IT'S HER BIRTHDAY....

Our daughters

(Allison w the birthday girl, Stephanie, on the right)

have been tent camping since they were infants. 

and because...

TODAY is STEPHANIE'S BIRTHDAY!

I'm feeling a little melancholy, so I'm posting some of my "favorite photos" from her YPN* birthdays!

Most summers, SLE (Stephanie) celebrated her BIRTHDAYS during family vacations at YPN* (Yosemite National Park).

our camping trips were times to connect with family (Acosta's & Enyart's), as well as best friends (Skids & KVC). Click HERE for photos KVC took of Stephanie's birthday.

such wonderful memories!

Nana & Papa bought the three girls "Annie" tshirts for this trip. The girl cousins spent a lot of time performing Annie songs on "The STUMP"

each summer, our goal was to get the campsite with

"The STUMP"... lots of activity happened on

"The STUMP"!

(l-r: Keena & cousins Allie, Steph, Andrew, Reid & Jodi)

rafting, sunning, & dipping in the chilly Merced River was always on the agenda.

so, although Stephanie is all grown-up, and

lives on the other coast (Arlington, VA),

I still remember these days as if they happened last year!

"1-4-3" SLE

we LOVE you &

send BIRTHDAY WISHES on your special day!

JPE & OMO

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY 7.6.14

posting with Ashley @ Rambling & Photos

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY

all photos are archived from my summer files

RED buddha (Big Sur-River's End); RED cactus

(Ojai-Meditation Mount); RED vegie flower (Pismo Beach-Epicurean Delight)

WHITE fireworks (Whittier); WHITE flowering bush

(Bob Jones Trail)

BLUE vase (Tasha's); BLUE vase (JPE's)

SPARKLY ornament (Cambria); SPARKLY spider web (JPE's garden); SPARKLY fireworks (Jodi's)

PLAYING... 

LYDIA (Plaskett Creek-Big Sur 2013);

LYDIA (No Beach Campground, Pismo Beach 2014);

LYDIA (No Beach, PB 2012)

I'm editing & deleting photos from my archives!

Trying to find a "better way" to label photos?

ANY SUGGESTIONS?

please HELP!!

GOOD. RANDOM. FUN. {WEEK 25}

 Last Monday, Brian asked Allie to marry him!
just after they got their tent set-up, they wandered off on a walk to the beach! 

...when they came back to camp, they were both beaming!!

We're THRILLED... no wedding date or location yet!

 ...during our evening walk, we spotted DOLPHINS
jumping in & out of the water & riding the waves!

...another random shot of Lydia... enjoying the beach!

...always creative, ALLIE is an expert at "drip castles

(& took a pic to post on Instagram)

...energized by the waves, slight breeze & the fog rolling in...

Lydia played until it was time for making so'mores!

posting with TAMAR at RANDOM-OSITY

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY 6.22.14

Lydia spent her first week of summer with us.

It takes a day or two for her to leave the "fast-paced" daily routine of being home.

We got the "only available" campsite in North Beach-Pismo Beach campground... 

it's our "go-to-campground" 8 minutes from our house...

it's a treasured place for many reasons!

LYDIA has the freedom to ride her bike around the campground... unaccompanied!

Another benefit of camping... fresh air, walks on the beach & mindless relaxation!

... also, you can get a "dose of nature"

... Lola & Allie have wide open spaces...

... and you have more opportunities to nap!

posting with Ashley at Rambling & Photos!

 

 

next week's words:

PINK, WHEELS, FRIEND(S), EMOTION & SWEET

(S)PUTTERING... PAINTING...

(S)PUTTERING... PAINTING....

looking for some photo ops that can be created with WATERLOGUE

Mom, Jodi & family have been here since last weekend...

Jodi's family has been "GLAMPING"

{camping?  in their trailer... with hook-ups}

Sunday evening - getting set-up!

Yesterday, we took a walk into Pismo Beach

& got caught in a downpour!

on the walk home!

Mom, Katie, Felix, Matthew, Archie & Derek

I took these photos on the pier, BEFORE the downpour...

this photo even shows evidence

of the spitting sky!

finishing lunch at Garland's

The downpour began about 5 minutes after this picture.

We walked the kids back to the trailer...

{JPE drove my mom home}

It was quite the adventure!

Something I think the kids will remember as FUN??

hope so!!!

