Summer Catch-up

We had lots of fun in California this summer.  Here's a photo review of some of the highlights we haven't mentioned yet:

 We had lots of tea parties!  We got to share some with Grammy and cousins (and stuffed monkeys)!

 We had a surprise birthday party for Grammy.  Making party hats was Eliza's idea!

 We got to know some animals like the little frog in Grammy's hand and the cat in the background.

 My sister-in-law Elizabeth and I made a dress for her daughter out of fabric we got from a friend.

 My Grandpa Carl and Lois came to visit.  We took a day trip to Coloma, but mostly just spent time talking.

 Caleb latched right onto Grandpa.

 We met up with my Uncle Kevin in Coloma, even though the lack of cell phone reception made finding each other tough.  Kevin showed Mike and the kids how to pan for gold, which Mike thought could be pretty addicting.  I chatted with Grandpa about family history.

 It was a toasty day, so we stopped at a frozen yogurt place on the way home.

 I really wanted to make some blackberry jam to take home with us, so much so that I got up at 6am on a Saturday (with Mike, of course) to go pick wild (thorny) blackberries on the side of the road.  We picked for an hour and a half or so and got enough berries to make 10 quarts (we go through jam fast, so quarts are much more efficient than pints) of jam and still have some berries for munching.

 I love that Mike is so helpful in the kitchen, especially with canning projects.  By lunch time we had the jam finished and our mess cleaned up.

The day before we left, Grammy had a special tea party (with real food) for Eliza and Caleb.  She talked with them about all the fun things they did this summer.