A few days of cooler weather and then record breaking heat!

The weather cooled down for a few days and was high 70's-lows 80's. It was great for us to be able to play in the yard, go to the park and ride our bikes!!! We went to the Farmer's Market on Thursday in Livermore and had a blast. Big surprise, the kids really like kettle corn :o). We also discovered golden raspberries. I'd never seen them before, but they taste just like a regular red one. We also got a huge flat of melt-in-your-mouth organic strawberries. Not too many of the raspberries made it home. I'm happy to say my kids are fruit kids! It was a great atmosphere, lots of people, kids, music and bubbles. We're going back tonight, although now we're back at record breaking heat, so the kids might be a little more grumpy. I was actually a little chilly when we went last week.

Ryan was out of town Monday through Thursday and thank God for air conditioning-it has been hot! It is strange to walk out to get the mail at 6 o'clock when it is 101 degrees! It feels like Hawaii, sort of. We went to Chuck E Cheese one evening and hit the kid pool. I wish I was able to take pictures at the pool because they were having a blast! They have a water slide that Ainsley flies down and I catch her and Reggie slowly goes down by himself. By the end of the session, he started going a little faster. He has made such huge progress in the water this summer. We are going to do lessons in Sept., so hopefully, he'll get even more comfortable.

Ryan got back on Thursday and we went to Reggie's orientation for school. His teachers seem awesome and there's a 6 to 1 student/teacher ratio, so he should get some individualized attention. All the kids seemed very well behaved and the parents we met were very friendly and nice. Seems like this area has a lot of out-of-staters, so it was nice to have something in common right away! We already have a play date set up for next week and it can't come soon enough. We've had a couple rough days where Reggie has really missed his friends. They talk on the phone, but I know he'd like to play with them :o(. At least Reggie has Ainsley to play with. They have really started playing together a lot more and they laugh and talk and it is really fun to watch.

Ryan and I haven't had a babysitter yet, but we are hoping this weekend to have Julia (Ryan's bosses daughter) come to watch the kids. We've been having a little competitive fun playing basketball in our driveway after the kids go to bed. We're about even in wins of PIG, but we are running out of daylight, so I think our days of playing are numbered. Ryan is very excited that his watermelons are growing. He has about 5 the size of softballs.

Trip back to CA

It was a much more pleasant drive home. We got a much earlier start, around 11:30, and stopped in Portland to see Matt (Ryan's college buddy), Monique, and their 2 sons, Atticus and Tennison. We had a nice visit and dinner. It was good to get caught up and let the kids run around before being stuck in the car for 9 hours. We arrived at around 4 in the morning, so we made great time and caught a few hours of sleep before the kids woke up at 7. It was so much fun watching them. It was like Christmas! I didn't realize how much Reggie would miss his toys. He was very excited to play with them and was running all over the house. Riley, our cat, was very happy to have us home :o).

We were greeted with HOT weather. The first week we were back, it was over 100 almost everyday. The kids (and Ryan) cooled off in the pool and slip and slide:

The first week back was busy, grocery shopping, unpacking and just trying to get everything organized. I made Ryan a collage of just the 2 of us for his birthday, which required going through hundreds of my parents pictures in boxes, in no particular order. So, my first project when I got back was to get caught up on my pictures of the kids. I downloaded them from my camera, uploaded them to the website and printed over 800 pictures (I was over a year behind!). Now I just have to put them in the kids books and I'll feel somewhat on top of things :o). I also realized that since the kids have been born, there are very few pictures of me and Ryan, so all you new parents, remember to take pictures of yourself.....it will be fun to look at the bags under our eyes someday!

Our last week in WA

It was a busy week!

We went to the Skagit Fair on Wednesday and had a great time. It was the most animal active fair that I've been to. Competitions were going on everywhere and animal owners were anxious to answer questions and talk about their animals. Of course, Ainsley could have looked at the critters all day long and Reggie wanted nothing to do with them. All he wanted to do was go on the rides. We made our way in that direction and he and Grandma went on most of the kiddie rides. Ainsley was quite upset that she wasn't tall enough for any of the rides, except one....

