Taking a break from ancient history for a bit, we’ve uploaded a new set of pictures from the last few weeks. The photos cover our Father’s Day dinner at Paxti’s in Campbell and Julia’s summer camp week at YMCA Camp Campbell. Somehow, we managed to avoid having any pictures of Joe in this batch.

This was Julia’s second visit to Camp Campbell: last year, she went for a three-day mini-camp, and this year she signed up for a full, week-long session. Like last year, she went with her good friends Phoebe and Zoe Dueltgen and they stayed in the comparatively luxurious Treetop cabins, which have heated floors, windows and lights for each bunk, and attached indoor bathrooms. Apparently the more rustic cabins that Joe and I have stayed in during our Adventure Guides trips are reserved for the older kids, who stand a better chance of fighting off bears as they stumble to the standalone bathroom facilities in the dark.

One of the highlights of the week for Julia was the night she and her cabin-mates slept out under the stars. The cabin counselors, Shelby and Kate, rounded up the girls and their sleeping bags and marched them out into the woods to spend the night outdoors. It’s not exactly clear how far they went—it can’t have been that far, right?—but evidently it was far enough that the counselors couldn’t easily walk Julia back to the cabins when she announced that she needed to use the bathroom. Thus, along with her first time sleeping under the stars, Julia was able to notch another personal first: peeing under the stars.

If you look carefully at the camp pictures, you’ll note that Julia seems to be wearing the same pair of polka-dot pants on at least three different days, while other kids are wearing shorts. It should also be noted that Julia’s week at camp coincided with a long stretch of some of the hottest, least California-like weather we’ve experienced since we moved out here in 1999. As far as we can tell, the counselors seem to have advised the kids that long pants were a good idea in order to avoid tick bites and other mishaps that can occur in a forested setting. Julia seems to have taken this guidance to heart: hence the repeated appearances of the pants over the course of the week. Fortunately, she’s not one to be unduly traumatized by temperature extremes. I only wish that she listened that well to us.

Mixed in with the Father’s Day and camp photos are a few quick and dirty snapshots I took at the lone open Vista Point along Interstate 280 between our house and San Mateo. I used to drive past this spot every day during my 45-mile commute to the office, and has never stopped. As unpleasant as spending hours every day in the car was, one thing the drive had going for it was the gorgeous scenery. In this picture, you can see Upper Crystal Springs Reservoir, which sits directly atop the San Andreas Fault.