Smokin' Hot Summer

Hello from Northern Cali! Thanks for all the posts family. I feel warm and fuzzy and so much closer to you all already. It is fun to read about all the goings-on and see all the pictures.

Mid-summer in Sacramento and it's hot and it's smoky. Wildfires throughout the state have had our valley hazy with smoke for weeks. Today was especially bad - much like being in a think fog only worse for your health. The result is the children have to stay inside all day. The boys field trip tomorrow to the wildlife preserve was canceled and replaced with a trip to the Sky High Trampoline Center (I don't think the boys mind this smoke stuff all that much). We decided to try to escape the city and head to Lake Tahoe last weekend - still smoky up there and the lake was choppy and cold, but we still had a great time.

Speaking of the lake, our tween Jal is now a legal boat driver. He and Larry took a class at the Sac State Aquatic Center and Jal passed the boating and waterways test. We celebrated by giving him his own key and floating keychain and taking him to the lake to drive us around.



Quillan used the opportunity at the lake to show off his wakeboarding skills. He's quite a ham and enjoyed letting go of the handle to wave at all of us. Tawny is a little fish. She loves to jump into the lake. She really surprised us this summer, since she hadn't been in a pool since last year at Nana and Papa's house, by fearlessly jumping into our friends pool as soon as we had her swim gear on. And on the subject of gear, the picture of her was taken as we were taking off her cover up. The life jacket went right back on!

Other than our fun outings and time spent with friends it's just the usual routine around here. Busy, busy. We need to catch the moments we can to just relax. Speaking of which..."So You Think You Can Dance" is on and Larry and I have to discuss who to vote for (we don't actually vote, but our opinions matter a lot to us). Talk to y'all again soon!

Love, Paula and Co.