Lake Camanche

The first weekend in August (and just following New Melones), the California Thomas clan all got together for camping at Lake Camanche. Kevin grew up going here, but we had never gone. In fact, in all my youth, I never remember camping at a lake. My family didn't do water sports, so when I first heard about this trip being planned, I was a little surprised. Mom and Pop rented a jet ski for a few days and the kids all paid for the gas (hardly a fair split). I opted to only camp for one night, as we had just been camping and again, I would be flying solo. The girls did awesome (again) and we had a great time lounging by the lake side and hanging out with the cousins. I hope the Thomas clan can have an annual camping trip together just like the Andrus clad does. Great memories!

Kevin actually made it up for Sat morning. It was a bust, though. We only stayed a few more hours. We felt like we were in the middle of little Mexico with all the mariachi music around us...
Grandpa didn't exactly have his weight balanced out with the grandkids on this boat ride ;)

Wyatt

I swear there are a couple pictures of Shannon and me posing just like this in camping somewhere

"Sleeping" Beauties - they loved sleeping in the tent

Carson cooking our tin foil dinners - Yeah for a man in camp!

Gma and Stella I love this pic with Dad and some of the grandkids

Say Cheese!

One more with Stella - all the Gkids on this trip: Reagan, Austin, Chloe, Ben, Stella, Charlie, Tilly, Nolan

Carson driving, Jon holding the flag, and Kevin being towed... quite the load to haul!

Great memories and lots of fun. Can't wait for next time!

Happy Birthday Tilly!

Happy 2nd Birthday Tilly! We love you!!

New Melones

This past weekend we celebrated the annual Andrus water ski trip to New Melones lake. It was a GREAT weekend. Because Kevin still didn't have PTO, I took the girls up by myself for the first 2 days. We left Thursday afternoon and the girls did pretty good driving up to the lake. When we arrived it was about 100 degrees and the girls wanted to go to the lake right away. So, Gma Karen and I took the girls with Jonah and Belle and hit the water. It was so refreshing. Unfortunately, I cut my foot, though. Major pain (literally) for the next few days.

When we got back to camp our tent was set up (thanks Uncle Scott) and we enjoyed dinner and hanging out with the cousins and playing around camp. Thankfully, once the sun set, the temperature dropped considerably and there was a slight breeze. Seriously, it was the best weather.

Since Kevin would only be coming up on Saturday, I had to get everything ready and packed. I did pretty well and only forgot one thing - Tilly's bottle! So, like it or not, she was going to bed without it. Thankfully, she was a champ. The first night was a little rough - she kept getting up and looking out the tent window and kept trying to play with her sisters. Charlie fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow. Chloe wasn't far behind. Finally, around 11pm, Tilly crashed. And of course, they were all up by 7am. Boo! But, they all slept through the night. Yeah!

Friday we spent all day at the lake. The hot temperatures allowed us all to enjoy getting in the lake. There was the boat, a jet ski, kayaks, and inner tubes to keep us all busy. The girls LOVED being in the water all day and thankfully, Karen was able to get Tilly and Charlie to fall asleep in her arms and eventually lay them down for a nap! YEAHHH Karen! We only had one major breakdown right before dinner. I packed them all up and headed for the showers. We got all cleaned up and then sat in the car with the AC running for another half hour while we waited for everyone else to return from the lake. Thankfully, this did the trick. They were champs the rest of the night. And Tilly, once again, was up late, but did pretty well for no bottle.

Saturday, Kevin arrived bright and early (YEAH!!). I was so happy to see him. I missed him and all the fun we were having without him made me miss him! The girls were thrilled to see him and were hopping around all morning asking when we could go to the lake! They really love the water!

Saturday was much like Friday - all day in the water. We left a little earlier than everyone else because we wanted to get home and the girls in their beds. Of course, they slept the whole ride home, except Chloe, and once we pulled into the driveway they were up and running again with the neighbor girl.

Going Green

So, for the month of July I wanted to line dry our clothes to see if there was really any difference in our PG&E bill AND because there is usually a stretch of unusually hot weather, I didn't want to add to the heat of the house by running the dryer. You know - trying to cool my house while blowing hot air into it by running the dryer. I received a bill mid-July and the bill was down about $20, so I figure that the next bill will be down around $40 since it will be for a whole month! Granted, it probably isn't the biggest savings, but it does keep the house a little cooler and I have to admit that I LOVE the way the clothes feel and smell (all except the towels, still trying to get used to them a little stiffer). I have about 4 lines strung up in the backyard. So yeah to me for going green!