Family Camp at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks

We spent several days in an old-school lodge in the Sierras with a couple of Paul's brothers and their families. The combination of cousin time, nature time, and the first time we've seen James since he left for college was magical. 

Climbing a currently dry waterfall

Most of the crew outside the lodge

Adults went on a kid-free hike

Kids went on an adult-free hike

Canoeing a few hundred feet from the lodge

How many Bankheads does it take to surround a sequoia tree?

Hiking Moro Rock

A gaggle of cousins

Cousin poker game in the lodge

Walking James to School for His First Day of College

James decided to go to college at UC Santa Cruz. Between our house and the home of the Banana Slugs is a mountain range full of open space preserves. In order to make the symbolic journey into adulthood and college life, he decided to walk to school, leaving from our front door, camping for 2 nights along the way, and ending up at his dorm room. He invited Amy to join the hike, and he invited Paul to drive the support vehicle packed with all his belongings. 

Two miles into our hike, we left our neighborhood and entered the wilderness.

Views of the hills and the ocean beyond

We climbed on cool rocks.

We also climbed trees (looking for geocaches).

Pretty great that James' belongings can fit into 5 bins.

So many redwood trees at UCSC

On the many-windowed second floor library, James gets to study among the trees.

Labor Day 2024

Many Bankhead cousins joined us at the Swamp for Labor Day weekend. Besides the usual boating, highlights included wrestling with uncles, hiking through the marshlands, playing Monopoly, and visiting the Jelly Belly factory, 

 

75% Back to School

The three younger Bankheads started another school year in August. We have a sixth grader, an eighth grader, and an eleventh grader.

Ensemble Recital 2024

Miles is the last of the Bankheads to make his way through Peery Piano Academy. Every summer PPA hosts an "ensemble recital" for piano students to play duets or trios or even octets. Lucky for Miles, his older siblings who are no longer students at PPA agreed to join him for a special sibling number. They wore red berets in honor of their Debussy piece, and Miles' teacher was very happy with the performance.

20th Anniversary in Amsterdam

To celebrate being married for 20 years, Amy and Paul went to Amsterdam. We saw cool old churches and picturesque windmills and biked along cobblestone streets. Congratulations to us. 

Independence Day with Cousins

 

Fireworks are cooler when watched from a boat

Teamwork makes the dream work

Pillowfights

Sketchy carnival rides

Summertime Visit to Utah

We trekked to Utah at the end of July to see Sadie perform in Beauty and the Beast with BYU's Broadway Bootcamp. She played Mrs Potts and won Best Actress. We also got to meet a new little Glauser cousin and joined Aunt Heidi for a round of mini-golf that was likely assembled by some 13-year-olds with glue guns.