Northfork Vacation, Gem Lake Hike

On Tuesday, we hiked to Gem Lake.
It is 1.7 miles up a fairly steep trail. The kids were troopers.

Lots of chipmunks and ground squirrels visited us during our picnic lunch at the top. They were rather tame. But we followed the rules and did not feed them.

I stayed at our picnic spot after lunch while the kids walked around to the other side of the lake. Campbell did some climbing.

Helene did some meditating.

We had our lunch right by these trees. Helene said it looks like they're hugging. Not exactly what I was thinking . . .

After a rest, we went out for the evening. Dinner at Ed's Cantina and then watched Shrek 4. The movie was only okay, but it was a nice end to a beautiful day.

Northfork Vacation, Kids' Campout

John has a two week vacation, so we headed up to my parents' cabin a couple of days after school ended. I have been thrilled with Campbell and Helene's sense of adventure since we arrived. We got in late Sunday night and went straight to bed. On Monday night, they wanted to camp in the front yard. They told ghost stories (after cooking s'mores over the campfire, of course) and were asleep by 9:30. And they stayed in the tent all night! I was rather surprised - first time they've camped by themselves.

Arrowmont

Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts is in Gatlinburg, TN. The Pi Beta Phis started an elementary school, which eventually led to this wonderful art school. You can read the whole history at http://www.lib.utk.edu/arrowmont/

My mother-in-law is a Pi Phi, so she invites me and her daughter, Beth, to join her at the Pi Phi and Friends Weekend at Arrowmont each spring. I think I have been 5 times in all. I had to miss the last two years, so it was especially good to get back there this spring.

The Arrowmont campus is set back from the hustle and bustle of town and the grounds are full of trees and flowers and interesting buildings. The atmosphere is peaceful and conducive to creativity. Here are a couple of pictures Beth took of the grounds.

We always stay in a dormitory style room with twin size beds and individual closets and a shared bathroom. It's like summer camp for adults. :)

One of our traditions is to spend at least one evening across the street at No Way Jose's for appetizers and drinks. The first afternoon there, Sharlotte's ID flew right out of her hand when she was carded and dropped between the planks that make up the floor of the bar. The restaurant had to cut up the floor to get her driver's license back to her!

Beth and I took a pin-hole photography class this year. I love taking classes with this particular instructor, Jill, because she always takes us on field trips and we get to enjoy the beauty of the Smokies. Below are a few pictures Beth took with her regular camera on our outing to Bud Ogle's cabin.
classmates setting up their shots:
a 1 mile nature trail Beth and I walked when we were through making pictures:
view from our resting spot on a park bench later that afternoon:
As a group (there were 4 of us in the class), we constructed probably 20 cameras out of coffee cans, oatmeal cans, shoe boxes, etc. This was one of my favorites:
And here are some of the images I captured over the weekend with various pin-hole cameras:

negative image (same shack as you see in the first picture of this post):
print, hand-colored:
8 minute exposure with a coffee can - this was taken in the gallery (foreground: boat by one of the resident artists, Kent; background: ceramic plates by another resident artist)
print made from the above negative:
same shot, but with a different coffee can, which apparently had a light leak (but I kind of like the effect):
totem poles on Arrowmont campus (taken with the Quaker Grits camera pictured above, 30 second exposure):
barn behind Ogle's cabin (the blur in front of the barn is a ghost):

The darkroom work was just as fun and relaxing as the actual photography. I had a great time and can't wait to go again next year!

Spring Break, the last couple of days

I'm finally getting around to putting up the last few pictures from our spring break trip . . .

One of my former German students, Colleen, was in Houston to visit her parents at the same time we were in the area. We've kept in touch via Facebook, and she was kind enough to make the trip down to Galveston and hang out with us one morning. It was so good to see you, Colleen!

We took Colleen to Colonel Bubbie's, an army surplus store that is a must-see for us every time we're in Galveston. There are aisles and aisles full of military gear from all over the world. Helene tried on a Polish army beret - pretty cute with her House of Blues T-shirt.

And here are a few random pictures of us just hanging around the beach house. Trust me, Campbell was much happier than he looks!

Spring Break 2010, Day 3

Another lazy day on the beach. Today I brought my camera along to photograph some of the dead wildlife that had washed up on shore. We saw one ray and almost 100 jellyfish (sea jellies, I mean). I also saw one Portuguese man-o-war last night, but I didn't get a shot of that. We were amazed how many jellies had washed up this one particular day. It wasn't like that the rest of the week.




Campbell, John and Helene headed out to "wave jump" and body surf:

my dad:

my brother and Scooter:

Campbell, John, Scooter, Helene:

John and Campbell:

Courtney, my mom, and Bell (in the tent):

Helene as Medusa:

my dad and my son:

my husband and my daughter:

Helene and her uncle:

my sandy toes, Helene, and Chad: