How Can It Be!

I am in total shock it has been almost a month since my last post. Life has been full and fun and I have not been blogging here. My adopted sister Jaclyn and I have started a mom blog as well as have been laying some strong foundations for a new business so there have been additional time demands. If you so desire, check out the other blog: www.ginandzin.com. It is a mom blog where we write and then we also publish other mom's stories and interviews once per week. It is a great outlet but really there to bring women together even if only on a screen. We have both been putting in 5-15 hours per week on both fun and new tasks. So, something has to give in order to make room for that time.

We've been having a blast and a half of a summer, I feel so grounded when we are home and then we travel and we feel like we could just live in the trailer. It is very liberating to be self (almost!) sufficient for a while, and have new surroundings, adventures, stories, and memories.

And then a return home also feels good. After we returned from our last camp trip I stayed in the garden until dark. I missed it and it had changed in the 4 days we had been gone. I tend to know it's nuances, the new vegetables starting, the ones that are almost ready, the flowers that should be picked. After even one day of it's absence in my eyes it changes.

Here are some of my favorite photos recently with the garden in mind. I sure hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
This photo was taken just 2 weeks ago and now things are taller and taller!

 Dress gathering zinnias.

  I didn't want to miss my zinnias while we camped so I brought a bouquet with us.

 Most afternoons I make a veggie & cheese plate to share with our camp mates. Cucumber courtesy of home. It is pretty but we still ate it!

 I am in awe of the butternut squash plant. Pure AWE!

  I love watching the sunflower unfurl.

  Potato harvest the other night. 1 potato turned into 8 with water, sun, and 4 months.

Because what can be better than coffee in the garden???

The baskets are now uncovered from the garage. We are getting at least 3 cucumbers per day, 4 zucchini, and 4 yellow squash. The tomatoes are green and numerous but I've only harvested 3 so far.

We recently also expanded our dwindling flock from 4 to 10 hens and on the first day I collected 9 eggs. I am thrilled to have enough for us to not run out as well as share! Hopefully the ladies all get along...

Hope you enjoyed a glimpse into the garden. We are so grateful for the new soil from Earth Traders. 

Dirt don't Hurt

Memorial Day weekend brought a few camping opportunities. We decided to crash an amazing camp weekend at Stand Ready Ranch, just for the day. 

Owen was one with the earth. Dirt was in every crevice.

 Our friend Kelly put a lot into getting his property ready. He even milled trees and made picnic tables. The guest list was invite only and there were around 100 people there!

 Husky puppies were running about!

 I guess I do take a few photos of her. She climbed up and said, mom, I'm smiling. Take a picture of me.

 There were many buildings and things to explore on the property. This was one of my favorites. Built with cement and logs the structure was gorgeous.

 Porch view

 Me and my sister in law cheesin'

 The kids had a ball with some new friends... And their custom Little Tyke car with local sheriff sticker to boot!

 BBQ/Campfire site

 Saloon behind us and milled table underneath us.

 Expecting in October!

 I can't believe the thought crossed my mind... But I wanted this puppy!!!

 Corn hole sis.

 Picnic

 Totally normal.

 MOAB Mother of all Bonfires! We stayed late (until 9 with a 2 hour drive home!) to witness the MOAB. It was well WORTH it. It was very intense and the flames went sky high!

2 weeks later we went camping again to Cisco Grove. It was just a quick 2 hour drive from home taking us near Truckee. It takes longer than by car as we drive a little out of our way due to the long trailer and country roads. These short trips are really amazing compared to the 14 hour ones we have done.

We were here 2 years ago, with a cherub Ara and a uber young Owen. It is an RV park that we have all decided must have been really something about 25 years ago. The basketball courts have now been taken over by weeds, the wooden swing sets are begging to give out splinters. But you can tell that once it was really nice.

Fortunately we don't care about appearances! The ferns, pines, and red sticky snow plants make up for it. The kids created quite a camping gang, riding bikes and playing frisbees all day long. Never before had we seen the kids play in the streets all day long. It was like we went camping to live in a neighborhood for the weekend.

A few neighboring kids adopted our campsite as their own for the weekend. At first I was a little uncomfortable with this, wanting to control who was around my kids. But then I saw how much fun they were all having, sharing, and interacting in a free range open nature situation and I realized how beautiful this really was! Kids are so accepting and innately wanting to just play and get a long. It was truly heartwarming and such a good reminder to me- to continue letting go!

 Snuggles with Nana

 We went on a beautiful ride up to Signal point. We tried to make it to Lake Sterling, which is one of my favorite destinations ever, but the snow was still too deep. This is great news for drought recovery!

 Breathtaking views all around. About 7, 000 feet

 These are my people. This may be our future Xmas photo!

 Ara fell asleep during the last 5 minutes and I needed to hold her heavy helmeted head up. Camping is hard work!

 Chris was excited to put his newly made Corn hole set to use on his birthday.

 Trevor is Chris's charge RN partner at work. They spend more time together than we do. It was great to meet him and visit with Louanne again!

 Ara took quite a few photos this trip. This is my favorite. She's pointing her toe to get a good pic of it.

 Nana and Papa enjoyed corn hole as well.

These are the days! The dirty, memory making days!