...and we're off!

....to the beginning of another school year, that is!

Here he is on his first day as a third grader:

I'm so proud of him!

I have to say I'm looking forward to going back to our "routine" which will include a not-so-fun return to the gym! 

So here is the cover and a few pages of the latest camping album I just finished. 

Happy Wednesday!

Where'd the Summer Go???

So I haven't blogged because I've been gone most of this short summer! Darren starts school a week from tomorrow. Yikes!

We came back from our last "big" camping trip of the summer at Wishon Village in Fresno County. The campground was a disappointment {can you say RV park? blah!} but the lake was gorgeous. The water was so clear and cold and the kids LOVED all of the granite rocks to climb and what they dubbed as "Rock Island." Here they are fishing on it:

Here's Darren showing off the only trout we caught on this trip:

Bruce diving off the rocks:

Yeah, we did more tie-dying {I think it's a tradition now!}

We brought Bella along on the trip!

Roasting s'mores with kids from the campsite across from us. Um, those kids are a whole other story!

On a scrapbooking note, here are the last few pages of my Style File mini book that I finished from Vee's online class.

front cover:

back:

Ginger & I scrapped at Scrapbook Territory last night and I just about finished yet another camping book. I'll post a few pictures soon.

Stuck at home on a Friday night

I managed to catch my husband's stomach virus and had to miss out on scrapping with the girls tonight at Scrapbook Territory.

Major bummers.

I'm sitting in my scrap room with my dog Bella and got caught up on my Style File class I'm taking from the fabulous Vee Jennings.

Here is what I have so far:

{gpoy: grab a picture of yourself!}

Enjoy the weekend!

I Will Follow...

Yeah, love that song by U2 but that's not what I'm talking about! :-P

I am curious as to why I have one public follower {thanks Marie! LOL} and yet have over 13,000 hits on my blog. 

I know. I'm confused!

If you are a follower, would you kindly join my follower list? I totally respect if you choose to follow blogs anonymously but I would love to leave some love on your blog if you visit here {even if it's only once in a while!}

OK - off to do a few days of catch-up on Vee's online workshop before I get too far behind! I promise to post some pictures tomorrow!

Heritage Album and Peter Pan

I've dropped the ball on finishing this album that I so desperately started way back when but have since been sidetracked with learning how to create digital scrapbook pages, teaching summer school, camping trips and maybe just being lazy! It's summer, right?

Here's the finished album. I'm in love with it!

I'm on Day #2 of Vee's Style File online workshop and am actually enjoying the process and the mini-book we're creating. I always love to see other crafter's interpretation in the end so I'm looking forward to that.

Tomorrow I'm taking my little guy and seeing the stage production of Peter Pan at Ferry Park in San Francisco tomorrow.  It's presented in a 360-degree format and I've only heard great things about it. 

a style file and a guilty pleasure

I just signed up for Vee's Style Files Recorded online class. 

This will be my second class of hers I've taken. I adore her style and have been wanting to do something with my mounds of clothing tags and receipts and what-not and this gives me the perfect platform to use it all and learn a little something! If you're interested in registering you need to register by the 20th so get cracking!

Tomorrow I'm going to see Rick Springfield at the San Mateo County Fair.

Yes. 

I said it.

Rick Springfield.

Ha Ha

I'm all about the 80's and ya can't beat a $8 concert, right?

Coastal Camping and some Digi Layouts

We just returned from 5 nights at Gualala River Redwood Park up in the southern end of Mendocino County. It's now one of my favorite places to camp. We camped with 6 other families from town and had a blast. The kids climbed trees, rode bikes, swam and kayaked in the river and even made their first tie-dye shirts! Here are a few of my favorite shots:

LOVING our trailer!

The Cathedral of Trees

All of the kids wearing their new tie-dye shirts! Love it!

Here's a view of the Pacific Ocean from Hwy 1 on our drive down the coast. So beautiful!

Before I left on this trip I won a free digital scrapbook kit from Sausan Designs. Here are two layouts I did today using the Love Generation kit. It was the perfect kit to use for our camping trip.

How is your summer going?