Camp, Computers and photos.

Yet another long absence...

I've been having so much fun with all this computer nonsense. I am very thankful for my mini-laptop (an eeePC). Rich knew I'd be happier editing photos and chatting etc. from the living room (nevermind my difficulty navigating stairs at the time), but it has been instrumental in helping me navigate this malware mess and get back in touch and on track of projects. The main computer is a total loss, recovery not possible, things disappearing every time I turn it on. Yes, I had a current security/back-up system, but based on timing of the last back-up I believe it was disabled about the time of Natasha's birthday sleepover. Several girls were up late looking at youtube... maybe they turned it off instead of delaying the back-up or perhaps they innocently clicked on a link they shouldn't have. Or maybe afterwards when Sarah was on youtube because Mira was playing on their computer? We'll never know. Thankfully since that time I've been uploading photos to my eeePC and haven't deleted from the cards yet.

The girls aka OLD computer is slowly getting faster. Still needs work (which is why I am up at the moment, actually), but it is fast enough for me to FINALLY access my back-up hard drive. What a huge relief to see those files, and all of our photos dating back to 2004. Having access to those, I now feel safe enough to finally reformat the infected drive. And lucky for me, my computer guru Jeff (Hi Brother-in-law!) just got home from a short vaca today. I promise not to call too many times... Somehow the phone connection between Iowa and Georgia is just so much better than the relays between Iowa and halfway around the world to the support people. Bonus: I can understand Jeffs' accent. I'm not knockin' the support departments - they were thorough and GREAT once I got them to stop passing me from person to person asking me to type in the same set of commands over & over. I'm convinced being able to hear or understand them would have saved several hours over the past week.

Digital Photos
I have been beating myself up a bit for not having them all printed as we went along, seeing as we went digital before Mira was born. Also for not having finished my scrapbooks of several vacations since then, but I will be doing that here. Slowly, but I'll be doing it. Rich, being the perfect man that he is, told me that if the photos were lost we'll just have to revisit all those places again :). Not that I wanted to recreate Miras' birth, but do I have to tell him the Hawaii photos are ok? In the meantime, we've been talking about our vacations this past week - prompted by my worries, sunsets, clouds that remind of us that day at Natural Bridges last summer and the random memory generator that started Mira talking about the Tall Green Statue in New York holding a book. Because of this there are two things I've remembered that I want to share.

a: We remember the vacations and important events in our lives. The girls remember them. Maybe because we talk about them, maybe because we do look at photos, or kept journals, souvenirs, maps and postcards, or trusted that they can entertain themselves (no handheld games or backseat TVs). Who knows. But they remember. Without photos.
b: We lived those events. Not everyone gets the chance to do some of the things we have, or go some of the places we've been. Then again, not everyone has learned to see the beauty or stop and notice a wonderful moment or how to create one in their busy lives, vacations or no. And I see that my girls do. That is so much more important than photos.

More Photos
That said, I took at least 200 photos during the girls swimming lessons this past week. More at the zoo with Sarah's friend on Thursday. Last week we took about 100 at Living History Farms and Rich set the camera up by the hummingbird feeder on Sunday. Today when we dropped Natasha off at GT camp I left her 2 disposable cameras for 5 days. (She desperately wants a digital camera, but if a disposable camera falls out of a pocket when she's on a 60 foot high zip line or her canoe tips over, no loss.)

I'll get back to sharing the photos and hopefully updating this blog whenever all the computers are in tip top and I'm all caught up. When will that be you ask?

Lets see, Sarah has Art class a sleepover and at least one playdate this week, Mira has two playdates, plus the company picnic...

A fun day

It's cool and breezy today, almost ready to rain but not quite. Last night as we ate our grilled salmon, grilled sweet corn and foil wrapped grilled potato, green pepper & onions, the girls had to run in for fleece jackets to cover bare shoulders. It felt like Fall, and this was the week with no preplanned activities, places we HAD to be. Well, with the exception of Natasha's pre-camp physical which we missed on Monday and have had to reschedule. (blush).

Yesterday was sunny enough for most of the laundry to be line dried. Not warm enough for the pool, but the girls didn't care. They had their noses stuck in books picked up at the library during Mira's story hour- our second trip in 3 days. They love reading as much as I do. The elementary school is participating in Scholastics' Summer Reading Challenge and adding their reading hours to Scholastics bid at a Reading World Record.

Sarah is not the best at keeping track of her hours - she forgets to write things down because she has her nose stuck in a book or magazine, and occasionally the paper. It's a safe bet that if you haven't seen her for 20 minutes she's either out riding her bike,or has picked up a book somewhere in the house. I know she's read at least 40 hours since June 4 - and that's not counting every hour I've read our 'family reading' or all her stolen half hours when she was supposed to be cleaning her room, sleeping, or looking for socks to wear.

Here she is reading on the swing this past Spring - I have been writing the titles of her finished summer books on the tabs - don't worry, I have many more tabs that can be added!

Today isn't even sunny, and we're all wearing long pants. So we're headed to a favorite spot, the Art Center to see some new exhibits, and some Japanese Art. They each have classes starting there in the next week or so, and they still are dying to go today. Please Mom? Love it. After that, we'll try for a picnic in the Rose Garden, weather permitting, and then a walk around Grays Lake. May toss Sarah & Mira's bikes in the trunk for that. (We'll ride the trails down on a sunnier day.)