August

Holy moly, where do I start? This was a long crazy month, and I'm tired out from all the fun. First off, Happy 30th Bday to my better half! We celebrated the milestone with a casual BBQ/pool party at a friends house, followed by purchasing his big present.. a BMX race bike! He grew up racing and now that Hunter is riding without training wheels, he wants to pick it back up again and ride alongside his son. We went to the track in Orange to check it out, about a 45 minute drive, and plan on getting both the boys started soon on Sunday evenings. What a great birthday!

The following weekend we celebrated my cousin, Curtis' beautiful wedding in Huntington Beach. His sweet new bride, Bianca, is a great addition to our family and we look forward to their big move back to California after Curtis finishes medical school in Florida. Hunter was the Ring Bearer, and although it wasn't a smooth walk down the aisle, he stood relatively still and quiet while standing up front. Not a complete disaster. Luckily Curtis and Bianca are both very easy going with a good sense of humor.

Next was another cousin, Jessie's, baby shower! Little Maximiliano Jacob Martinez. Not sure on the spelling of that... but mommy to be was as beautiful and happy as ever, and we had fun with the "she's about to pop" party. Can't wait to meet another new member of the family. We are growing by the month!

The next day we left for camping trip #2 to Convict Lake up by Mammoth with Nana (Vicki) and Tom. Warm days, cooooold nights. In fact, so cold we ended up staying in Tom and Vicki's trailer the rest of the trip. Our trusty old tent held up well in the wind but sure kept us awake with all the flapping. Hunter had a blast riding his bike most of every day. Skyler liked playing in the dirt, climbing rocks, and sitting in everyone's camp chairs by the fire. She was a little freaked out by her first s'more, but finished it none the less. There were lots of deer around and the kids even got to feed one that came right into our campsite! Such a cool memory. Chase caught a few fish, we had a picnic near the lake, and one day we went up the mountain 10 more miles to the city in Mammoth and Hunter went zip lining, rock climbing, and trampolining. We had a picnic lunch in the forest that day near an earthquake fault and Hunter and Chase had an echo contest. The 4 hour drives turned into 7 because we stopped for a few meals and pit stops along the way, which made the car ride more of an adventure and split it up a bit. We had a great time and although camping with kids is a TON of work, its so worth it.

We had 2 days to unpack and repack and then it was off to my parents' house for Hunter's 4th Birthday Party! Camping theme, of course!  We had a fishing game in the pond, a potato sack race, a bug scavenger hunt, roasted some hot dogs, smore's, mountain pies and banana boats. Hunter's big birthday present was his new BMX race bike, blue and black just like he wanted. Then some of the family chipped in and got him his racing pants, jersey, gloves and helmet! He's all set and ready to go now. On top of all the race gear, he got some great camping stuff, and LEGOS! He loves legos right now and I love legos right now because they keep him still and quiet and concentrated on something. Nothing else has kept his attention like this before. Yay for legos :) Happy 4th birthday to our little man. He's growing up so fast!

July

4th of July we began our camping trip to Lake Casitas up near Ventura. We were all filthy dirty from head to toe for 4 days and on overdrive from lack of sleep, but came home with really good memories. Our spot was overlooking the lake and had a playground next door, the weather was beautiful and hot, and nights were cool but not too cold. We saw deer, bald eagles, snakes, and tons and tons of cute little beasts called squirrels that chewed through our water bottles, paper towels and even our tent! Chase shot 4 with his BB gun :/  Along with a rattlesnake which the guys attempted to eat for dinner and all spit out because it tasted horrible. 

The first night was the 4th so we drove to the high school there in Ojai and watched the fireworks which was cut short after a ground level explosion. We later found out the guy putting it on was burned badly and transported to a burn unit in LA. Ugh. Speaking of burns... this is horrible and puts knots in my stomach to remember, but we had an accident that first night.... We had bought a pack of sparklers at the gas station and Hunter and the older kids were being really careful and having a blast playing with them. Chase lit one for me and Skyler to hold for a picture, she was on my lap and grabbed it and burned her poor little hand. :( It was really bad and blistered and she cried so hard. I dont think I've ever felt worse in my life. 

Moving on, we went to the waterpark on Friday and the kids loved it! Chase and my favorite was floating around the lazy river but that was too boring for the kids. They liked the slides and splash park, of course. The kids took their naps every day in the car with the AC on because it was way too hot to sleep in the tent. We roasted s'mores every night and told stories around the campfire, did a little fishing with no luck, and threw a lot of rocks into the water. We attended the junior ranger program sunday morning before we left where hunter and skyler earned their first patches :) 

Aside from the burn and a few noisy and inconsiderate neighbors, we had a good time and look forward to exploring new camping spots in and around california as the kids get older. We have one more trip planned later this summer with Chase's mom and Tom. Can't wait!

On our way home we stopped at an Ehrlich reunion and saw some of the Utah Ehrlichs and also Chase's "Aunt Pat", MaryLou's sister who visits rarely, such a fun afternoon being with the whole awesome family.

Since my parents and Grandma were touring Europe during my brother's birthday, we spent the day with him at Knott's Berry Farm and had a blast. As always, the kids love spending time with Uncle Andrew. And eating funnel cake.

Hunter has been on summer break from preschool for the past 5 weeks and returns the first week in August.  We passed the time with 2 sessions of swimming lessons and he is looking forward to seeing his teacher and friends again. We ended the month with Jake's Celebration of Life in Coto de Caza. It was such a perfect service full of laughter and great memories. His family made the best video of pictures and old family movies. The air force held the traditional gun shots and flag folding, it was unreal. Jake's high school youth leader led the service and told great stories he heard from Jake's friends. It was cool to remember him as he was, such a comedian, so full of laughter and jokes and adventure, lifting everyone's spirits even in a moment like this.  Miss him so much already.