We spent Thursday and Friday just enjoying the lake. Here's a few pics:

We celebrated Ainsley's birthday on Thursday with banana muffins, topped with whip cream (grandma's got them addicted and now guess what we have in our fridge?). And she got to open her baby from grandma. It was supposed to get her interested in the potty because it pees, but it hasn't worked so far. Reggie is very interested and has added a peeing (and pooping) baby to his Christmas list. I tell you, you never know!

Aunt Liha, Uncle Wade and Maggie arrived on Friday and the kids always get riled up. Here's a fun clip after Ainsley opened her gift from them:

We finished the week out with Ainsley birthday party and a final goodbye to family and friends. The weather was a bit crazy, sun, rain, hail, wind, but the company was great :o). Ainsley was a bit overwhelmed and pretty quiet, but perked up a bit after dinner. Here's a cute clip of her big day:

I have to give a big shout out to my family who put up with us all summer. Liha and Wade every Monday/Tuesday and my mom and dad the rest of the time. Thanks for having us and making the summer so much fun. They spent countless hours playing with the kids, dad mowing the lawn and moving dirt on the back hoe with Reggie, grandma playing in the sand with Ainsley and getting Reggie to try swimming, walks to the property through the woods, playing in the loft, the list goes on and on. They were in heaven! They will remember summers at the lake forever :o). They have no idea how lucky they are, but someday they will. Thank you mom for taking every Wednesday off of work, so we could "play" and I could have a little break. Hopefully, next year, they'll sleep better and then we'll never leave!!! We love you guys and miss you already :o(.

Notice the string in the front....Grandma pulled them because the 4-wheeler is broken!

Summer fun

We've been visiting lots of friends/family and have really enjoyed being back for a few weeks. Ainsley has had lots of baby time and Reggie has had quite a bit of friend time :o). Things are winding down and we're all pretty tired and ready to see daddy. Sleep has been a big issue and I'm pooped. Feels like I have a newborn again....when one sleeps, the other doesn't and I'm up usually a minimum of 4 times a night :o(.

Ainsley with Amelia during our visit with Jane. Lilli and Reggie were having all kinds of fun in the master bathroom!

Visit with Grandma WadeAinsley with Mack during our visit with Megan and Drew. Reggie was having fun with Lachlan and Cohen.
Splashing in the water at Forest park with Abby and Kellen.
Sharing a snow cone.
Monday we went up to Bellingham for a picnic that my mom's work was hosting for family. The kids had a lot of fun jumping in the bouncy houses, getting painted tattoos (not Reggie!), eating, dancing to the tunes and playing games.

We had a couple windy/cloudy days at the lake and what better to do than fly a Buzz Lightyear kite!! Ryan flew in for a week and got to spend his birthday with us. It was a great week and nice for the kids to get to spend lots of time with daddy. Nice for me to spend a little time relaxing and enjoying the sun :o). Peggy came to watch the kids on his birthday, so we played golf and went to Red Robin for his birthday burger. It was great for us to spend a little time together too!

Busy couple weeks!

We had dinner at some friend's house before we headed back to Washington and Ainsley got some good baby time. She loves kissing...

Enjoying one of several plums from our tree:
We went to the Robert Livermore swim center before we left and it was great! They have a super kids area, with a small slide, tunnels and fountains. They had a big slide for older kids and Reggie was very excited to have us go down it :o). Ainsley wasn't so sure and just walked around the edge of the pool over and over. Here's a pic from Reggie's swim class:

The Alameda County fair was also going on, so we found an evening to check that out. It wasn't as big as the Puyallup, but it was very nice for the kids and we managed to find some fun entertainment. Ainsley rode a real horse for about 2 minutes and then she realized she was on a real horse and wanted to get off as fast as possible. Reggie had fun on the kiddie rides and Ryan and I found some good food, so it was a good time had by all.

The next day, we packed up the car and headed out. It was a long drive, but went pretty well. We left about 4:30 in the afternoon and arrived the next day 7:30. The GPS routed us into traffic, which was no fun. We were on the road for a couple hours and had only gone 40 miles. That was a little irritating! But, after dinner, it was smooth sailing. We stopped for gas and to change driver's, but that was it. We switched every couple hours through the night, so we managed to get a little bit of sleep. It was fun to watch the lightning storm from Oregon, all the way home!

