Preschool graduation?

Driving out of town the other day, I saw this:

There are a few things that I find annoying about this:

First, the bingo marker drawing had been on for way to long. I saw this at the end of June, and graduations happen at the end of May. So how hard is it for someone to clean it off? I supposed they have a right to leave it up there as long as they want to, but it just seems silly. 

Second, have we really stooped so low as to make a big deal out of preschool? I didn't even know they had preschool graduation. I mean, really, what has a kid accomplished at this point? Sure, they are learning to behave in society and all when they go to school, but I would hope that they are getting some of that at home too. It just seems a little absurd. Can the kid really understand what it means to graduate anyways? Sigh... The things people do... 

Weekly Flowers

So my flower patch seems to be yielding pretty well. As long as I have new flowers for my table each week, I'm happy! Here they are-

Today I picked up around the house a bit, and now I'm going to continue working on my scrapbooking. I'm getting closer to being caught up, but I'm not quite yet. That's ok though- I enjoy it!

And remember that sunburn from the Cleo's Bath hike? It's totally starting to peel off my neck...gross.

Justin and I are going to be reading Philippians together over the next month- I am really looking forward to it. We talk about the first chapter on Saturday.

That seems like enough random for now. I'm out!

Hike to Camp Lake and Bear Lake in the Emigrant Wilderness

Justin and I celebrated the 4th of July with a hike. Gotta love that in America, we have such scenic beauty!! And we are free to hike around in it without fear of crazy people hiding in the mountains. A few wild animals, perhaps, but that comes with the territory.

We took 108 past Strawberry because I wanted to do a hike to Waterhouse Lake. That's hike is less than 4 miles out and back, and is supposed to be pretty secluded with a good swimming area. Alas, when we turned on Herring Creek Road, the gate was locked. It's July 4th but there must still be too much snow. We'll come back later because it sounds like a winner.

I didn't want to hike to Cleo's Bath or Powell Lake again, (though Justin hasn't been) so we did the next closet hike in the guidebook that I had brought with me- a hike to Camp and Bear Lakes. The trailhead is very near the Burst Rock/Powell Lake trailhead, so getting there was a bit familiar. What stinks about this area is that horses go out on the trails, so you have to dodge horse droppings every once in a while. On our hike, we didn't actually see any horses, though we did notice a few droppings. (EWWW!)

 Bridge just beyond trailhead

 View of stream from bridge

The Crabtree Trailhead splits off and takes you to Chewing Gum Lake and a few other destinations, but I can't remember them right now.  Our trail to Camp and Bear Lakes was 6 miles round trip. The trail to Camp Lake is pretty easy and mostly level, though it does have a short section with a steeper grade that got us huffing. We were a little faked out by this marshy pond-looking area before Camp Lake, but since we thought we had another lake anyways, we kept going on the trail. I'm sure that this area dries up later in the season. Speaking of the seasons, we had to cross over snow several times (more on that later). We made it to Camp Lake without much trouble. It's a small but pretty lake with a few shaded areas to sit. However, we continued on when another hiker told us this was actually Camp Lake, and Bear Lake was "much nicer."

Swampy-looking wet area we thought might be a Camp Lake... (above)
The real Camp Lake (below

Taking the trail at the far end of the lake, we began the real adventure. Since it was early in the season for this hike, we had snow to go through, though the temperature of the air wasn't cold. Also, as it was melting away it made the trail into a small stream. In some areas though, you just hiked over where the trail seemed to be heading and hoped to find a sign for it later on. It was a bit difficult, as the area before Bear Lake was a little marshy and we had to do some jumps to clear the creek beds several times. Then there was a section of granite and open area where the trail was hard to follow. Again, later in the season this would be a much nicer hike!! After getting a little off trail a few times, we found our way back and up to Bear Lake. It was bigger and prettier than Camp Lake, and just one other group was there. We spread out on the rocks and rested before heading back. I even jumped in, though it was freezing!!! It felt good since the sun was still good and hot today.

Snow on the trail (above)

A cool mini-waterfall splashing from the rocks near the marshy area. I'm glad we saw it but am pretty sure it dries up later on. Below, Bear Lake!

