Laraway Family

Well, we spent 5 nights and 6 days under the redwoods in our tent. It was absolutely the perfect vacation, and I, for one, didn't want to leave. It was completely relaxing, beautiful, and a great time spent with each other... no tv, no computer, no phone... How great if life was a reflection of that! We hiked almost every day, the boys rode their bikes about 15 times each day, we saw the white fallow deer, another deer couple, a racoon EVERY night, a banana slug, a bobcat, cloverfields, and trees with imposing heights. If you are reading this and don't camp in a tent (cabins don't count), I would highly suggest you start. I'd pick camping over Disney World... it's that good!

So, one morning, Anthony woke up with a tune in his head. He said he wanted to sing the song to me, but he wanted to write the words down before he forgot them. He tried to write them a few feet from the fire while Chas and Daddy were laughing, but he couldn't concentrate. I suggested going someplace quiet to concentrate, and he went to the van's bumper. :) He came back and had written the following song with three verses. By the way, of all the different kinds of sharks, there are only 15 that will ever attack, or bite, a human. And even those "barely do." (very uncommon) Enjoy:

Here's another video of Starks riding his bike down "Fun Hill." We were one of two families/groups camping in this large campground for three nights. The 4th night we had 2 others, and then the site was almost full on the 5th night- as it was July 3rd. Anyway, we had little to no traffic, so the kids rode their bikes SO much! One hill was named "Fun Hill" and had the option to take a shortcut instead of the road that was a nice, steep trail. The other routes were "Surrender Ol' Granny" and "Endo Loop" - as Anthony did an endover on that loop one day. :) Here's a video of Starks on his "walkalong" bike. It has no pedals and gets along with foot power. He has learned to totally balance himself and loves coasting down hills. He believes there is nothing he can't do. Here he is... and singing, of course, a crazy song "Everybody Poop Now."

Here is Chas and Anthony ripping down the shortcut trail on "Fun Hill." They began riding their bikes less than two months ago!?!? I can't believe how brave they are, how strong they are, and how much fun they are having riding. It's just awesome!

Also, I should mention there were no showers available. It felt SO good to go home and scrub our bodies with more than baby wipes and wash our hair! I still would've stayed another week without a shower if I could've. Anyway, here's a picture of them the week before we camped, all clean, for their yearly photo!