Thank goodness we had mom and dad on the other end because we were very tired! We recovered in time for the 4th, which was great! The day started with the Lake Cavanaugh parade. There were lots of people and Reggie was very excited to decorate his bike. Ryan started the evening with his 16,000 firecracker roll. It went on and on and on. It is always fun when it hits the middle and goes CRAZY. The weather was decent and everyone seemed to have a good time.

Since then, we've been just hanging out at the lake. Rough life, sun, sand, water.....the kids are getting much more interested in being in the sand and water, which is really nice.

We had Kellen and Abby and their families up on Sat. Reggie really wanted to take them on the tube. We borrowed one from the neighbor that was big enough for the 3 kids and Kevin and Michael. Everything was going great until we got way out and we slowed down for some waves and the front submerged and they all went into the lake!!! It was awful and I hope they aren't ruined forever :o(. Reggie rebounded pretty quick, he was up for a boat ride and going on the smaller tube with me. It was a good lesson about wearing life jackets and learning how to swim.

Here's a happy picture before the dump:

Exploring

I think I've pretty much figured out the city streets and how to get from here to there without directions! We found Walmart, Target, Safeway, Trader Joe's, Costco and all our usual pit stops.

Sunday, Ryan and I each tried a church (we don't want to drag the kids along until we figure out where we are going to be). They seem to be a little different here, encouraging the kids to go to the service....not my idea of a productive listening experience. They have a separate time for Sunday school. Ryan didn't even make it to the service because he went at the Sunday school time and the parents were attending classes and no one was in the sanctuary. My experience was just as strange. The church was huge (probably could hold a few hundred) and I was one of 15 people there, including kids. I also had a surprise when I took communion and discovered it was real wine and very strong! Needless to say we were both dissapointed and missing our home church and missing our friends and family and all the activities we were used to. At least we were able to get on-line and listen to a sermon from Scott :o).

Last night I decided to look up the Mother's group in Livermore and they meet at a local church, one that didn't come up on any of my yellow page searches. The church had a great website and you can actually watch the service. The music, format and speaker were great, so I think we found a church! Maybe that's why no one was at the other churches!!!

Yesterday, Reggie started swim class and as usual struggled to participate (he has to observe awhile before feeling comfortable). He is in a relatively small class, 6 kids with 2 instructors. Half the kids were very comfortable in the water and the others not so much. So, today, they split up the kids and he did everything they asked!!! One of the boys won't even get in the water, so he and one other girl had the teacher's full attention. It couldn't be a better environment for him :o).

Today, we visited the local library and it is awesome! I guess that is one good thing that came out of my church visit, I passed the library on my way, so it was fresh in my mind to check it out :o). They have a huge wing just for kids, so we didn't really have to be that quiet. They had several computers and rooms for crafts and story time. We are going back tomorrow for crafts and Monday for a story.

We've had more fun exploring the backyard...Ryan and I have been trying to figure out the sprinkler system and we tested it again and realized none of the fruit trees or planters were getting water. They came and fixed it, but I wonder how long it has been going on. Ryan planted a couple watermelon plants and green beans last month and they shrivled up and died. Now that we have water, I think the beds will take off. The trees are somehow producing lots of fruit, so I guess they must be o.k. Reggie really likes to water and since we weren't sure they were getting water the past week, he has a big job to do. Now we'll have to find something else for him to do. We have a lemon tree, plum tree, orange tree, peach tree, some grape vines and a mystery fruit tree. We thought it was a yellow plum tree, but the fruit is fuzzy, maybe apricots? Anyone know what it might be? Here's a picture of the mystery fruit:

If the plums and things are ready, we'll bring bags home when we come :o)!

The weather has been beautiful these past few days. Low 80's, so we've been outside a lot. We went to the park last night and the kids are spending lots of time in the sandbox.

