Summer 2020

 Well, it's been a weird one. But we've still had a lot of fun. Theo claims it was his best summer ever, due to the fact that he spent upwards of 6 weeks with one cousin or another. Some highlights in general:

- Carrie, Lucy and Theo took a long long drive from Colorado to California. Had a delicious grapefruit milkshake that so far we've been unable to replicate.

- meeting up with the Thomases and Rachel in Southern Utah and staying in a crazy cave house.

- Colin, Jackson, Theo and Levi spent many many hours hanging out on Minecraft and doing ALL the things. At one point there was a panda farm?

Jackson talked in his sleep: "No! Please no no Theo! Don't kill them! There's food in there!" and "OH Theo theo theo theo...so close."

- Sydney made a 'bored' jar. Theo drew the following out of it: "If Theo picked this he gets a scoop of ice cream. If you're not Theo, do 10 jumping jacks."

- Outdoor movies

- Playing Quiplash online together

- Theo unknowingly stepped on a dead chicken while taking food out to the coop, then freaked out a bit when he realized what he was standing on. 

- Some kind of milkshake ordering disaster that included Beth having to back out of the drive-thru lane.

- Carrie stole Eric's lamps. 

- Lucy got a drivers license, and Eric got a permit. Also Eric passed his math class with flying colors.

- Cousins camp was virtual this year.

- The beach trip included a hike by Claire's house, a great Montana de Oro picnic with crashing waves, chiseling our way into a watermelon using tiny rocks, and a really nice evening campfire.

- California caught on fire (more on that later), and the Rees's evacuated to the Thomas house, Mom and Sarah evacuated to Beth's and then Claire's, and Grandpa Brown hightailed it to Dean and Debbie's.

Jackson flew on a big ole plane to Colorado.

Georgie and Fitz joined the family.

Summer

Chez Rachelle gets 5 stars as a way station for weary travelers.

Sisters. Are the best.

Otter pop therapy for a pinched hand.

Pretty Mae.

Cousins Camp was virtual this year.

Slot Canyon Party!

Three Ashby girls looking their best.

Family and Southern Utah. Mmmm boy.

After The Fire

x9{x>0}

That was how the tree grew

Almost flat, then straight up towards God

Like he wouldn’t notice if the tree snuck up on him

Like we weren’t the only species to try the Babel gambit

I often wondered why the tree grew like so

But then I reasoned don’t question fate

That made a tree so flat but so tall

That a swing could be hung from one of the lower branches with

Enough rope to soar

As if, maybe the tree had reached God

And He, without raising his gaze,

From some very important papers

Simply said

“Thank goodness you’re here. Tell me

Have you ever seen x raised to the ninth power

X being greater than zero”

If you are called to be a street sweeper, be a street sweeper

That tree was called to be a swing

You’d climb as high as you could against the force of the exponential

The rope wouldn’t reach, you’d have to leap

Leap of faith

And trust the fairy dust of dust and sweat to let you fly

Time and tide wait for no man,

And neither did that swing

And when you dragged your feet to stop it

You only kicked up more fairy dust

And you’d stumble off

Coming down with some mysterious Victorian ailment

Making you faint and pale

But you’d make a miraculous recovery by the third act

And be ready for another plunge

On days, when I was feeling quieter

(On days the swing was taken)

I'd sit and watch the tree

I wasn’t waiting for my turn, of course not

Teenagers don’t wait in line for the swing

Teenagers must be casually passing by

And think ‘why not? For old times’ sake’

On days, when I was feeling quieter,

I’d sit and watch the tree

Watch it slowly grow

I’d think of scout leaders and nature books

And the rule of rings per years

And how close the rings on the old stumps were

And wonder how many the tree hid

I never doubted it would outlast me

And my lifespan would be a medium band surrounded on both sides

Maybe God noticed the repeat of history

And smote the lowercase god of the tree,

The nymph, for its hubris

Maybe it was in the wrong place in the wrong time

Or rather just the wrong place,

Time is mainly a measure of the vertical and of the circular for a tree

Maybe the good die young

But I never expected

I never wanted

To outlive that tree

That good, honest tree

So when I wake at one in the morning

Sick for a place that wasn’t my home

But simply The Home

The Family Home

I open a graphing calculator and type in

x9{x>0}

by Lucy Gregory

Wyoming- Who Knew??

Shadow Lake, elev 10,267ft

Some thoughts from our recent backpacking trip to Wyoming:

- Who knew that Wyoming is hiding some of the most spectacular country I've ever seen? I guess the people who made Grand Teton and Yellowstone National parks, but still- it felt like we'd discovered a secret.

- My kids are pretty tough. When I expressed this to Lucy, she replied, "Why are you always surprised?" Good question.

- Backpacking food is really pretty dull.

- "All The Civilization You Need" is one of the best town mottos I've ever heard, but it wasn't enough to convince us to buy property in Pinedale, WY.

- Theo sure did love his LifeStraw water filter. He stayed extremely well hydrated, and also peed constantly, putting the River in Wind River.

 

- We hiked for 20 miles at 9,000-10,000 ft elevation. Then we were very tired.

- I shook my head when I felt how heavy Martin Gregory's pack was. Then when we got to the top of the hike and he pulled out 5 cans of soda on ice, condescension changed quickly to gratitude. Sprite has never tasted so good.

- speaking of Martin Gregory, the man is amazing. He's 78, for heaven's sake.

