Girls Camp Expedition

This is a shot from the top of the cliffs where I jumped down into the water. See? I can be brave..


Our hike at sunset. We are lost at this point as we try to find -oddly enough- "Lost Lake." I wanted to make sure I caught a picture of the sunset where I was furthest away from civilization. The colors you find in the wilderness outside city limits -this far out anyway- are amazing. Everything is bright and true.

I have a thing for water. I love falls and rivers and lakes. I love the sound the water makes when it runs over the rocks. In a crystal clear river I love to look down at the river bottom and see the shiny pebbles. I love feeling the rush of the water through the current -to me it's as exhilarating as feeling the wind on my face. I absolutely love the smell in the air and all the sounds around me -birds, branches snapping, wind, trickling and gurgling water. I could have sat on that rock in that river all day if I had some kind of support on my back. This is where it's at.. excuse my grammar..


I forded the river about a mile upstream to catch up to the girls who went off exploring. An adult had to be with them, and the adult at the time was me because the other leader was simply chillaxin. The girls were overzealous and went upstream in bare feet, one or two of them in water socks. One of the girls who went in bare feet cut her foot and had to hike on that foot later that day. And that foot foolishly enough didn't have a sock on it! Can you even imagine it? Ouch! I'm so glad to have had these boots. They are definitely broken in now!


This is my camp buddy Katie VanHoven. She is my camp savior! She stuck with me the entire week. She was my shoulder, my confidante, my right hand lady. She guided me through Oakland Girls Camps politics. I would have been so lost and been so bored without a friend if I hadn't had her. She rocks my socks!


Again, me and water. I didn't bring a swim suit to camp but it didn't stop me from wanting to get in. I rolled up my pants and got in waist high before climbing the rocks to get a shot. The river downstream was breathtaking, but I didn't want to chance my phone getting tossed in the water so that shot will stay in my memory until I return. I loved this place the most.

A New Day

So shoot me.. I know I haven't blogged in a while. We all go on hiatus.. even Oprah. I took a break. I think of it not as slacking off but rather gathering and organizing. No one reads this anyway! What do you care! hehehehe ;-)

This summer we've kept extremely busy around our household with lots and lots of Dolfin swimming. Jonah is a 6 and under and is on the B team which means he's in it for the experience and not so much the race. That's how swimming should be at his age anyway, so I don't mind at all. Tyler started the season without the ability to blow his bubbles underwater so he couldn't start with the rest of the minis. Today he is doing backstroke and butterfly and caught some pennies on the floor of the pool which is more than what Jonah could do before he was a mini. Next year he may be a 6 and under and not bother with minis at all. We'll see.

I got to go to Girl's Camp this year! It was the best week of my life!! Okay, not the absolute best, but it ranks highly in my adulthood as one of the best. I got to get back to nature and remind myself why I love this planet earth. I got to go on an overnighter.. first time EVER! AND.. I got to jump off a cliff! Two cliffs actually! And live! It was exhiliarating to say the least. I posted the story on my facebook if you're interested to read up on my memoirs from camp -in my notes section, pt. 1 and pt. 2.

Sam had his first birthday. He's been waiting to devour cake like this his whole life, so I was glad to give him nothing but the best! -Costco! Jonah had a train cake, Tyler had a balloons cake. Sam gets the sunshine cake. All of them have more than enough frosting for even me, and all I had to do was order it. I know.. I'm lazy when it comes to the first birthday. He didn't even get to his presents! Sam is a happy guy, and whether I make his cake or not his birthday will come and go, and he'll have plenty more birthdays for me to show off my cake skills.

