paulina lake 2014

we headed down to paulina lake the last week in august. thankfully, the drive there was uneventful (or at least, if it wasn't, i've blocked it out by now). 

my special ones.

the elder little.

he had so much fun with the hammock!

s, & a rare sighting of mommy

yummy breakfast!

it is cold in the morning at paulina lake

the lake

we tortured ourselves and the children by embarking on the hike to the hot springs. it lasted forever, and felt like a death march, since we had to carry s most of the way.  and when we got to the hot springs, it was too hot to appreciate them. :( 

z got really hot on the way back and took his shirt off. he was a good sport, and i'm proud that he made it the whole way.

just a tiny collection of clips of a chippy, some slack lining, and kayaking.

z had fun throwing rocks in the water.

my littles and myself!

 our nice neighbors, the w's, joined us at our campsite for two nights. it was fun having friends along! we all drove up to paulina peak together, and j took his bike along so he could ride down the trails back to the campsite. on the way up, i found a bit of cell phone coverage, which was lucky, because it allowed me to check my email (there is no cell phone coverage at paulina lake). i had received a message from the hope chinese charter school, saying that they had room for z, and that we had 24 hours to get back to them. i couldn't believe the timing! with doubts about the whole immersion thing vs auditory processing issues churning in my mind, i immediately called the school anyway and said yes. j wasn't completely on board with the whole idea. i think he's warmed to it by now (late november). 

family pic at paulina peak

z, s, & neighbor k

you can see paulina lake on the left and east lake on the right.

z with neighbor k & f at the tippy-top of paulina peak

sweet version

silly version

ecstatic version!!!

sunrise

so beautiful, how the sun is shining on the peak

waiting for the "kids" to return from kayaking

he made it! where's f?