Finn's 7th Birthday Trip to Catalina

Catalina, here we come! It looks terribly grey and dreary here, but it actually wasn't too bad.

Finn and Jack loved being on the deck.

Eventually, it got too cold for Jack, but Finn was a trooper, he stayed up there the whole trip. He looks like a salty old sailor in this picture.

Here we are approaching the island.

Ta-da! Totally nautical boys.

Hanging out around the campfire was one of our favorite activities. We toasted marshmallows...

...or caught them on fire.

The only downside of our trip was a group of rowdy guys who were in the cabin next to us. All the others campers near us were mellow families and groups, but these 24-year old guys were there to whoop it up and whoop it up, they did, into the wee hours of the night. Luckily, aside from being thoughtless at night, they were mostly pretty decent guys. Finn thought they were his cool new friends when they let him play soccer with them.

Here's another campfire picture. Amy and Jamie gave us an awesome book called Mr. Muddle that always makes the guys laugh. Instead of scary campfire stories, we told Mr. Muddle camping stories. "Mr. Muddle got up in the middle of the night to use the port-a-pottie, but he forgot his flashlight and sat on the grill instead. Oh Mr. Muddle!"

We took a nice long hike alongside the ocean.

Birthday boy Finn!

Jack! Everywhere we went people said, "That is one happy kid."

Me and Jack. Jack was getting tired, so Finn and Patrick went on and I took this picture myself while we were waiting for them to catch up with us.

Finally, we saw them come around the bend across from us. Sorry this picture isn't that great, but they were farther away here than they look.

Finally...

Finn...

came....

back! Yay!

And Daddy too.

Two Harbors.

Pirate Jack playing on some anchors. "Ahoy mateys!" Note the pink purse. All the most dread pirates are carrying them these days.

Jack's first time in a wet suit and first time contemplating going into the ocean. Is he going to do it?

Yes!

And Finn went snorkeling for the first time. Here are Finn and Daddy living the life aquatic.

Our tent cabin. Not luxurious, but we liked it.

We took the guys to a very grown up dinner for Finn's birthday on Saturday night. Unfortunately, we forgot to take any pictures at the dinner, but the boys were both great. The next day, Patrick took Finn on his favorite (hard!) hike up into the interior of the island to see the buffalo run.

This picture reminds me so much of a great picture that Amy had framed for Finn when he was a baby. It's a picture of a little boy walking with a pack strapped across his back and there's something about the boy's pose that is so essentially boy.

There are many pictures of Finn on this trip that I think somehow both capture the essence of childhood, while at the same time showing a glimpse of what he will be like as a grown-up. I'm not sure why, but I think it might have something to do with his turning seven. Seven is supposed to be an important number in a lot of religions and cultures, but I always think of the documentary series 7-Up. I think they took their title from a Rudyard Kipling quote; "Give me a boy until he is seven and I will give you the man." (or something like that.) Happy Birthday Finn! I hope we did okay by you, little man.

Tired daddy.