- Backpacking is more fun and hurts more than I remember.

Along the way

Our campsite at Marm's Lake

I sure am fond of this girl. She just keeps getting better and better.

"Adventure is just another word for disaster"

A boy and his LifeStraw filter.

Hey Martin! Wait up!

 

Before the hike...

And after.

Action Jackson

It was fun getting to know Jackson all on his own during his big trip to Colorado. He was a model citizen, a good conversationalist, and it turns out he's extremely funny.

Me: Can anyone taste the secret ingredient in the deviled eggs?

Jack: Hate?

and after we'd shushed him for yelling goodbye out of the window to the drive-through employee: "Aw, he can't hear me- he's wearing a mask!"

He refused to let me pay him for mowing the lawn, and when the chain came off of his rental bike he fixed it all by himself. Add Jackson to the list of nieces and nephews who can come and visit anytime.

Up up and away!

Turns out electric bikes can go pretty fast.

Where the streets have no goathead stickers...

Two boys in a tree. Can you find them?

Strawberry milkshake taste testing- Dairy Queen? Really?

Eric came to fetch him- here they are navigating DIA security all by themselves.

A Conversation With Lucy (that only I remember)

Lucy was pretty funny waking up from anesthesia today. She was sunny and cheerful and chatty. A few quotes to remember (said in a slurry, content kind of voice):

Very first sentence, before her eyes were even open: "Mom, can we throw the tech time rules out the window today?"

Me: Lu, you're a little bit drunk.
...long pause...
L: Your MOM's a little bit drunk!

(when we were trying to get her blood pressure up a little bit)
Me: Lucy, think of something that would make you mad. Think about if Theo got in your room and got into your stuff.
L: That wouldn't bother me. I got nothin to hide.
M: No?
L: No. I'm an international man of mystery with no secrets.


"This is some of that solid white girl apple juice."

To the nurse: Was I a good patient? Did I cause you any trouble?
Nurse: Honey, you were a perfect patient.
L: Was I a good patient? Did I cause you any trouble?

"Today I did ALL the drugs."

It's a Hard Rock Life, For Us.

I somehow convinced Viv and Jerry to drive for a million hours to meet up with us in Southern Utah. Then Viv found an incredible Airbnb in an actual CAVE. Pretty soon Rachel was in too, and the stage was set for a grand adventure. Some highlights:

An exchange overheard at a truckstop:
"My sister's boyfriend says it's not so bad in Garfield county."
"Well, I guess I'll go to prison here then."

A game of Truth or Dare:
- Jerry made Lucy eat an ant
- Hugo stuck oreos to Viv's face
- Carrie had to lick Vivian's ear (although Carrie's ear was voted most lickable)
- Levi made Vivian lick a rock ("A long lick.")
- Lucy made Theo dab

Finding out that of all the actors in the world, Vivian would choose to go to space with Jeff Goldblum.

Grant, our Airbnb host, explaining how he blasted his 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, multi-level, 5700 sq ft house out of the rock with dynamite, "Well, there is kind've an art to it."

Fitting 370 pounds of Ashby girl onto one small inflatable pool toy cupcake.

Carrie being sure she'd spotted a constellation: "That trapezoid, with the pointy hat." The skeptical group naming it 'Trappy'. Levi renaming it 'Crappy'.

Stargazing in general, on the roof of the red sandstone cave house. And the satellite highway. Incredible.

Playing a dance game in which Vivian just couldn't contain herself to 4 beats of music.

Conversations with Hugo:
     V: The man who owns the house where we're staying might be around some of the time.
...long pause...
     H: Well I hope he doesn't have a mustache.

and
     H:  I hate life.
     V: Aww, sweetie, why? What's wrong?
     H, sniffly: Everything cute is mean. Like baby panthers.

Calf Creek Falls. What a place.

Playing German Spotlight in the dark. Rachel: "My heart is actually pounding!"

Feeding carrots to the beautiful horses.

Cutting Theo off at 3 'Your Mom' jokes/day, then using them as currency to pay him to run errands for us.

Your Mom's a goofball.

"Your Mom's a hot juicy mess."

"Your Mom's a pants-less ogre."

Uh Oh's Senior Portrait

Uh Oh Stormtrooper stowing away in one of the backpacks like he really wanted to come on the trip.

Jerry playing the guitar in the cave house, the music drifting through the cool, sunlit rooms.

Chatting with Gwen as we hiked along.

Tough kids making through not one, but two, 6-mile hot desert hikes. Hugo getting the tired, hysterical giggles at about mile 5. ("I'm just thinking about the Octonauts.")

Hearing the happy
voices of my family echoing back to me through the narrow caverns of the slot canyon.

Realizing that the instructions of how to get to the cave house, "Drive into the creek," did NOT mean "Drive across the creek," but that we literally had to drive downstream for awhile.

Waking up in the morning to find the Thomases and Rachel in the same house as me!

Dynamite-made swimming holes are still swimming holes, they're just dynamite-made.

Truth or Dare

Can you find the Jerry that lives in Rachel's hat?

Putting the squeeze on Gwen.

Leveling Up

Sarah + New Phone = A Happy Birthday

It's Sarah's birthday! And to celebrate her new Birthday phone, we did what any bunch of adult sisters would do and took her on a Minecraft adventure. She built a table, fell in a pit, climbed a ladder, and punched a hole in the wall. We planted a birthday tree for her, and then Viv took her fishing. Happy birthday, DairyTickle43!