And because Jeremy was along for part of the trip...

Peter & Kathryn's dog Porkchop - best free entertainment around

Robyn and Kaelen were buddies for every excursion

Jeremy took this picture twice so he could remind me to "suck it in" - sign of a thoughtful husband.  Taylor loved the CA weather

Strawberries are on sale and that means jam time.  This has become my family's favorite jam.  It is from the Ball canning site and tastes like strawberry lemonade - summertime in a jar.


1/4 cup thinly sliced lemon peel (about 2 large)
4 cups crushed strawberries (about 4 1-lb containers)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
6 Tbsp Ball® RealFruit™ Classic Pectin - I have also used any box of pectin I have handy
6 cups sugar
7 (8 oz) half pint glass preserving jars with lids and bands

Directions:

1.) PREPARE boiling water canner. Heat jars and lids in simmering water until ready for use. Do not boil. Set bands aside.
2.) COMBINE lemon peel and water to cover in a 6- or 8-quart saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and boil for 5 minutes, until peel is softened. Drain and discard liquid. Return peel to pan. I usually just finely dice my lemon peel in a food processor and then add strawberries.  I chop the strawberries really finely to almost mush in my processor along with the already chopped lemon peel.  You cannot do the lemon at the same time as the strawberries as you will end up with pureed strawberries and chunks of lemon peel.  With it being chopped so fine the lemon peel cooks and softens just in the jam process.
3.) ADD strawberries and lemon juice to peel and mix well. Gradually stir in pectin. Bring mixture to a full rolling that can not be stirred down, over high heat, stirring constantly.
4.) ADD entire measure of sugar, stirring to dissolve. Return mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off foam if necessary.
5.) LADLE hot jam into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Apply band until fit is fingertip tight.
6.) PROCESS in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down when center is pressed.

This is what Jeremy and I woke up to this morning thanks to Allison:
All made from scratch, without help.  And here is the impressive part.  When I came downstairs, everything was cleaned up and PUT AWAY.  Gold star I tell you.

Saturday was a day of trying to get our life put back in some sort of order.  And my girls had their dance recital.  I realized that I was not very fair to them.  I made them miss the last two classes plus their dress rehearsal so we could play in California and then I drove them to their recital and expected them to do great.  Which they did.  Although they each had a few moments of having to try to remember what they were supposed to do.  Since both girls loved dance but want to try something different next year, this might be my last dance recital.  It was a good one.  And they had their friends come to cheer them on which I thought was extremely thoughtful.  Allison is the one in curls on the right and Robyn is in the middle section.

And of course we had an on call photographer with us:

Robyn was not happy to wait her turn

Last week of school was a blur of parties, school activities, hyped up kids and kindergarten graduation.  Robyn only had 2 days of school that week so she was more than thrilled to help with the big kid parties.  Robyn class of 2024 (that sort of blew my mind a bit) had her little kindergarten graduation with her friends.

These are her carpool buddies.  Amazing that this many kindergartners are all on the same block.

Taylor had his end of the year dance festival.  He is in a class of all females this year so they did the song "Money, Money" from Mama Mia and he was the rich man, throwing out gold coins during the song.
 I just started bawling for no reason during the dance festival.  It amazes me at the love and dedication of so many adults working with these kids.  It is one thing to be bubbly and happy and enthusiastic with kids who show that they are enjoying the event.  It is another to be like that when the kids you are working with are showing such small motions to indicate their pleasure.  It was worse than a Hallmark commercial on my eye ducts.

Then it was off to California through rain, hail and snow to visit family for a long and long over due visit.  We stayed with my brother David in Auborn and got to see their beautiful home (its like a permanent vacation spot there) for one night.  And then on to my parents house.  My brother Peter and his wife Kathryn and son Tommy came by many times.  David's boys hung out for a few days while their parents were off for a trip and then stayed a few more days to play.  And my sister lives there.  So it was a mini-family reunion.  And it was WONDERFUL.  I sucked up as much family time as possible.  Jeremy good guy that he is went home after a few days to work and then returned at the end to drive back with us.

We went to Seacliff Beach (where every Memorial Day should be spent), Capitola Beach, Big Basin Redwoods, Happy Hollow, Exploritorium, China Town, rode the Cable Cars, Monterey Bay Aquarium, San Francisco Zoo, the Tide Pools at Happy Hollow, Deer Hollow Farm, Shoreline to see the bay, and of course a visit to Trader Joe's at the end.  We played with Porkchop, my brother's dog till kids and dog were tired out, we cheered on my sisters' roller derby scrimmage.  We ate and ate and ate.  We visited my brother Peter's house for pie day.  We stayed up watching Slipper and the Rose and eating ice cream and It's-It's.  My mom read stories to the kids every night.  Cousins became friends.  It was just a wonderful time for all.  Allison and Lathen discovered that they were still really good friends and were inseparable for a week.  The time just flew by.  And yes there are a ridiculous amount of pictures. You can see Jeremy's photos from the few days he was there over on his photo site.


When we went places, Spencer and JJ were buddies.  They were a perfect match.  Both shrugged off the others' quirks and were willing to chase after each other.  Often...loudly...happily...with physical contact.
At the zoo there were some kamikaze sea gulls.  They would literally swoop down on the table trying to take the kids' food.  My mom had sack lunches down to a science in the morning.  Until a week later Robyn stamped her foot one morning and said, "I am not eating one more sandwich" and then she discovered granola bars and boiled eggs instead.
Taylor traveled well out to California.  Then at the tide pools he started going down hill.  Plus he managed to get random patches of sun burn where he rubbed off the sun block.  Made for a few unhappy days.  Then he rallied back and enjoyed life again.  But he crashed again coming home until tonight when he started drinking again and chirped back up.  His health and happiness often resemble a roller coaster.  But he loves napping on the beach.

waiting for the roller derby scrimmage to start

And then we had to come home...