The summer is coming to a close soon. My favorite season is approaching! I look forward to the autumn time the most. Autumn is such a pretty word in itself, and the colors and smells and happenings in the fall are most exciting to me. I'm such a boring person.. but at least I look forward to things.. usually with a plate of cookies in hand ;-) All I ever do is.. well, DO. I don't spend enough time writing or pondering or reading. I need to exercise my mind more. I need to write creatively more often. Kelly has done such a wonderful and fantastic job with her novels. I want to be that. I have stories in my head, dangit! Ah, all these things I wish I could do and never get around to all because my thoughts are always so unorganized. The swimming helps.. I started swimming about a month ago and since then I've had more time to myself in a day. Yesterday I did 3600yds which is a ton comparitively. I never thought I'd enjoy it so much. And now I can't get enough.

Back to reality for a sec. I hope to start lessons up again come September. That should get my mind in gear. Jonah will be a big 1st grader so he'll be gone 6 hours out of the day. I want to start Joy School about that time also, which means 3 or 4 weeks out of a month for 2 days out of the week.. for 2 hours out of that day I'll only have Sam. Oh the thinks you can think, if only you try!

I'm glad there's forgiveness in blogging. Man I sound drab.. what the smack happened anyway? LOL I wonder when 17 Again comes out on DVD..

My familly at the wedding

Tessa's wedding was the most beautiful wedding I've ever been to. Her dress was glorious.. the flowers were breathtaking.. her cake, exquisite. She was an absolute royalty in that gown. Sadly we didn't get to catch any pictures of her or her new husband.. ah, Tessa Delisle. She's deliriously happy btw.. but this is a picture of my little family just after the ceremony. Me and my men.. story of my life ;)

And of course here are the babies of 2009 for us Coltrins. Sam was born in July, Clover's birthday is near when Twilight came out in theaters.. I think the week after.. and baby John was born in mid December. And this is their first gathering. I had to get us all together before the other two flew away (one to Utah, the other to Texas). I love my family!

My Penguin of the Week

Jonah was "penguin of the week" last week and before Friday we took pictures of Jonah with the class mascot Peter. Here is Jonah reading to Peter.. he's reading one of the books they get in class where if they read it to a parent or friend and they sign the back and turn it in they get a blue slip.. 100 blue slips earns them a pizza lunch. Jonah really does love to read.. I just wish he'd do it during class or when they're testing him..

Tyler wasn't so sure about this picture but he sat in for it anyway. These two pictures went in the class book for Peter's journal.

Yay for my penguin of the week!! This next week though.. back to reality. It was fun while it lasted.

Chatty Sammy.. and his O's

Feeding frenzy at Tilden!

Tyler and I went to Tilden park with Sammy last Thursday along with some friends of ours. Tyler absolutely loved it! We got some lettuce and celery and gave it to the animals and those animals just went to town.. Tyler loved feeding the goats because he could get right up to them and they didn't snap at his hands like the geese. They also had long tongues, but I didn't get a picture of it.


Tyler was incredibly cute when he feed these goats. Every time the goat came up to eat the celery Tyler would get so excited he'd jump back and start laughing almost uncontrollably. I thought he was going to fall off the steps a few times..


And do NOT get in the way when the geese are eating! They'll snap your fingers off! Tyler and Wyatt got to feed seed to them too. This was Tyler's first experience feeding animals and I'm sure we'll go back and do it again. I love trips like these where at the end of the fun he's not fighting to get into the car... score one for mommy!

Having fun at the park

If Tyler did one thing every day all day it would be to play at the park. His second request would subconsciously be to run and never have to stop ;) He loves to climb and be on top of the world, and he loves taking off his shoes and socks and getting his feet into that dirty public sand. Oh well.. he's my rough tough guy, and he does things his own way.







Jonah has his favorite thing to do at the park also. This is a type of zip cord on a rail and he loves to zip back and forth. I love it.. his tummy's hangin out.. but who cares! All he cares about is the wind in his hair and the speed in his zip. Like his brother, he also loves to climb. He and Tyler really have a blast every time we go to the park.. they are best buds even if they do bug each other a bunch. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and they both want to be like each other: Jonah wants to be more outgoing and playful and Tyler wants to be big and responsible. They are quite the pair together.