210. Life in Slow Motion

Allan's parents arrived late last night; 

They will be spending a few days with us.

So that means that for the next few days, 

life is in slow motion!

205. 206. 207. 208. & 209. Big Bear Lake

We went to Big Bear Lake for 4 days. It was a wonderful vacation and we had a great time!

While in Big Bear, I didn't check my email, checked my Facebook only once and obviously, didn't post any photos on my Blog... I was truly on vacation!

So this post is a re-cap of our four days;

We arrived Saturday, around lunch time. We didn't know this, but on that day, their was a Bike race!

Our cabin was located just past the "Village". But there was a lot of traffic and we actually had to take a detour to find it. We finally had lunch at about 2:00 PM; We were all starving!

We ate at a Mexican restaurant called: El Jacalito.

 We also checked out the beaches around the lake and found a dog beach! Naturally, we took the dogs there later in the afternoon...

On Sunday, we went Jet Skiing with Greg (yes, he came with us to Big Bear). While the weather was beautiful, the lake was pretty crowded which made for "choppy" conditions. We still had a great time!

That evening, we had "S'Mores"! Due to the Fire Danger being on "High" this time of year, we couldn't make a fire in a pit. So we had to be creative and used the BBQ at the cabin...

Monday was probably the most memorable day... We went hiking in the morning and boating in the late afternoon. We took the "Sky Chair" at Snow Summit to get to the top of the mountain and hiked down. Beautiful views all around and plenty of exercise!

We chartered a boat for three hours: 4:30 PM to 7:30 PM.
The kids went tubing and Christina and Anthony tried "wakeboarding". Nicholas pulled a muscle a few weeks ago and didn't want to take the chance to re-injure himself so he stayed off the wakeboard. And Allan did a little water skiing also.
It was fun to watch as the kids saw their old dad water skiing! They were so impressed!

 Finally, on Tuesday morning, Nicholas, Greg, Rocky and myself went for a hike in the beautiful woods surrounding the lake.

When we got back, all of us went for a canoe ride on the lake. It was a fun activity that we could all do and that we all wanted to try.
We left after lunch and have been talking about going back ever since we got back!

204. Self Portrait 6

On Wednesday, when we went to Pyramid Lake for some Jet Skiing fun, I tried to take a few self portraits. It was a little tricky; I had to put the camera on a rock as I didn't have a tripod and I had to use the self timer. Choosing a point of focus and then running to take position at that point is difficult enough, but choosing the right aperture to make sure that there is enough depth of field is also very tricky. I had to try more than once. Finally, it looked like I had found the right focus point and the right aperture. So I set up the camera and just as I was getting into position, I slipped and almost fell! Hence, the first photo. Eventually, I was able to get into position at the right time, getting the second shot...

203. Out of Commission

Anthony twisted his ankle today;

It happened BEFORE he even started to practice soccer!

He went with Allan to Christina's soccer practice and they were going to have their own mini practice.

Apparently, Anthony did what he does best:

He did something without thinking of the consequences

and ended up twisting his ankle!

It is already swollen and bruised and he is definitively limping...

I was going to take the kids to Six Flags tomorrow... I guess that's out of the question, now!

202. Pyramid Lake

Spent the day at Pyramid Lake with Greg; It was a wonderful day, filled with a lot of fun!

We have been going to Pyramid Lake with Greg for numerous years; At first it was just the boys. Allan, Nicholas and Anthony would go with Greg while the girls would stay at home. But one day, 4 years ago, Nicholas was sick and Christina went along. That's when everything changed...

Now the whole family goes with Greg and enjoys his Jet Skis! We all ride the Jet skis to a little beach, and then we take turn going for rides and having fun. Well, Greg, Allan and the kids take turn; I am just happy to stay on the beach, keep an eye on our lunch and stuff and take lots of pictures! 

This year, Greg gave Nicholas permission to drive one of the Jet Ski, as long as there is an adult with him. So Allan gladly went along for the ride. The funny thing is that Nicholas threw Allan off twice!!!

The first time, it was just him and Allan and he threw him off. Then, at the end of the day, all three boys were riding one jet ski while Greg was giving a ride to Christina. They were having fun and Nicholas was definitely getting comfortable driving the jet ski. So he was more daring, taking more sharp turns and jumping waves, going in a figure eight, etc. And before long, both Allan and Anthony were thrown off! Everyone had a good laugh! 

201. New Hats

  

Made a couple of new hats for Christina;

Another little "skullie" and a "visor cap". 

They both turned out great and Christina is happy with the results.

Next project, a classic "beret". 

200. Time

There are only 5 months left to this year! We are already more than half way there... I can't believe how fast time flies! I know I didn't post every single day; there has been some technical difficulties along the way that made it impossible to post. And some days, I just don't have anything that inspire me. But, on the other hand, a lot of posts have more than one photograph! So, even if at the end of the year, I don't have exactly 365 posts, I know that I have done well. Again, the idea behind this Blog was to make more photographs and to document my day to day life. This way, when I look back, ten years from now, I will have a pretty good record of what happen in 2011!

Now that we are in August, days are going to go by faster... School begins in 3 weeks, soccer will follow shortly after. Pretty soon it will be Fall, filled with birthdays and holidays. And then Christmas will be upon us again! No matter how much we try to slow things down, time, it seems, just keeps going!