Lake Almanor -- 2010 vacation

Our annual trip to Lake Almanor was different this year, because we had to fly. Typically we drive down from Oregon, packing all our stuff in the van (clothes, tennis rackets, the boys' bikes, water rafts and toys, sand toys, golf clubs, etc. etc.). We had to limit the toys to one bag this year, but it was fine -- there is plenty to do anyway, and John's parents and brother helped out by bringing some playthings for us too.

It was also different because we finally rented a boat. This is something we've wanted to do every year, but most years we never actually got around to calling for a reservation. The last year or two, we did manage to call, but no boats were available. This year, John called a couple months in advance, and we were all set up.

We had an 8-person ski boat for four hours on Monday morning, and it was a beautiful day. The sky was sunny and clear blue; Lassen Peak still had snow on parts of it and was gorgeous in the background; the water was still and good for our skiing and kneeboarding attempts, and warm enough for a few good swims.

Here is the lake with Lassen Peak in the background:



Lucas was very skeptical of boating, especially once we left the No Wake area. He held on tightly to me and said, "This is not fun." Which is really funny coming from a 3-year-old. But after the first two hours, once we stopped trying to ski and just cruised and swam, he warmed up to it.



Josh, on the other hand, loved it from the start.



The sun was in our eyes. We took 6 versions of this photo, none good.

One of John's attempts to ski. He got up a few times, but never managed enough distance to really make the arm pain worthwhile. Both the skier and the boat driver need more practice for a successful run, but we didn't have the time. Maybe next year.

Josh was never more happy than when he was "driving":

Uncle Curtis:



Aunt Jeni:



Three generations of Markley swimmers:



Josh's flip:



Daddy's back flip:



Gail, Gene, and Curtis enjoying the ride:



Enjoying one of our swimming holes:

Finally, a smile!

Back when we celebrated Josh's birthday ...

Back then (already a month ago!), we were pretty busy. We had just celebrated Lucas' birthday the weekend before, we had Josh's party on Saturday June 12th, then celebrated his actual birthday on Monday the 14th, then left that Wednesday for five days in New Orleans, then John and Josh were only back a few days before they packed up and left again for Houston for the Giants game. So yeah, it was busy. Things got missed. Things like posting pictures of Josh's birthday. So here they are.

Josh had cupcakes at his birthday party, but of course we needed a separate way to celebrate on his real birthday. Here Josh first spies his birthday "cake":



It's a doughnut cake!! Josh LOVES doughnuts, and especially loves doughnut holes. He loved his doughnut cake!



Look who's 6!



Even Lucas was pretty psyched for the whole thing:



Josh modeling one of his gifts, a helicopter flying thing:

Josh also received his very first personal mp3 player (an ipod shuffle), pre-loaded with all his favorite songs. All his favorite songs are currently the billboard top 10, and his favorite radio station is a channel that ONLY plays the top 10, over and over and over and over. You can get out of the car, shop, get back in, and the same song will be on (again). And now he has them on-demand.

John asked if we could pretend his favorite songs were something cool, like metal. But I reminded him that Josh's taste level is actually quite age-appropriate. As much as we may dislike hearing Katy Perry and Ke$ha ad nauseum, if he were listening to Judas Priest at this age, we'd be driving to therapy.

So here he is rocking out to some Boom Boom Pow, Rock Your Body, California Gurls, I Wanna Be a Billionaire, I'm Only Gonna Break Ur Heart, etc etc etc. I did find "Freestyler" and load it up, so there's at least one we all enjoy!

Birthday Dance Party!!

(see, one day he'll be a metal-head for John. He's already got the horns)

One lucky boy (and one lucky dad)

John and Josh took a father-son baseball trip to see the SF Giants play the Houston Astros last week (for Father's Day, and for a general love of baseball and the SF Giants).



Walking from the hotel to the ballpark through downtown Houston:



Public art in Houston:




Outside Minute Maid Park:



And inside Minute Maid Park!!
Batting practice:



View of the park from the left field line, where John and Josh sat:

Finding their seats: second row, aisle seats. But since no one sat in the first row, Josh moved up for better access to foul or fly balls. He really wanted to get a ball. John didn't know how to explain to him the very steep odds against getting a ball.

