The last few months have been full of adventures for the Sharp family. We started the summer off by going to a Sharp Family Reunion in northern California. We camped amongst some giant redwoods, visited with family, played in a river and the ocean, and saw some amazing trees. It was a fun trip and we feel lucky to have had everyone come our direction.
A couple weeks later we traveled to Utah to spend a couple weeks. We were able to see most of our Utah family and the kids had an amazing time being able to run around in everyone's big back yards. So much fun that we had a hard time adjusting to our little condo when we returned home. We were there over the 4th of July so we were lucky enough to see 2 amazing firework shows and play with fireworks of our own a couple nights. We also went to two different water parks, boating and tubing, on a hike to a waterfall, and on a carriage ride. Oh, and a plane ride. It was Landon and Zachary's first time in Grandpa Sharp's plane and Zachary loved it. Landon, on the other hand has my reaction to small planes and got sick, but Zachary couldn't stop talking about the plane the rest of our trip. And he still says, "I want to do that again" whenever you bring it up. Never a dull moment when we visit Utah thanks to all of our fun family members.
The weekend after we got home from Utah Ryan and I went boogie boarding with the level 4 camp young women. This was what they chose for their adventure. So, we found a bunch of wetsuits and boogie boards and headed to the beach. It was a lot of fun and one of the highlights of the day was seeing a family of dolphins go back and forth along the coast not far from where we were boogie boarding. (not sure how the underlining started)
Following our boogie boarding trip, we got a couple days in at Great America before I left for a week to Young Womens camp. It was hard to leave my boys, but camp was a wonderful experience. Both years I have gone I have been amazed at the quality of the camp and all the wonderful leaders there to help make it a great experience. A couple of my favorite experiences was repelling and sailing. I had never been on a sail boat before so I jumped on the opportunity to try out one of the miniature sail boats at camp. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. I tipped over....hit my head on the sail, twice...got frustrated...wanted to get back to the dock...but couldn't figure out how. Eventually, I figured it out, but it took awhile. I am thankful for this experience because I keep thinking about the many ways I can apply the lessons I learned out there on the lake to my life. One of my favorite parallels is that we can't always choose the path our lives take, just like I couldn't always choose which direction the wind was going to blow, but I could choose how I was going to shift the sail and make it work for me and I was thankful that a kind soul came out to give me pointers on how to do that. Also, the lake was small so I could always see the dock and new that I would make it back to safety. Similarly, if we keep our lives rooted in the Gospel, we will be o.k. and our Savior will help us make it back to him.
Soon after getting home from camp we went to Hollister to visit with more family. We had fun going to the beach, Gilroy Gardens, and the Monterey Aquarium. The sad part about all these outings is Ryan and I didn't do very well at capturing the moments with pictures. We've been slacking in this area. Mostly because we don't like our camera. As I'm looking through our pictures, I'm sad I didn't take more of everyone. Especially, our kids with their grandparents.
So, now we've reached September. Time for some new adventures. We are going to try a co-op preschool with some ward members and a Spanish preschool on Fridays. Life stays busy, but we are blessed and are enjoying each and every day.