Getting settled

We survived....what a crazy week. Has it only been a week???? I'll try to re-cap. The truck was loaded up on Thursday and that's when the real craziness began. Ryan and I had to clean our house from top to bottom and do all the little things we haven't done for so long to get the house ready for our renter. Cathy watched the kids a lot and it was so great to be right next door at Laura's house.....thanks again guys!!! But, never put it past children to put a wrinkle in the plans. Ainsley wasn't so lucky to escape the bug Reggie had. She started throwing up on Friday and had a fever most of the day and even dry heaved on Sat. morning. So, it made it a little more difficult to get things done. We had lots of late nights and early mornings!

Sat. evening we had a nice Father's day dinner at Liha and Wade's. It was a nice time and good to see them before we flew out. Sunday we awoke at 5:15 and had to go get the cat, Riley, from our house. He wasn't too happy in the car and at the airport, but did pretty well on the plane. Maybe it is because we were so distracted with Ainsley...she wasn't so happy. Kept yelling "out" and "poop". She didn't want to go on the plane and it made for a very long flight. We did run into an old high school acquaintance, Sheri Godin. She was our flight attendant and it was fun to catch up...small world!
Sunday was really nice-the calm before the storm. The truck came early on Monday and they were done unloading around 2. Reggie got to sit in the cab and honk the horn of the semi truck-it was pretty cool. We had a team of unpackers coming on Tuesday, but I couldn't wait, so I started unpacking like a crazy woman. I got the kitchen and bathrooms done and bits and pieces of the other rooms. The garage was completely full of empty boxes, so full I couldn't put anymore in there! It was a good thing we worked so hard because the unpackers do just that, unpack. One of them started in Ainsley's room and asked if he could put stuff in her crib. Shortly after, he announced he was done and started on Reggie's room. I peeked into her room and I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Her crib and the floor was completely full of stuffed animals, toys, dolls, play food, etc. It took awhile to get the mess under control. I'm finally feeling pretty good about it now. We did the garage yesterday, so I can park in there now.

We did manage to leave the unpacking for a little breather. We went to Bill's house (Ryan's boss) on Wed. and swam in their pool and had a nice dinner. Reggie is getting much more comfortable in the water, swimming around with a noodle. He did fall off the stairs and was underwater for a bit, which scared us all, but the good news is he held his breath and I think he understands the importance of taking swim lessons, which start next week. Ainsley played with the girls and got her nails painted. She thought that was pretty neat. In the car, Reggie asked if he could stay the night there sometime, so I think he had a good time!

Last night, Ryan and I even had a little fun. He had a work softball game and I figured I better go while Peggy is here because I'll probably never get to relax and enjoy another game. It was 100 degrees, but there was a nice wind and I was in the shade, so it was quite enjoyable. Ryan went 4/4 and had some great diving catches. Now that we're older, i was a bit worried he was going to come up gimpy. That didn't happen until today when he could hardly walk-he has had issues with his feet :o(.
We set up the pool in the backyard, but it has been so hot, that we haven't really used it much. Ryan also hooked up the slip and slide which was a big hit. We really like our neighborhood (it is really quiet) and have met a few of our neighbors and hear them splashing in their pool! Haven't found any playmates yet, but when it cools off a little, we'll walk down and look for stollers and toys! We did manage to get on the bike trail and take a little ride. It was fun to explore and Reggie really enjoyed the bridges :o).

We also squeezed in a quick trip to San Francisco with Peggy. What a nightmare! It took us a bit to figure out what we were going to do, but finally decided to follow Reggie's lead. All he wanted to do was ride a cable car. The first 20 minutes were great, until we reached the end of the line. We had to get off and catch another one heading back. They were so full and after a half hour of waiting, we decided to walk in the 95 degree weather. Let's just say we were all a bit cranky and very happy to get to the car!

Tonight we went on a bike ride (just Trina and I) and it was still 85 degrees!! As we were motoring through the trail, we started to smell horses. As we rounded the corner there were two horses trotting on the trail!! It was very cool. Pictures are starting to go up and our house is starting to feel more like home. Only one more full work week and then we take off for a long road trip with the family back to home on Wednesday the 2nd. Things are starting to slow down a little and slowly but surely we're starting to feel a little more relaxed. Thanks to all of those that have sent their prayers, we really appreciate it....