All in all, two pretty lakes, some nice streams, and of course the usual Sierra Nevada scenery made for a good  6-mile hike. I was disappointed that I didn't see any wildflowers, but  the season might be off. If anyone else ever goes, I hope they go a little later in summer or the fall so that they can find the trail easier than us.

Homemade Pizza!

As we speak (err, as I write)... the pizza is baking in the oven. It smells delicious!! I started off by making homemade wheat flour pizza dough from scratch. You know, mix the yeast and water, add the dry ingredients, and knead. Let rise. Then while it was rising I prepared the toppings. Justin's half is Hawaiian (ham and pineapple), and mine is meat lovers, which featured ham, bacon, pepperoni, and sausage. Of course topping it all off was cheese. My only regret is that I didn't have mom's canned pizza sauce. :(

Here's the process in images:

TASTY!!!

Pinecrest Hike to Cleo's Bath

Today I took a few girls from church up to Pinecrest, CA to go past the lake and see the famed Cleo's bath. Was it worth it? Yes and no....

I have to say I was disappointed that the trail was not marked very clearly. At some points there were rock cairns that helps the hiker find their way, but they were spread out pretty far. When you're walking across smooth granite, I think that you need a little more help. Maybe I'm being to harsh because it's Pinecrest and I thought it would be better maintained. It's not that you couldn't find your way, but we definitely had to double back multiple times when an apparent trail dead-ended.

Then there was the final leg up the rocks to the pools. This one was totally our fault, because we didn't look around when we were halfway up the climb and notice the cairns that were actually there. If we had, we would have saved ourselves a pretty scary near-vertical climb. I've done a many hikes of the past few years with decent inclines and all, but this was seriously rock climbing that we did. But like I said, we should have seen the alternate route halfway up. (If you ever do this hike, listen! When you get close to the pools, you start ascending and see a little cave on  your right made from two granite slabs. Then you go straight past that to climb up the granite, which has formed a "v" that you have to shimmy up. After about 20 feet or so, there are a few little trees. Look to your right and see the rock cairns stacked up here!!!! We missed this and continued climbing straight up about 50 feet.) If you like rock climbing, by all means go straight up and skip the cairns. Otherwise, take the easier path!

But Cleo's Bath (the pools) was pretty. You can see out over the pool to the lake below. While the water was too rough for us to really play around, we were able to get wet up to our waists. It was freezing though!!!! But there's no way I got through all of that rock climbing to not get in the water. The sound of rushing water and the crashing impact of the small waterfall that feeds to pool was pretty sweet. I would have explored upstream a little bit to look for more pools, but the girls I took with me weren't in the mood. So we chilled on the granite beach and snacked before we headed back down. On the way down, we took the other side of the lake back to the parking lot. I'm guessing round trip it was about 5 1/2-6 miles. I got some sun too.....

All in all, I got some exercise and got to hang out with the girls, so I was satisfied!!

The girls before the hike (above); our battle scars from climbing (below)

 Sitting in the pools...sorta... (above); falls feeding the pools (below)

 Looking out from Cleo's Bath to Pinecrest Lake (below)

  The girls crossing the bridge to hike the other side of the lake (below)

 And me with Selena, who actually enjoyed the hike as much as I did ("Come on guys, hurry up!!" "Dude, the mist is all over me, sweet!"  "Aren't you going to get in the pools???")

Portola Redwoods State Park

Today we did a great hike in Portola Redwoods State Park. It was about 13 miles long and was worth every mile. For the most part, it is a pretty level hike with the fragrance of pine wafting through the air on every step. Right at the beginning you climb, and then on the way back there is another steep uphill. But really, both of those are probably less than 2 miles of uphill total, and they are spread out. Starting on Slate Creek Trail, we split off to Bear Creek Trail to reach our mid-point of the hike at the loop at Peter's Creek Grove of redwoods. Then we turned around and came back. We made really good time and finished the whole hike in about 6 hours, and that included a short lunch stop and of course a few pictures along the way.

