Prancing around in wooden clogs

a little geneology on a Saturday morning

I was thinking about surnames this morning and decided to do a little research on a couple in our family. Here's what I found:

Adkins - English, (son of Adam) arrived mid-1600's

Chafin - English, it was the name given to a bald man, it's derived from the Old French word chauf, people bearing the name Chafin arrived in America as early as 1680

Blair - Scottish, from the English/Scottish borderlands, county of Ayrshire, arrived in America in the early 1700's

Mcleod - (very obviously Scottish) Leod held the island of Lewis, these immigrants arrived in America around the time of the American Revolution as the west was being opened up for exploration and settlement (McLeod is on Mom's side, and there is a McCloud on Dad's which is basically the same surname)

Runyan - English BUT Runyan is the Anglicized version of the French surname Rongnon, who were exiles from France because of religious views, makes sense since our Runyans were Mennonites (right Mom?) the first of these settlers arrived around 1665

Farmer - Irish - arrived in England around 1066, the name doesn't mean they were farmers, but they were the people who collected taxes from the farmers, they left England to escape religious persecution and arrived in Virginia from the early to late 1600's

Jessie - English and German, the first of these arrived in the mid-1800's

Craighead - Scottish, some are noted as fighting in the American Revolution, so I guess that means they were here before 1776.

Arrington - Scottish, of the Scottish/English borderlands, first found in Cumberland, were here before the Revolution, but many remained loyal to the British and moved to Canada

Baker - English, German, Dutch, there were Bakers in Virginia as early as 1637

Feazell - English, North Hampton

Coleman - Irish, English - derived from two distinct Gaelic names, O' Clumhain, meaning down or feathers and O'Colmain, meaning dove, the name dates from Ireland of the Middle Ages

Scary storm clouds!

Our first strawberry

A quick trip to King's Canyon and Sequoia to determine driving time to Boyden Cavern

2 1/2 hours taking 63 then 180
3 1/2 hours taking 198 and going all the way through the park

Roof oh Grant's Grove visitor center.

Snow tunnel

Rachel wanted to go through, but her mom wouldn't let her.

That's a snow drift!

Snow play

Swarms if ladybugs in a meadow near Hume Lake

Rock climbing champs

Beach trip to Montana de Oro

shark egg?

scanning the beach for good rocks

stones for skipping

exploring the sea caves

more beach exploration

watching the waves roll in

great sea cave explorers

A happy ipad owner!

Playing beauty shop!

We bought two different kinds of curlers and we are experimenting with
them to see what they do.

Camping out in the back yard.

Picnic in the park

Rachel got a pizza bread certificate as a reading award, so we picked
up the pizza bread, plus pizza for the rest of, along with cupcakes
Rachel made yesterday and headed to the park for lunch. It's supposed
to be warm all week here!

Happy Birthday Steve!

48 years old! oh my!

We enjoyed a nice evening out at Hometown Buffet last night. The girls didn't remember ever going there before, so it was a special treat for them. But, we were too full for dessert by the time we got home. So, tonight we had Steve's chocolate lava birthday cake.

Happy birthday honey!

High regard

So, we had a little family game night. Mancala. This is the note
Rachel slipped Nicole while Nicole and I were playing.

New in lawn-mowing attire!!