Places we have been: A photo retrospective of the summer

Last Thursday my kids started school. More about that eventually. During the hours in which they were learning their teachers' and classmates' names and rules, I uploaded photos and then spent in inordinate amount of time organizing them.  Then I misused Facebook by posting too many at once to share with the siblings and cousins.

But I still have more to share!

So I'm posting an incomplete photo essay of our summer. As I organize photos and think about getting on Shutterfly to make a photobook, I realize there are a lot of holes in the story I'm attempting to tell through photojournalism. For instance, I'm a little sorry I didn't take any pictures of the little apartment we lived in for our first month in California. That will be a chapter in our family history we won't forget. I'm not posting many photos from our week in Oklahoma City with my husband's family because they all have people in them, and I'm not sure the aunts and uncles want their kids on my blog.  And perhaps I should have taken pictures of our moving in. But the kids don't do cute things with boxes anymore because they are too big. (Although they did use a box for a spray paint protector not too long ago.)  I don't think about the photo album when I'm taking the photos.  Maybe in the future, I will be more forward thinking. Or not.

Without more ado, here are some mostly people-less shots I didn't post on Facebook.

The sunset at the last party at Gabgab in Guam. This was our favorite
place to gather and swim and snorkel. The roped off area designated
a safe place for the kids to swim, the currents weren't strong, the reef
was always colorful and turtles and sharks lurked near the drop-off. When
you talk to people who lived in Guam 10, 20 or even 30 years ago, they
mention swimming at Gabgab.

Goodbye, NBG. How many times a day did I pass through the gate?
It's funny how something that seems so irritating the first few months
becomes something you feel nostalgic about later.

From Guam we flew to LA and then on to Indiana to see the fam on the farm. I never tire of admiring the ever changing beauty of my home state, especially the rural area where my parents live, even though I was so anxious to leave it as a teenager. Have I told the story about how I wanted to go out of state to a big city college but my parents STRONGLY encouraged me to apply to one in-state school, which is where I ended up attending? The irony: I married a young man obligated to serve the Navy for at least five years and here we are 17 years later still living the Navy vagabond life. I have loved every place we have lived, but I still feel like I am coming home when we drive past cornfields.

I've always thought this was wild phlox, but the four petals mean it
is actually Dame's Rocket.

The fruit of a tree perhaps planted by Johnny Appleseed, who
traversed the midwest. Now my parents have a slowly maturing
apple orchard with multiple varieties just beginning to ripen.

The girls

The mock orange, one time favorite of spring brides, was in glorious bloom in early June.

The rickety playfort was finally burned down out of safety concerns.

My mom's pretty front porch

A hike to Clifty Falls. Love the spring woods. Not so in love with
many warning signs to stay on the trail, something we didn't miss in Guam.

 
We took 31 people, most of them under 4 feet tall, to the restaurant at the top of this building for my in-laws' fiftieth wedding anniversary: A grand celebration of life, love, and family.

The drive across West Texas. Long and lonely.

The mesa of Arizona

Crossing the Colorado River. Maybe one day we'll detour to the Hoover Dam, miracle of modern engineering.

Not what the Joads saw upon arriving.

The one shot of the poor dog having to live on the hotel porch.

A family portrait following the change of command ceremony

My husband's in a museum.

The seal for my husband's command. I like that it is a book.

An early trip to the California beach. The grey skies are a byproduct of the marine layer that hovers for months here.

Checking out the sites of our new home.

I hope this is just the first of many visits to the missions of Saint Junipero Serra.
My fourth grader will be learning the history of California and will have to make a model mission.
I hope to learn along with him. 

This was the day I took my kids to the county fair and refused to spend
any money on food or rides. Torture or training in discipline? We went
to see the animals and the 4-H displays.

Who cares about elephant ears when you can watch piglets nursing?
The runt on the left was the crowd pleaser, although his crying was pitiful.

My old hobby: a shortlived 4-H career showing rabbits.

Lavender, rosemary and white sage, I think, in my front garden.

The 7 yr old decided she'd rather use her car seat as a garden chair than as a safety device.

Fresh squeezed OJ in its potential form. These oranges
are almost too juicy to eat but make great juice.

The lemon tree - a somewhat sweet variety. Or I'm picking them too late.
When I made lemon bars they tasted much less tart.

Still waiting to make guacamole. These guys haven't ripened up yet.

Good morning, California

Can you see the dolphins?

Harbor seals basking near where we camped one night.

Ice plant.

Kids acting like seals

Our campground.

Taking lots of sunset pictures to remind myself that it is beautiful here, too.
Still in that awkward outsider phase. Need another four or five months before
we start feeling at home.

A visit with friends to an LA science museum.

In the tornado tube.

The kids were excited to see the Hollywood sign, barely visible to the left of the exit sign.

Walking the foggy beach near sunset.

I think the cat got the bird.