one last summer weekend

Granted, summer in these parts is just getting started.  Our fall tends to be much warmer than summer, and we are usually blessed with a wonderful Indian summer of sorts.  But since school for Ryan starts this week, it feels like this weekend really was the end to our relaxed summer schedules and free time.  So we thought we'd send it off in style, and head up to the mountains for one last hurrah.  Eddy stayed home this trip, to work and to go to the first Cal football game of the season.  But I thought I would brave the trip as a single mom...sort of.  My parents were making a pit stop in Tahoe after a week-long backpacking trip before coming home, so I knew they'd be up there to help me out.  And my good friend Cristen came along.  And I was so glad to have them around to help with the kiddos.  Just more proof that it really does take a village to raise these kids!  I am so thankful we have such a wonderful village around us!

Our first 2 days up there were tainted by smoke from the Yosemite fire.  Although far from Tahoe, the winds had brought the smoke up there for the whole week prior.  According to the locals it had been much worse, but we could definitely still smell it and couldn't see across the lake due to the hazy skies.  But we woke up to a gorgeous and clear Saturday morning, and had a wonderful day at the beach that day.

Seeing as how I had my hands full this weekend, it was the first time I relied mainly on the iPhone photos to remember the weekend by.  Good thing we had such great scenery, to make the pics turn out sort of decent.

peek-a-boo with Nanny

she did this to herself

throwing rocks in the lake, and then all of a sudden my kids had no clothes on

and then this happened...

first taste of a chocolate cookie, she loved every bite

family bike ride along the Truckee river

duck spotting at our picnic after our ride

she found the screen door, and loved to make faces in it

Evening at the lake, one of my most favorite times up there

this girl couldn't get enough of the water

proof that I went swimming

Our super fun beach day

showing his muscles

burying Ry in the sand 

It was a great weekend...except we missed Daddy.  It was great to come home to him!

love these two

talking

Little Miss Kaitlyn has found her voice.  And at times it is rather loud...much like her mama of course.  She is constantly babbling, having "conversations" with us all the time, and over the last few weeks has finally given us a few real words!  She says "dada", "mama", "hi", "ball", "uh oh", "boo", and "go".  And she'll repeat the sounds for "jump", "kick", and she's still got her "tickletickletickle".  She has also learned the sign for "more", which makes meal time infinitely easier.  Now if I can just get her to stop throwing her food overboard.

lately

We haven't been doing too many remarkable things lately.  Just the usual summer routine: playgrounds, parks, riding bikes, swimming.  I haven't been too good at photographing the usual stuff.  But here are a few photos of lately...

I went to check on Ry after I knew he had woken up from his nap, and found this..."just doing a little work mom"

 We got a box from an online order I had made, and boy was that good fun for everyone...

Ryan is holding a measuring tape, measuring Kaitlyn's face I guess

"Where's Ryan?"

 I had purchased a Groupon for a 3 hour photography class, and finally used it this past weekend.  It was okay, I learned some good things about my camera that I will likely forget in another few weeks.  And I took a lot of photos of things that don't move.  The problem is the things I photograph most (aka, kids) do move a lot.   So we'll see how much of what I learned I can actually use.

While I was photographizing, Eddy was stretching his brain at a PT continuing education course all weekend.  And his friend Patti from PT school came up for the same course with 2 of her friends from SoCal.  We had them all over for dinner Sunday night, and Ryan LOVED all the attention.

Lauren, Laura and Patti...aka, Ryan's gals

And look who has discovered the truck out back....

Thursday adventure

My girlfriend Lindsey and I have been pretty adventurous together since our college days.  Classic story was the time we thought we could just ride our bikes around Lake Washington in Seattle.  We got across the bridge into Bellevue, realized the lake was huge, and had no idea how we were gonna get back to campus.  And of course neither of us had ID or money with us, and this was way before cell phones.  Needless to say, we've wised up over the years.  And I love that she's willing to meet up with us for new adventures...although these days they usually consist of checking out new things to do with the kids, and I like to think we are much more responsible now and usually always remember at least money, phone, and food for our offspring. 
Today we ventured into the Berkeley hills to check out the Lawrence Hall of Science.  I remember going as a kid on field trips for school.  And it's even better than I remember.  Granted, a lot of it is geared toward older kids, science projects and what not, but our kids managed to find the fun in all of it anyway.  And that just means they'll get something different out of it every time we go.

Ryan and Ella, fun with magnets in water

I know Kaitlyn...just look at that view! (and your sweet tuft of hair blowing in the wind)

Lindsey teaching the kids about water flow and dams.  All the kids really wanted to do was splash with their shovels in the water.  

what better lunch spot is there than on a giant whale?

climbing on DNA

fun at the fair

As a kid, Eddy and his family went to the Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa every summer.  His dad got free passes, as he was a veterinarian for the state.  And apparently this fair has more animals at it than any other county fair in the state, every single year.  I can't remember the last time I went to the fair.  So off we went.  

We hit it on a gorgeous day, not too hot.  The animals were plentiful, although the goats bleated a bit too loudly for Kaitlyn's liking and she quickly burst into tears.  They had some of the coolest chickens I've ever seen.  And of course they had horse racing.  

But before hitting up the fair, we made a quick stop at Aunt Irene's old house in town just to see what's changed.  Eddy's family sold it to the city 2 years ago, and they've turned some of the property into a beautiful community garden. 

Once we made it to the fair, we met up with Nonni and Nonno, and Auntie Dana.  We checked out the animals...

 We had some lunch...Ryan and I each had a corn dog.  It was huge, and about the best tasting thing ever.  

 We had free ice cream.... (apparently they give out free mini cones from the same booth, every year)

 And we watched a horse race...

Ryan learned all about betting on a horse with Nonni.  They picked #7, because he had orange on his saddle just like Ryan had orange on his shirt, and they bet $2.  Well, the #7 horse came in 2nd to last.  A good lesson about gambling, and why we don't do it.  Because I always lose.  

All in all, a great family day at the fair!  Next time we'll have to check out those rides.