We Haven't Been Doing Anything Exciting.

Except for watching THE INCREDIBLES!!!!! A classic, by all accounts, The Incredibles is a family favorite that goes way back.

Just thought you ought to know.

Revisit your favorite Disney movies today!

Love,

Anonymous

Summer Adventure #2- Discovery Kingdom

 So for our very latest Summer Adventure, we went to 6 Flags Discovery Kingdom, aka Marine World. We had a grand old time, although we faced a few of obstacles in getting there!

 Our first obstacle occurred after we drove the approximately 3 hours, and had arrived at the park!  There had been a mix up, and rather than buying Discovery Kingdom tickets, we had indeed purchased Great America (another amusement park in California) tickets.  Problem.  Well, now we have 7 Great America tickets, and 7 Discovery Kingdom passes that are valid through September!  Looks like we will be back.

Well, we got into the park and  began to ride all of the rides.  We started with the biggest roller coasters and then went on to some of the tame, less jarring ones.  

 One of our family's favorite rides are the swings.

 Traditionally we go on the swings after especially wet water rides.

 We call the swings our "drying cycle"

 As you can see, we all had a grand time!  Also, for the first time in Houghton history, we stuck together the entire day because EVERYONE was brave enough (and tall enough) to go on all the rides (although, admittedly, Tess did sit out on a couple of the scariest looking rides- she was our faithful bag-holder instead)

 One of my favorite parts of the day was seeing the dolphins perform :)  Afterwards, we couldn't help but notice, the trainers throw a bunch of balls in the pool, and the dolphins commenced with a game of what looked suspiciously like Water Polo... (At least that's what Dad thinks)

 For the record, Eliza claims to have suffered multiple minor-concussions throughout the day.  I guess the roller coasters were a little bumpy...

Following the leader, the leader, the leader, we're following the leader (doo, doo, doo, doo, de, dum)

 Despite the sting ray's evasive maneuvers, Eliza's long arms did eventually reach him...

 The other show we went to was Shouka the killer whale's!  Killer whales (orcas) are pretty much awesome by the way.  

 Shouka didn't disappoint.

 Eliza and I were talking and we decided, only humans could come up with a concept like this.  Someone must have said: "I have a great idea!  Let's take a lot of money and build these giant machines that simulate the final moments of vehicles before they crash, and let's make them perfectly safe.  Then people will come and pay hundreds of dollars to be thrown around by these machines and get adrenaline rushes!!"  

Well, I like  it.

 As the park closed we had a race on our killer whales.  Tess knew I was going to win from the very start, you can tell by the look on her face :)

 By the end we were all very tired, so we headed back to the magical school bus (cough), oh I mean Babe- the big blue ox.

We stopped to "feed the machines" on the way home, at Levi's very favorite place to eat!

And eventually we made it home, tired, but well-fed and happy after another awesome adventure!

Other News:

• My neck hurts- a lot.  There's something wrong with it.
• Eliza's house-sitting
• Summer homework continues for Tess and Marta.
• Much needed house cleaning is commencing- our latest list includes window cleaning and re-staining the porch railings.
• Life goes on.

A note on the whole summer adventure thing:  When we were at conference this last weekend, Elder Ballard counselled us to "make memories" with our families.  I guess, this is our way of doing that.

Love,

Marta

Summer Adventure #1

Because Dad isn't going to hike the John Muir Trail this year, we've scheduled family mini-vacations all throughout the summer instead.  This will probably be our last summer with everyone at home, so we're trying to make it count.  Our first mini-vacation was to the woods!  We packed up on Saturday, and on Monday morning we took off to Yosemite with backpacks, bikes, and kids in tow.  

 Takeoff from the trail head in Tuolumne Meadows.  Lightest pack: estimated 28 lb (Levi), heaviest pack: estimated 44 lb (Dad).  With everyone else in between.

 And we're off with Bandanas, hiking poles, sun glasses, and more.

 Bug spray, the most important thing you can bring hiking.  One must protect oneself from the ravenous hordes of mosquitoes!!

 We believe in the buddy system, Luke and Levi were the leading pair.  We also believe in lolli pops.  They make hiking happier...

 No comment.

 Our destination was Young Lake.  There are actually three Young Lakes, but we camped at the first and hiked up to the second and third the next day.  This was the last fork in the road.

 When we finally reached camp after hiking about 6.5 miles and climbing an estimated bagillion feet in elevation, everyone took a break.

 Oh, except for Bandit Dad, he was ready to hike another 12 miles.

 Everyone found a comfy rock to lay out on, and we sunned like lizards.

 At camp...

 Kitchens are an important part of camping.  This was our fridge, and below you will see our lovely kitchen, complete with granite counter tops and propane stoves.

 Dinner consisted of Jumbalaya, broccoli soup, and cheese cake for dessert!!

 Yes, one should always eat cheesecake while backpacking.  It is essential.

Here's a picture of Young Lake, and the mountains surrounding it at about dusk.  To the right, out of the picture was Ragged Peak, the mountain that towered over us for the duration of our stay

 We were all very prepared for the chilly weather in the morning, especially Luke.

The camera was dying, so we don't have many pictures of the second day, but this is all of us at lunch time, hiking out on Tuesday.  

After we reached Babe once again, we drove to Rainbow Pool and dunked, cleaning off the worst of the grime!! (It was ridiculously cold, I don't think I understood the word breath-taking until I jumped in that water...)

Overall, our first adventure was considered a rousing success.  We came home to find our house thoroughly heart-attacked, with hearts even in the fridge!  

Update on the rest of the family: 

• Evening Water Polo and a.m. swim practice have commenced for the kids
• This weekend we are having stake conference, and Elder Ballard, of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles is coming to speak to us. (http://www.lds.org/church/leaders/quorum-of-the-twelve-apostles?lang=eng)
• 
  

School's Out! And. . .

Luke graduated from High School!

Here he is receiving his award for being valedictorian from his Principal, Todd Dearden.  

Doesn't he look handsome?  And smart?  And graduated!  

He gave a good speech--all 500 words of it. 

Grandma Houghton even came from Utah especially to see Luke graduate  

and hear him give his speech.   

Unfortunately, there was a large pole situated between the podium

and where the family was sitting.

So we think it was him giving the speech.  

He also sang "The Star Spangled Banner" with a trio at graduation.  

We could see that. 

 All the other kids thanked their parents in a pre-recorded prelude sound byte.  

Luke thanked his English teacher.  

We still celebrated with a post-graduation dessert 

of chocolate dipped strawberries and lemon cake.

Then Luke and Marta went to "sober grad" and stayed up all night.

After sleeping most of the day, they joined us for a celebratory evening at Pinecrest--

kayaking, BBQ, and movie night.

Levi navigating the obstacle course at his birthday party.

Levi is 12!!!  This means a lot of things.

1. He now has the Aaronic Priesthood. If you don't know what this is, you can go here.
2. A family rule, he now has to buy all his own clothing (Mom and Dad do help if we really need it)
3. Another family rule, he has to do his own laundry (Mom is so excited!!)
4. He can sit in the front seat when his older siblings, such as myself, are present
5. He got a birthday party (in our family, we have them at specific ages)--pretty much 5, 12, and 16.
6. He gets to give talks in Sacrament Meeting (the big adult meeting) on Sunday at church.

Twain Harte Lake's Open

But it snowed over Memorial Day weekend, so there's not much swimming going on.  

Therefore, the lifeguards aren't getting many hours.  

All the more playing with friends for Luke.

More reading and running for Eliza.

No job for Marta.  She's still looking!

Previous year's summer polo group--Marta on back row with white cap, and Tess in rainbow suit on front.  

Summer Activities Begin

Marta and Tess went to a 3-day water polo camp.

They have "cap tans," sun and chlorine burns, and beastly new water polo skills.

Levi went to a 3-day basketball camp and did not get any kind of tan or sunburn.  

He did learn some good drills, and he got a new shirt and basketball.

Marta purchased a book she needs to read for summer homework

 and planned a study group.

Tess, always the overachiever, started her online Spanish class 

and finished two chapters for AP History.

And she's been practicing violin diligently.

We went to Yosemite for Memorial Day.

Denise and Mark completed a 10-mile training hike while four kids biked in the valley.

We got in a couple of sessions of tennis, despite an unusual downpour and cool weather.

The Bronco, top off, got drenched  

Some sleeping in occurred this week, despite Mom's best efforts.  

Eliza's Standing By the Cherry Tree

(from which we harvested 3 gallons of cherries last night.) 

We were going to cut the cherry trees down because they'd produced no fruit in four years.

Guess they knew.  And it scared them.

Oh, and Eliza's standing by the tree so Marta can take a picture 

for Eliza to submit with her mission papers.

She'll be old enough to go on a mission in October.  

Her hair is growing out, and not quite as black as it was right after she dyed it.

Someone seems to have dyed Belle the Cat purple.  She has been bringing us birds and baby moles.

Mark's Dream is Deferred

Mark planned on hiking all 220+ miles of the John Muir trail this summer 

to celebrate his 50th birthday.

He has been procuring ultralight equipment at his favorite retailer 

and plotting out his course for months.

However, closed trails, lack of a consistent hiking buddy, 

and the realization that this is probably our last everyone-at-home summer 

have caused him to rethink his plans.  

We're leaving for a two day all-family backpacking trip tomorrow.  

And we have theme parks, water slides, lake trips, and beach outings 

scheduled for almost every weekend this summer.  

Maybe Mark will meet up with Mr. Muir next year!

Denise