Highlights of the trip:

1. Banana slugs- When I saw the banana slug magnets in the visitor centers, I chuckled a little. But little did I know how BIG these creatures really were! We saw quite a few along the way. In the picture I am demonstrating how this one is stretched as big as my hand.

2. The funky car that is rotting away and becoming one with the forest. How did it get here? Why is it still here? Does it know it's growing its own plants? The trail at some points is big enough for a road, so I can see it getting out here. Right now it seems to be sliding down the hillside... or at least it slid to get where it is. Needless to say, it's a curious sight. 

3. LOVED the trees, of course! Not as big in circumference as Calaveras or Yosemite, but still really breathtaking. You look up and they just seem to go on and on. No picture can do it justice, but I tried.

4. Our lunch stop was so picturesque- a small waterfall and stream with giant redwoods all along the stream bed and tons of lush green foliage. Perfect place to rest!

Try out the hike if you have done a some hiking before and have all day. It is long but beautiful.

Stud Muffin

Today I was out doing errands. You know, the Walmart run with a stop by Target and Ross, then Michael's and Goodwill. I never know what I am going to find at Ross. I love that place, really. Clothes, housewares, shoes, etc. Today I scored!!!!! First, I found a three-barrel hair crimper for my cousin. I told her a long time ago after she borrowed mine that I was going to get her one. I kept looking, and looking.... and never saw one. Then there it was today- a fabulous $13.99. Cha-ching!

Next big find was a cute basket to put the random junk on our front porch in. The weedkiller, extra pots, gopher killer, etc... for only $5.49. Mom would have been proud!!

I also found a cool Fiskars cutter for $5.99. It makes tags for scrapbooking- round, square, and oval. Since I'm getting caught up on my scrapbooking right now, it was perfect! I have another cutter that does just ovals, so I am glad I found this one for so cheap.

But my favorite was for Justin. I have to explain a little first. See, I have this tradition of him getting superhero mugs for holidays. So I'm always checking to see what is in at Ross. It wasn't a superhero today, but it has a picture of a muffin and then says 'stud' at the bottom. WORD PICTURES= SWEET!!! I couldn't resist it for a cool $2.99... You can see for yourself how awesome it is:

I love summer!!!

Summer!

Well, summer has really started for me now. VBS is over, my CPACE test is over, and I don't have ANY specific plans until I have to report to in-service on August 8th. Sure, I want to go on some hikes, get caught up on my scrapbooking, and plan some of my lesson for next school year.... but there's no TIMETABLES... DEADLINES... RESTRICTIONS...

And that is wonderful!

So today, scrapbooking is on the to-do list. And reading some more from Ironside's sermons on I John. Eventually, I should get around to mowing the lawn too, but it really isn't so bad when I have all day to do it! Ahh, I really needed this break after last year!!

For grandma, I am putting up a picture of some flowers I picked. I sure do miss seeing my grandparents from Ohio. But hopefully, I can see them again soon! In the meantime, here are those flowers:

          Aren't they pretty?

God Always Wins VBS!

This year we based our VBS on the theme "God Always Wins" from Desiring God ministries. We just finished day two and it is going well so far. The curriculum is solid Biblically and there are so many wonderful teachers and helpers! Here's a few pictures of the week:

Setting up the background...

 Praying before class...

 Getting ready for games...

 Snacks and crafts...

 More children ready for games...

 You just can't go wrong with duck, duck, goose!

2nd Anniversary!

As my grandma reminded us, Justin and I still have 58 more anniversaries to go to catch up with them. I just can't wait to do just that!! It has been a great two years and we treasure each day. I can't wait to see what life holds for us!

To celebrate, Justin ordered me two dozen roses and wrote a sweet note. Here's part of it:

Happy anniversary to you!
Happy anniversary to you! 
I wouldn't trade you for anyone....
In a million years.... or two! 









And for him, I made chicken tacos and..... drum roll please... Ding Dong Cake! It's chocolate cake with layers of cream and then chocolate icing on top. Here it is without the icing yet....

And here it is with icing....

And here it is on Justin's plate. I'll admit it was a big piece, but we like to celebrate around here!