Where to start? How about with our lovely camping trip last weekend at Pipestem State Park, where we spent some time hangin' out with friends Nathan, Emily, Gwen and Truman. The park was gorgeous, the weather kept up guessing but Mark was in heaven watching storms blow around all weekend. It held out enough for us to take the air tram down a mountain and play in the river, and for us to get up to the lookout tower and explore the nature center and do some hiking. We got rained out Sunday night just as I was about to cook dinner, but our camping preparation kit does not yet include a tarp over the picnic table so we headed into the nearby town of Princeton for dinner. Monday we woke up to a misty mountain morn and got some neat pics while trying to dry out round the campfire.
Not soon after we returned, Mark got called out to do weather as an IMET (Incident Meteorologist) in Northern California where he is working at a Level 1 (very large) forest fire. He will be there two weeks and if he has time might post on the blog like he did while working in Idaho last summer. The kids and I were doing ok so far, until yesterday, while we were frolicking at one of our favorite Charleston parks, our car was broken into and my purse, wallet, cell, work cell, and work pager were stolen. The window was completely shattered. Thanks to a friendly Charlestonian named Michael, I was able to call the police and cancel my bank card. Thanks to Nikki who drove me to the airport today to get Mark's car since the window won't be fixed until tommorrow. I also got to hang out at the DMV today to get a new license, always an enlightening experience. At least we are all ok, though I had trouble sleeping last night knowing some creep has my address!
We came back from our park outing to roughly 35,673 pieces of this lovely green glass in the seat of my car and on the ground. The loser who took my purse only got 5 bucks though. So poop on his/her shoes.Hope you are all enjoying June! Mark took the camera with him so I may not have updates for awhile, though I may just go get a new camera with the bucks he's making in CA!
We have officially hosted our largest overnight gathering ever at our house... sixteen people, including us. Two huge vans lumbered down from Michigan and one very late plane flew in from Chicago to deliver our friends to us for a whitewater adventure on the Lower New River. The day was mild, a little rainy, but we were wet anyway! Autumn and Evan stayed home with their favorite babysitter Tiffany. Friday night was steamy but the majority of the group went out to play some frisbee golf. Sunday morning Michele and I stood in the kitchen continuously making blueberry pancakes and fried ham as our exhausted guests came up two by two to eat a hearty breakfast before hitting the road. After everyone left, we gt to keep Michele for the rest of the day before she flew back to the city. I am so proud of this city-girl for bonding with nature! We took her downtown and the kids showed her the river and the state capitol, and our favorite ice cream shop. Thanks everyone for coming down, we had a blast! Tommorrow we're off to Pipestem State Park for a weekend camping trip. Updates to follow!
Evan's not about to let a picture be taken without him in it!
Happy Father's Day, Daddy! 
