summer gives way to fall

just so you don't think that i'm a total slacker in blogging/life, i'll have you know i have about 9 drafts in my blogger dashboard. i just haven't finished them yet. mostly because sometimes i'm actually busy. also because some of them are topics that take more than a few lines to discuss or explain.

so...sorry about that. i promise one day (soon) you'll be able to read all 9 drafts i have semi composed for you.

in other news, 

i totally fell off the bandwagon with blogging every single day with the questionaire. which isn't totally surprising..i mean...death, taxes and me falling off the bandwagon,am i right?

but i promise i'll get back to doing it at least every couple days.  

but right now i want to share some California Love for all of you.

no, i'm not in california right now. but i was for 2 weeks in August and i realized the other night that i never posted pictures from that trip. 

so..as the weather starts to cool off and as i begin to remember what cold feet feel like and as my skin fades into the pasty, putrid white of winter i will occasionally re-live those fun two weeks in california where i got sun kissed and pretty much only washed my hair once.

but before we went to california (to go on a lake trip with garrett's family, mind you.) we spent a few days in south carolina (with my sister's family) and went river hiking with our pups. and it was a lot of fun until...well, what's that phrase people often use? it's all fun and games until garrett climbs up a gully, grabs a fallen over tree branch for support, snaps the aforemention branch, and falls back into the river and twists his ankle and rips his neck open on sharp shrubs someone gets hurt. yes. 

someone had to crutch through the Atlanta airport.  someone else laughed a lot.

we both got to ride the people mover. this look on garrett's face. it's called shame.
 

i accidentally ripped that fat scab off his throat. shwoopsies.

finally landed in palm springs, ca

on our way up to northern california, we had to stop by Redlands to pick up Garrett's brother from EFY and i got to see and hug this girl (my former roommate) for a few minutes. love her.

it's not a trip to california unless you create in-n-out carnage. 

finally on the boat. and willing to try that twisted ankle at wake boarding.

this is garrett's uncle dan. if you go your whole life and never meet him, you're missing out.

a large portion of the extended family went to some significant place in sacramento. this is all of us outside that building.

and here we are in front of some significant sculpture. but i mostly don't remember what it was.

one day we all hiked to a series of natural water slides. 

this is how garrett hikes.

just kidding. we were stopped for lunch.

after some hiking up and down and a fair amount of sweat, we finally arrived at our destination. three..or maybe four..rock water slides with water rushing down over them. 

and guys, it was freezing.

and slippery.

 but mostly it was freezing.  the kind of freezing that sends your body into survival mode. and for minute you think you actually might die. and then someone pulls you out of the water and your bathing suit maybe doesn't come with you every time. but no one cares because their vision is going in and out of focus and clarity because they're too flapping cold to function correctly. but it was fun. so we kept doing it. and besides, pneumonia and bathing suits that stay completely on are for the birds. 

may i reiterate myself.  it was freezing.

but we lived.

and then we left and we went back to the lake that garrett's aunt and uncle live on. and the rest of our week was spent there.

please note garrett's fluffy hair. it's my fave.

one morning we decided to take family pictures on the boat. it was two thirds disasterous and one third hot mess. garrett's sweet cousin, jayne, got roped into taking these pictures for all of us. and out of like 57 pictures, two of them are decent ish. this was no one person's fault. it was bright and sunny, the boat was moving, there were three dogs and eight people. and again, we were moving.

but as i purused through these photo fails, i did find a few gems. and i think you guys need to see them.

as we took these pictures, we were in direct sunlight. we're talking retina burn 4.0, you know? it was rough to say the least. but despite the brain frying sunshine, i remained composed. because guys, these photos were going to be sent out come christmas time. people were going to see these pictures. and i'm just that vain. and yes, i'll risk partial to total vision loss in an attempt to look good in a picture. PRIORITIES!

however, not everyone was this vain successful. take a look at these bad boys.

seriously, though. my composure is remarkable. and oh that boy. i do love him. even though he whined like a little girl during these pictures. 
and then it was back to the lake for fun. and garrett's little cousin, jett sort of blew my mind he was so skilled.

and no, i didn't get to wake board because i was terrified i would destroy my back again. but i did go tubing. and i got wicked bad tube rash to prove it. (still have scars 3 months later.)

little laker. he's part fish. part sass monster. and complete doll.

jayne had been saving her pennies for a new camera and got it while we were there.   so she was snaping pictures left and right. it was super cute.

it was sad to leave when the week was over. but the fun wasn't over just yet. because we also got to go to Balboa Island/ Newport and spend time with Garrett's grandma on his dad's side. we love her and it was lots of fun to see her and experience Balboa for a couple days.

garrett partook of a glorious Balboa bar. obvi.

and we got to walk around the island and go in all of the fun shops. 

and then that trip came to a close and the whole two weeks were over. and i was exhausted. and really missing my puppy. so even though it was sad to say goodbye and leave our fun vacation behind, we headed home. 

garrett and i feel so blessed to have been able to go on that vacation. there's no way we would have been able to afford it on our own and we're so thankful his parent's were willing to help us. oh, sweet summer. i'll always love you. 

love,

kate.

lyrics: come to california, cause i've been lonely for you. we can stay up all night just to watch the sunrise.