Happy 14th Birthday, Adam!

Adam turned 14 on Sunday. Traditionally, I ask the birthday child to give me his requests for all the meals on the big day, as well as what kind of cake (flavor, ice cream or regular, store-bought or homemade, etc.) he wants. Adam wanted pancakes for breakfast - no problem, Chad makes a mean pancake. He wanted pizza for lunch - this posed a bit of a problem because the birthday was on a Sunday, so we couldn't order delivery pizza. So Adam happily settled for frozen pizza (Eeew). And forget a traditional birthday cake - Adam wanted No-Bake Cookies. So I improvised. Three sizes of circle cookie cutters later, ta-da! A "layer cake" complete with sprinkles and a candle.

And Adam was very happy.

Lake Nacimiento

The lakehouse we stayed in.

The views from said house.


The boat slip where we parked every evening.

The extremely steep pathway we traversed, carrying ice chests, wet towels and life jackets, and kids. Ugh!

We saw deer EVERYWHERE, eating right out of people's yards and walking across the street in front of us.


This was a trip full of "firsts" for us - Sophie came out from under the dash and rode up front, I wakeboarded (so sore the next day, thought I was going to die), Adam got back on a tube after over a year of only riding, I drove the boat while Chad tubed, we played games together and laughed a lot. Yay!




Kindly ignore the bad form!



Megan had a bad wipeout while wakeboarding. Face plant!







Lake Nacimiento narrows into a canyon which stretches on forever and isn't crowded. This is where we saw a bald eagle snatch a fish right out of the water right in front of us. Having never seen a bald eagle in person before, this was a highlight.

Back at the house...



Chad's very favorite vacation activity: reading a good book on a soft couch with beard stubble, and comfortable (read: sloppy) clothes.

Some photos of the Great Graham Adventure

It was so much fun having my family in town! I miss them already!


It was cold at the beach!

My niece Haley and I, lounging at Trent's pool.

Birthday Party for nephew Michael - swimming, pizza, and treats from the ice cream truck.