SITE 33 - CAMPING @ PLASKETT CREEK

Plaskett Creek Campground, south of Big Sur

gorgeous views of the ocean... a 90 minute drive from our house...

Lydia chose to sleep in her own tent this year... ummm...

no shoes in the tent...

 ...almost done!

surprise... due to lack of running water (low water table),

we weren't able to build a fire!

so'mores over a propane stove?

they were actually G.O.O.D!

...it's heavenly having clean hair!

and riding bikes!!!

...building memories!

PURE "BEACHY" BIG SUR STYLE...

 Sand Dollar Beach is across the road from Plaskett Creek Campground.

to get to the beach, you walk down a huge flight of stairs!

taking the heat off!

OH... URGH... AHH...

Grandpa & Lydia
8.14.13

PHOTO-HEART CONNECTION: JULY 2013

7.2.13 @ Big Bear Cabin

How does this happen? months speed by & I miss participating in the photo "MEME's" that were the "food which nourished" the early days of this blog...

My last post for Kat's Photo-Heart Connection was six months ago! time does not stand still, waiting for the camera lens to focus on the details of daily living! Today, lacking the focus to do much more than a few loads of laundry, I edited some pictures... and these two photos tugged at my HEART.

If you follow my blog,

you may recognize this photo.

LYDIA {our granddaughter} turned double digits {10 years old} on July 2nd. For her birthday, she wanted nothing more than "TO DO NOTHING". While eating her birthday pancakes, she told JPE that she wanted to stay home {meaning, stick around the cabin} and that's what we did.

Lydia & I built this COZY tent from outdoor cushions, throws from indoors, towels, a sheet & the frame of the porch swing. With enough breeze to cause "white caps on the lake" she "hunkered down inside" playing games on her phone, texting her girlfriends pictures of her creation, and chatted through her tent walls to anyone who walked by. 

JPE was cleaning a fish {on the edge of the deck}, her mom worked online {inside}, and I had spread out magazines on the porch chaise, while sipping my second {possibly my third} cup of coffee. Utterly blissful!

Lydia will spend the final days of her summer with us, next week! Several days will be spent tent camping at Plaskett Creek campground, south of Big Sur... maybe riding our bikes on the Bob Jones Trail... definitely eating popcorn & catching a movie... & ALWAYS enjoying JPE's cooking. 

WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO

SIMPLY DOING NOTHING!!!

{and BUILDING MEMORIES}

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY 8.4.13

SHS 8.4.13

Ummm... MIRROR IMAGE??

After being away from blogging for several days,

I was "guilted" (not really) into posting...

This week's SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY words were selected by Ashley, hostess of this weekly event... anyone can participate!

Here are my interpretations of:

BODY PARTS, WEDNESDAY, MUSIC, 

GUESS WHAT THIS IS & MIRROR IMAGE.

My sister & brother-in-law's "BOYS"... poor "BOYS"... their BODY PARTS are so short & bellies so low to the ground, they needed to be carried up our staircase to check out the bedrooms. They have such adorable faces, you "have to help them"... 

Thank-you Buster & Mac for making

your "peeps" drive up here to camp!

Next time, you can spend the night with us!!

Mom came on Amtrak (Friday July 26th)... we took a drive to Cambria WEDNESDAY... of course, we had to stop by Heart's Ease to check out the gardens! Loved the "Fairy Garden"... Heart's Ease had been owned by SHARON LOVEJOY, author of one of my favorite children's gardening books, Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots.  Topped the day off with fish & chips in Morro Bay!

Initially, I had a difficult time figuring out a photo for MUSIC. This is the Tibetan bowl on JPE's altar... after a quick tap on the rim of the bowl, you run the wooden clanger around the edge to keep the sound going. The bowl is used to call people together for meditation.

Had to use my imagination for this one! GUESS WHAT THIS IS? Even though you know they are teeth... I'll bet you don't know where they came from? 

Last summer in the Amazon (Peru),

JPE & I went piranha fishing...

these are the teeth from the fish I caught

- check it out HERE (look under memories).

EASY BREEZY! captured this MIRROR IMAGE at Oceano Campground... had a BBQ with family on Thursday!

Gotta run... off to Avila Barn to buy some apples! Yep, first of the season from the fabulous orchards in See Canyon.

See ya tomorrow! Will be back in the swing of blogging (after an unexpected lapse due to house reno... painted laundry, powder room & kitchen... just have the kitchens cabinets, which will take a bit of time with all the sanding, priming the wood & more sanding).