Memorial Day

The girls and I at Twin Bridges and Mt. Lassen in the back (you just can't see it)

Matthew at the bridge

Eating the strawberry popsicle

Daddy's fish

Mattie enjoying a fresh strawberry

Picnic at Hat Creek

Ches and her feather at Grace Lake

Sleepy girls after their late night in the tent

Matthew and I ready for bed in the tent

Mattie and mamma

The girlies

Our first harvest-holy cabbage and tiny garlic

Enjoying homemade ice cream

Our cat Jersie checking out the tent

Backyard camping

I wanted to go away, Matthew didn't want to take another road trip. He wanted to stay home and get stuff done, I wanted to leave so that we could take a break from getting stuff done. I consented, he won. We put in a new lawn a few months ago and part of it was turning brown, it wasn't getting enough water. So Matthew had to put in more sprinklers, we had to stay home. So Saturday was spent putting and moving sprinklers. I was able to get a 3 mile walk in, alone and glorious. I took Matthew's Ipod and am amazed how quickly the miles pass when you are listening to music (David Cook's Permanent is amazing!) The girls swam in the pool and we all pitched in to help Matthew.

Sunday we went to church and then went to the new Trader Joe's in town. After lunch we all took a nap and then enjoyed eggplant and rice, a Miller family favorite. We also made home made ice cream, my grandma Burris' recipe. And since we have the new lawn Matthew thought it would be fun to camp out. Let me tell you, camping in your backyard is so much easier than hauling all your stuff to a camp site. The girls thought it was the greatest thing and we had a lakeside site (well pool side). Mattie told Matthew that this was going to be the best night she ever had. And when Matthew was setting up the tent and bringing the sleeping bags out Chesnie asked if she could go to sleep, it was only 6 o'clock. Note to self, you want the kids to go to bed early, set up a tent. But alas, with all the excitement the girls talked and laughed till 10pm. This is what memories are made of, something my mom would say. I remember begging my parents to be able to camp out in our yard so I am passing down a little bit of my childhood.

Monday we woke, not as early as Matthew wanted due to the late night, and got ready to go to the mountains for fishing. We packed our picnic lunch and headed out. First stop was Grace Lake in Shingletown. We weren't going to stop but Mattie was getting car sick and wanted out of the car. The lake was very crowded but we found a spot and fished. No fish were caught but the girls found lots of sticks and Ches found a large feather. We then went to the store to buy Mattie some Dramamine so she wouldn't get sick and headed to Hat Creek. There we had our picnic beside the river and the girls were more interested in putting in their feet and throwing rocks than fishing. So Matthew did all the fishing and actually caught one. Chesnie wanted to hold it and pet it and she even tried to kiss it. Gross! After a little more fishing by daddy we went to the store and the girls got a popsicle, a special treat, and loved every lick of it. Matthew and I enjoyed a quite trip home with two sleeping girls that were tuckered out from a great day.

So we may not have gone away but we did enjoy our family and the places that we call home and made some memories too!