Ashlynn Takes a Surfing Lesson...

Ashlynn decided at the last minute to join her cousins for a surfing lesson. She built on some of the basics she’d learned back in Holland and managed to stand up on the board in the low waves. Glad that Debbie was there to capture the moment since I was hanging with Veronica back at the condo.

Ashlynn enjoyed being with Jimmy, Johnny and Justice for the lesson at a beach north of our condo. Once back at our beach, she was more hesitant to try out her new skills. Jimmy liked zipping along on his skim board, which brought back memories of my one attempt in 1996 that led to a broken ankle--needless to say, I just watched.

In Search of Turtles...

Sea turtle nests are scattered across the Florida coast. We grabbed flashlights and ventured out in search of any sign of life. We got very excited when we saw a group of people with flashlights near the water’s edge, but it turned out to be just some folks playing with crabs. There were several areas marked as nests, but we have no idea how they were identified as such since the sand there looks like all the rest of the beach.

We may not have found any turtles, but that didn’t stop the kids from having fun.

Fun on the Beach...

Our days were very unstructured with plenty of time to play in the surf and the pool. Unlike other beaches, we had to keep alert so we wouldn’t be hit by the cars that are allowed on this beach.

We had great weather! It was cooler than previous visits and never rained. Ashlynn scraped her nose in the pool and had to be extra careful not to get it sunburned.

Off to the Beach with Jimmy's Family...

 After 2.5 weeks in California, it was time to head to Florida. This year, we were meeting Jimmy’s family  in St. Augustine for four nights in condos. We did some major grocery shopping with Debbie, then decided to skip cooking in favor of dinner by the water. Here we are with John and Justice.

Service was incredibly slow, but it was fun having dinner in these cabanas. The other nights, we took turns cooking dinner then serving it in Debbie’s condo, which had the best location and a giant wraparound porch.

Celebrating our Birthdays with Family...

Every year, Dad throws a summer party. It just happened that this year’s party fell on his 71st birthday. In addition to the whole family, he had his oldest college buddy, some old work friends and a few neighbors. The Mexican caterer made great fajitas and Leigh made great margaritas. Alex had to work, but he came to pick up Eden and we gave them our wedding gift. Eden especially liked the baseball cap we bought her in Scotland since Alex is from Glasgow. Dad’s showing off his new jacket from the girls’ school.

Full Immersion on the American River...

On the 2nd day, we did the 11-mile Chili Bar run, the upper run on the South Fork of the American River, which is the most popular white water run west of the Rockies. We did 7 Class II and 4 Class III rapids (Meatgrinder, Maya, Triple Threat and Troublemaker). Here you can really see that when we hit a Class III, we’re completely immersed in the water. What a rush! It still amazes me that we never fell off. We also managed to do a little surfing in our raft (which is usually something kayaks do, not rafts) when Colin found the perfect standing wave for us to balance on. We stopped for a picnic lunch at Sutter’s Mill, where gold was discovered in 1848, then went back there in the afternoon to try our hand at panning for gold. Afterwards, we made a stop at Holly and Carl’s. They’ve lived in Sacramento for over 22 years and this was the first time we’d been to visit. We sure managed to cram in a lot of fun in these three days!

Can’t Keep ’em Out of the Water...

Despite cold water temperatures, the girls went into the river several times. They especially liked going down small rapids in their personal flotation devices (they’re not called “life vests” while white water rafting because they’re not guaranteed to save your life). I finally gave in and went in for one small rapid. Have very fond memories of doing the same thing when I was in summer camp as a kid, but somehow didn’t like it nearly as much as an old lady. Back at camp, Ashlynn got recruited to help cook dessert, which was a cake baked in an cast iron pot over a charcoal grill; it was delicious as was the rest of dinner. Jimmy enjoyed teaching some of the raft guides how to juggle. I enjoyed that I had two thermal pads under my sleeping bag so I could actually sleep comfortably.