Camping

Something about camping puts me in a deep state of relaxation. Just being at a campsite puts me in a trance. Throw in a campfire, some food, and spontaneous naps and I'm in heaven. Last weekend my parents (Mark and Lor) went camping at Winton Woods which is less than 10 minutes away from my house. Although we didn't stay the night, we went Friday night to hang out and then most of the day on Saturday. It was relaxing. It was Lydia's first ever camping experience and surprisingly she didn't try to run into the fire the whole time like I thought she might.

Friday night we had ribeye steaks, with grilled corn and the camping custom potato/carrot/onion/cheese all in one mix.



After dinner Friday night we went for a walk and Lydia got to walk Zoey.



Saturday during the day I tried to sneak in a nap in the pop up trailer. Then the fam joined me.



The dessert after Saturday's dinner was fantastic. Strawberries and blueberries cooked with croissants over the campfire. Wow, this stuff was amazing.



Bottom Line - Family + Outdoors - Stress = Camping. Camping = Relaxation

Chief Josh

When I was little I knew exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up. I've always wanted to be an Indian. If playing Cowboys and Indians, I always wanted to be the Indians. As a child, I always replicated their awesomness while playing in the woods, I had a couple of books about them in which I was always looking at pictures in, and I even developed a re-occuring fever dream involving them.

In my junior year in high school when we were forced to look at all of the college program choices, there were no choices to sign up to be an Indian. The closest I could have been to becoming an Indian was to become an actor for the outdoor drama "Blue Jacket" or "Tecumseh", but even then I don't get in because I have blonde hair.



Maybe my dreams were unrealisic, or maybe I should have gone for it. I just know that to this day I am still facinated with Indians even if they never smile, and I will strive to learn more about them and maybe find a way to be a chief one day. I am still working on my indian name.


Bottom Line - When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? How did it work out for you?

O.I.B.

The day after Zak and CC's wedding, the j-stegs along with l-steg took off on a 12 hour drive to Ocean Isle Beach for a 1 week tenure. This is the second year of participation for Lydia and I in this annual weekly event. This year there were 20 people all in one beach house.



Now that Lydia is mobile, she had a great time running in and around the water. She also got to run around with her second cousin Harper.







It was a nice relaxing trip and time with family. I'm looking forward to next year.

Bottom Line - Vacations always seem too short. It also seems that you need another week of vacation to recover from vacation.

Zak & CC's Wedding

My little bro Zak got married to the wonderful CC on July 3rd. They are such a fun couple.



Jess and I were in the wedding party and little Lydia attempeted to walk down the isle all by herself. She ended up needing help from Zak.



Of course at the reception, Zak, Kris, and I had to show everyone what was up on the dance floor with our dance called "The Crouton".




Bottom Line - Zak and CC are cool.