Watching the Giants warm up all along the left field line, just feet from their seats!

Starting pitcher Barry Zito takes the field, along with the catcher and pitching coach (again, just feet away from Josh and John).

YAY!!!!! Josh got a ball!!!!!!! The ball boy tossed him one of the foul balls. Very, very exciting.

Assuming its place of honor in Josh's room:

Josh's 6th birthday party

Josh celebrated his 6th birthday with several friends at the Saginaw Aquatic Center. We rented one of the pavilions and had a great time. The temperatures were in the 90s so it was definitely hot enough to enjoy the water, and the gray skies kept others away, so we didn't have to fight crowds either. It was great. The children's play area of the pool (pictured below) was a good half of the entire pool grounds, so there was lots of room for the kids to swim and play.




Birthday boy!




Enjoying birthday cupcakes (and time with Ashlyn):




Happy Birthday Josh! (Lucas said this over and over; he was really happy to celebrate Josh's birthday. I showed him how to make a six with his fingers, using five fingers on one hand and one finger on the other hand. He goes around telling people Josh is 6, and sticking up one finger. No matter how many times I try to show him again, he keeps doing that. It's totally cute.)





Post-party crab leg dinner:



Josh learns to crack crab:

Sprinklers!

One of the boys' birthday gifts (this one was technically for Josh, but who are we kidding, they only get proprietary rights to their toys for the first 30 minutes or so before they become communal), was a Buzz Lightyear sprinkler. Rather than being a passive outlet for water, this one is interactive. The water goes through the hose to a control lever, which you can ease forward (or blast forward) to control the flow of water past the lever and into the base for the rocket. The force of the water determines how high the rocket goes and how fast it climbs.

Lucas likes to BLAST it. Even if he starts slow, it is just a trick. At some point he will send it full throttle. The rocket shoots off the spray of water, and Josh tries to catch it as it comes back down. Here is Lucas starting a blast-off:



Josh is getting pretty good at controlling the flow of water and easing it upward, so he can raise the rocket steadily and get it to stay on the water beam even when it's way up high.

Initiating launch:



And higher:



And higher!



Enjoying the sprinkler effect with a steady, set flow:

To infinity, and beyond!

On a side note, Portland is having record June rainfall. It is not warm there yet either. We are enjoying our Texas summer!

Indy Car Race Day

Josh and John were given tickets to the Indy car race at Texas Motor Speedway last Saturday. They got to see nascar cars and racing trucks beforehand, and a special exhibition from Robbie Knievel jumping over a long line of ambulances.

Then, of course, they got to see the real racing action, at least through 100 laps. They left early and caught the end of the race at home. Danica Patrick made a run at the end but ultimately finished in second place. The car Josh was rooting for fell back too, but another car on the same "team" won, so he was still excited.







(It was really loud in person.)

The cake in action (play video)

Cake and presents

Spiderman swings into action to save the day from Goblin, Sandman, and Venom! And to wish Lucas a Happy Birthday!










And if that wasn't exciting enough, then there were presents! It's fun to be the birthday boy!

3.

Lucas is three today. Happy Birthday Lucas!

Lucas is VERY excited for his birthday. We had an early celebration last weekend while Gammy and Poppa were here from California, and he was thrilled. He sang happy birthday to himself for days afterward.


All he really wanted was a Spiderman cake. He is getting a relatively extravagant one (by 3-yr-old standards) today. Last weekend, it was Spiderman cupcakes, and he loved them.





The oversmile:




The chocolate face:





The longhorns (in spiderman colors to match his new birthday spiderman t-shirt):




And another big oversmile on the "Lucas" star on the Fort Worth Stockyards Walk of Fame (I think it is for someone named Tad Lucas, though I don't know my cowboys so I might have the name wrong. Lucas is standing on the first name so that it more accurately describes our little star):

We love you Lucas!

Josh graduates (live)(ish)

When I was a kid, and received a certificate or won an award, I would ~dart~ across the stage as quick as I could to get to the podium, get my document, and get off the stage.



It seems Josh takes after me.

P.S. They did announce his name as "Josh Markley". The sound is distorted on this video (at least on my home computer) and it sounds like Jonah Hurley or something, but they were in fact calling him by his correct name.