4th of July 2012.

It was a great day.  We started off with a bike ride to the Claremont  Independence Day Carnival.  Had lunch in the Downtown Claremont Village.  That night we went to the Forsee's for our traditional 4th of July Party...

Having a great time on the 4th of July.  By the way, Karen made the kids' shirts and her own outfit.  She also made gluten free watermelon cookies and homemade/homegrown peach salsa for the party.  I made stuffed jalapeños wrapped in bacon.

Sparklers are always a hit with the kids...

Taylor was the big winner in the
Watermelon Eating Contest

My Girls

Red Flames at Sunset

Our Red Flame grapes...in their first year with fruit.

Gracie and Cozy on the first day of July

Just a fun Summer evening

...at the Old Ball Game.

Nancy B. Hefley and the kids in the Press Box

...and then there weren't two.

Gracie's TWOoth

Her 1st tooth is once again her 1st tooth.

Gracie lost her first tooth....

The Church Summer VBS

Gracie and Taylor were at Theatre and Sports Camp this week.
Gracie performed a mash up song...


And closed out the evening with a reprise of the same song...

Taylor got into the act also...

Yosemite 2012

On the way back from Mirror Lake we saw this amazing view of Yosemite Falls

Hiking with Daddy

Taking a dip in a pool below Lower Yosemite Falls

Our Jr. Rangers posing with a Yosemite Park Ranger

A deer curious to see what we were eating for lunch

Swimming in the late afternoon in the Merced River

Bike riding the shadow of Half Dome

Our creative bike structure

Family bike rides through the Yosemite Forest

On our way into the Yosemite National Park

A picture from the Tunnel View lookout spot

Our hikers looking at flora and fauna of Yosemite

I think I saw a bear

A pose near the bridge on the trail to Mirror Lake

Stoping for a fun pose with Daddy

The falls near Mirror Lake

Hiking with Dada

This is how I like to travel

Dada and Dadi at the Curry Village Amphitheater 

Posing on the Lower Yosemite Falls Bridge

Fathers Day Breakfast

We stayed at Site 235 in Upper Pines

Cozy Vs Mango

Gracie's Open House

The teachers and students at Sumner Elementary School do an annual "Country Tour". Gracie's class selected France. Gracie took us on a tour of her projects throughout the year. You can see the Family Crest that she created, the French Castle that she built, her recreation of Starry Night by the French artist Vincent Van Gogh, and her project on dinosaurs.

Grapes, Boysenberries, and Artichokes..

This will be our first season growing grapes. We're really looking forward to it. So far these Red Flame grapes seem to be right on schedule. Our Boysenberries are in their second season and are more bountiful than last year. As for the Artichokes, we had so many, that we wanted to see what the flower looked like. We were not disappointed...