had been unofficially racing our friends -- all the time thinking they were ahead of us -- when I begged to pull over so I could get some contact solution from the trunk. Right after we pulled over our friends drove past us! I knew I was never going to live down costing our family the race.

Fortunately for me, our friends missed the entrance to the campsite and we won!

This year will go down as the year we didn't have running water at the campsite and had to filter and cart up gallon upon gallon from the river. It was kind of a nice feeling to be able to supply water to so many people the old school way.

This is the crazy big group.


Some of the beautiful girls smothering their beloved Eliza.


This rock formation was right by the cooking site of the camp and the kids made a really cool secret hide out complete with a hidden bush path.


I love kids camping. They are so in their element. I believe the boys were constructing some sort of fortress out of these stumps.


Jelly Bean is rockin' her camping fashion. This look will be on fashion runways this Fall.


There seemed to be tables and tables of food even with many families sharing meals. I am amazed we were able to put it all away in the bear boxes at night.


The youngest member of the gang, Gus, was the most mellow baby you can imagine. Here he is cutting his teeth on this papa's beer glass.


No need to be scared of the dark with this skilled BiggiE ninja on the prowl.





The water was absolutely freezing (we could see snow from our camp). We did a lot more hanging out on the bank of the river than actually swimming.






I love, love, love this photo. Jelly Bean with her best friend, Lily. And yes, those are homemade donuts. And no, I did not aspire to bring a vat of hot oil into the remote mountains in order to make fresh, hot sugariness. That was our friend, Ryan. Thank you, Ryan, we were happy to eat of your labors and your foodie craziness.