Happy 14th birthday Max! We celebrated with birthday cereal (Fruit Loops), Old Spaghetti Factory (ordering two meals now, he's in the big league!), and lemon bars for dessert. Presents and affirmations all around. He and his buddies went to the new Indiana Jones movie, and pizza for a little celebration. Max is so well loved, and just in a season of rocking it in every area of life. He is a very amazing young man. deserving all good things. We love you, Max!
Our camping trip almost didn't happen - eek! Unforeseen work conflicts made our reservation at Sunset Bay a no-go, and trying to find openings at the last minute during Oregon summers is near impossible. BUT our determined friends found something different for us to try, and as much as we missed Sunset Bay, the new place was totally awesome and we loved it. Even with a burn ban (sooooo sad when this happens), our camping trip was filled with lots of swimming, hiking, paddleboarding, kayaking, fishing, skim boarding, rock skipping. We love our friends, and cherish our time together no matter what it looks like. Not a ton of picture taking - go figure with two households full of camera-shy teenagers :)
At the gala back in the spring, we won a fishing excursion for six people, so off we went - setting our alarms for 2:30am (my favorite part of the story) - so that we could be in Astoria on the water by 5am. Wowzers! The ocean conditions that day were too dangerous for salmon, so instead we fished the river for sturgeon. Take a look at these puppies! Majority of the fish we caught were too big to get in the boat! Marcus doesn't even have a picture with his, because it was bigger than him! Insane experience, and one we will never forget! Our guide was totally awesome, and despite our very tired selves, we had a blast. Two of us took naps on the boat in between catches. Only Marcus was caught on camera :) Great family memories!
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| 3am departure! |
Max has been anticipating going to Gales Creek - a summer camp for students with Type 1 diabetes - for several months! He was nervous, knowing this would be a good experience in the end, but not totally looking forward to going somewhere alone for a week. Our big encouragement to him, was to put himself out there a little bit, and that it would most likely be better than he expected. Both proved true! The first couple days were harder, with things being new, but eventually he found a great group of guys, and when I picked him up, he was fully immersed in a ping pong tournament with his friends. Jury is out for next year, but I am super duper proud of him, and we all agree it was a good growth opportunity. He did have more fun than expected :) They took incredible care of him health-wise too... You can tell this camp has been around since 1952!
And... bonus! Mom and Dad could take a mini-vaca knowing he was in good hands. My parents came down to watch the other kids, and we went to Lincoln City where we enjoyed a beach front hotel, yummy food and drink, beach walks and a fire, and a visit to the Tillamook Cheese Factory!
