Visitors

The kiddos woke up on Sat. to surprise guests! Aunt Rachel and Nene drove up for a quick visit since Aunt Rachel had a long weekend. We packed the precious two days together with. . . well, togetherness. Piano and jewelry-making, Wii competitions and cups of tea, visitng Blue Diamond gift shop and an antique store, eating and laughing and. . .

Yee-Haw!

This is already old news around here, but I'm just not the frequent posted that I used to be. Anika had a fabulous "Cowboy Day" at school two weeks ago. They had a meet and greet with a real horse, learned a lot about riding, saddles & lassoing, and enjoyed a lunch of hot dogs, beans and grits. (A big shout out to my Facebook peeps for helping to supply the necessary gear for a cowgirl to look and feel her best!!!!!)

Color the Skies 2011

Even with the best of intentions, it is really hard to get up at the crack of dawn to see hot air balloons launch. . . The balloons were supposed to launch between 6:30-7:30am. When our eyes popped open at 7:05 we were pretty sure we would miss the show. We were pleasantly surprised that we were still able to catch the last balloon launch and enjoy the festive atmosphere.

This was our view on the way to the park. We were pretty sure we missed it.

But when we arrived, at 7:30, the last balloon was slowly rising.

Last year, we didn't know how close you could get to the balloons. This year the kids were so excited to get up close and personal with a hot air balloon.

Lloyd had fun snapping a few pictures of the inside.
And then it went right over our heads:

Up. . .

Up. . .

And away. . .

Then we headed home with some donuts to enjoy the rest of the day together. Next year we might just sleep in a enjoy some of the other festivities - sky jumpers, competitive kite flying, etc.

Cousin Time

Even though we had already been in school for a week, we were able to feel like summer again when we got a visit from Aunt Christine and the cousins!!!! Although we only had a few days together, Lloyd was gone, and Anika & Andrew had school, we were still able to enjoy every moment of having Nathaniel, Simon, Josie, & Aunt Christine around.

Mistlin Park: Rolling down the hill:

Girlies:

Josie (3), Anika (7), Nathaniel (6), Andrew (5), Simon (5), Kathryn (3):

Cat Kat

We've been taking more and more bike rides now that Kathryn can ride on the tag-along bike behind mine so we were in the market for a helmet for her. I couldn't resist this one when Lloyd told me about it. Here is my Kat, as a cat:-)

First Day of School 2011

Anika is ready for second-grade with Mrs. Veltkamp and Andrew couldn't be more excited to start school with Mrs. Huisken.
Andrew with Mrs. Huiksen:

Summer's Last Hurrah: Monterey Bay Aquarium

A great day in Monterey! On our last day before the start of school weekend, I took the kids (and our dear friend, Anne) and headed to the coast. We enjoyed another chance to look at the fish and creatures at the aquarium. The "outer bay" exhibit is open again so we enjoyed seeing the huge fish! I was proud of myself of going it alone but now I know that I could do it again. Anne was such a big help too. It was a great day to end our summer break!

Ocean Sunfish:

Playing in the touch pools!

Andrew's Open House

This year it was Andrew's turn head to school for a visit with Mrs. Huisken! He is SO excited school.

National Night Out 2011

This event is already two weeks old! Where does the time go???? Ripon hosted an amazing National Night Out, thanks to many churches and the police & fire departments. Everything was free so the kids couldn't get enough of the water slide, bounce houses, hula-hoops, face painting, balloon twisting, and of course, the FREE hot dogs, popcorn and cotton candy. Great night --and we didn't even get to participate in the watermelon eating contest, karoke competition, tug-of-war, and MORE!

A boo-boo from the water slide: