Our Father's Day

The day began with work around the folks' house.

Mower Races


More Wood


Zander's been shadowing Uncle Earl....and figures he can do this too.

Jared began to feel bad. Stacia was out of sorts, as was I. We went to the trailer and took naps....sort of. Stacia talked in my ear for 1 1/2 hours while I tried...and Jared stayed down for the day. The rest of us had reservations at the Beach Comber for dinner. Our van load showed up early so we took advantage of the location of the restaurant.



Looks like I have a couple of converts to the Ocean. ::snort::


Brothers


Sisters


Sisters


THIS one loves water of any kind.
She biffed. Face first...the wave caught her....and NOW our table is ready. ::snort::
At dinner we (Stacia and I) had several drink incidents. It became apparent who in the restaurant had raised children. ::snort:: One elderly gentlemen came up to Stacia as he left, knelt down and put his arm around her and said, "Part of being a little girl is to spill, don't feel bad." I thanked him - greatly. Rebecca (Mike's sister) took the folks home after dinner. Our family and Earl Jr went to play on another beach.


Stacia's makeshift outfit after the first biff....she's game to try again.

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Chatting and Chewing...

We spent Saturday visiting at the folks' house with Earl and the folks. Rebecca arrived late in the afternoon. We had a BBQ and more visiting. Here are some photos.

Mike & Earl Jr on duty....





Mom Mary & Dad Earl celebrate 52 years of marriage today, as well as Father's Day.


Rebecca on the far right

To think that Jared had never played Chess until ID.... Happy Father's Day to all fatherly type readers I may have.....we plan to enjoy.

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Fish, Fudge, Friday

This has to be one of the most gorgeious highways in America. Hwy 101 - Redwood Highway. We drove through the Redwoods, along the coast line down to Eureka, CA.




Eureka is a quaint little harbor town. It is known for the many Victorian homes it contains...amongst other things.






In addition to the boardwalk, horse and buggies, fun signs....we went to see Mike's oldest sister, Mary K, and her dh, John. We visited, took them to lunch, went to the boardwalk....fed pigeons and found a GINORMOUS selection of salt water taffy and fudge. Just for new readers....Mary K is the one on the left in red, John is the gentleman on the far left.




On the way back to Crescent City we stopped in Arcata to visit more relatives. Mike has an uncle, Jack, who lives in Mexico most of the year. He had called earlier in the week and Jack was in Mexico but we planned to stop by and see Aunt Bev. When we stopped Jack was home....and Nancy (cousin) and her children were also there. What a fun surprise. We had a GREAT fish fry....and lots of fun catching up. In fact, our children were unaware that they had an Uncle Jack and second cousins in Arcata.




Uncle Jack & Aunt Bev on the far left. Cousin Nancy and Bruce on the far right....and the two kids in the front girl and boy are Nancy's children Emily and Zach.


Another highlight of Friday is that Earl, Mike's 1/2 brother has flown in from Coloardo Springs. We look forward to fun weekend spending more time with him....and Mike's second sister Rebecca will be in too.

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Sleep Out!

Here are some photos from the sleep out. I'm sure Jared will write more up about the event....and since THIS is supposed to be a family journal I may have to not only link to him, but rewrite the stories here. LOL

This is another family tradition. There were s'mores, bon fires, rain, rocks and sand....all the things that a good camp out is made of. OH - and m/ms for Bible verses.

Bre and I talked about seasons yesterday. It was two summers ago that I was SAD to miss the hike up to Marble Cave as I watched little ones. I stayed home with Stacia last night...but by our next trip down this season will be over and I will be sleeping on the beach once again....something I've not done since little ones began to arrive. LOL

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Rafts, Rocks and FIRE

The children have been dreaming of building a raft out of driftwood.

We spent yesterday on the river. We've enjoyed a run of great weather...like none I've experienced in 27 years of visiting. Mike and the kids built their raft and all had fun either floating it or watching it.













We ate lunch on the sandy beach. The beach USED to be very rocky. The beach and the bottom of the river are now sandy. It's fun to watch the river change with the years. We discussed sand ettiquette and I was reminded NOT to bring supplies to make lunch at the beach. ::snort::


THIS is BIG ROCK....

...generations have been swimming or floating out to Big Rock and playing. The water around Big Rock is DEEP and so the rock itself is great for diving off of.... I KNOW but GENERATIONS of Gocker's have been doing this and Mike is always very careful to check the water levels and such before the kids jump/dive.


Over the years a small, sandy beach has developed by Big Rock....we spent the afternoon down here swimming, sunning, reading and sunning. Stacia, our little fish, brought me an orange life jacket and told me, "Please give me a life so I can be safe." She and Zander had been wading by the sandy beach and not out in the deep waters of the rock. I obliged. The next thing I knew she was SWIMMING out to Big Rock....if the others could so could she....then Zander swam out and back several times, not about to be outdone by his little sister. I stayed on the beach with my book.

We had the beach all to ourselves - with the exception of these visitors.

Fire? That is what I'm sure several of us are feeling this a.m. despite the 30 spf sports sunscreen we used. The BACK of my knees and thighs are burning.....Stacia is up now and yes, she has a moon burn (you figure it out).

This girl did not get sunburned...

We came back to the trailer. I made cornbread to go with the stew that had been simmering in the crockpot all day.

All but Stacia and I went out to sleep on the river beach. We did sandy laundry, watched a movie and slept.
Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...