Memorial Day B.B.Q.

For Memorial Day, the Wyllies invited us over for a family B.B.Q. It was held on their beautiful rural property, complete with chickens, a horse stable across the street, and plenty of places for the kids to play!

Isabella and her cousin Abby enjoying some delicious fare.

Playing on the tire swing...

...And later taking a dip in the pool!

Owen was fascinated by the chickens...and maybe a little terrified too.

Isabella's Uncle Houston has a younger brother named Sam. Samuel, her dad, caught this picture of them walking to the horse stables and he groaned. At 7-years old, Isabella is twitterpated!

Owen & Iris checking out the horses with dad.

Ava getting up close thanks to her Aunt Rachel.

Iris keeping a safe distance.

When they returned Sam was startled to find me sprawled out on the lawn. I don't care that I looked like a beached whale! I needed to lay down!

Abby & Isabella enjoying a carefree evening.

My beautiful Bella on the jungle gym with her cousin Mason.

Samuel in hog heaven riding the Wyllie's ATV.

Ava jumped at the chance to ride too. Mom wouldn't look.

All good things must come to an end. By nightfall, everyone was exhausted, full, and plenty happy. What a better way to conclude the night then to sit by the fire-pit and eat chips?

We hope you had a Happy Memorial Day too!

Memorial Day Parade

Suffice it to say, I am not a big parade person. They are long, and frankly, boring. But tradition has a funny way of drawing you in to continue what was started long ago. And that is why we continue to visit the North Highlands Memorial Day Parade every year: Tradition instituted by my Grandpa and Grandma Lopez, and something Samuel and I are genuinely happy to continue with our children today.

What isn't sweetened by a trip to the donut shop?

I had to take a double-take of the kids seated at this table. I thought it was a really small table for four, and then discovered that they just squeezed into a two-person table.
Silly kids!

Normally I can easily turn away a donut. I don't like the taste of them. But this particular shop had my nemesis...the creme-filled donut. And because I am weak I bought one. Lucky for me, I had the sense to eat only a few bites before offering the rest to anyone who would take it.

It was gone in three seconds.

Whew!

To our surprise, we missed the last turn off for parking and were then swept away in the single lane of traffic that, fortunately for us, followed the parade.

We had the best seat in the house!

We eventually managed to make our way back and met up with my mom and dad and my Grandma Lopez.

Samuel was trying to get Owen to wear my dad's Vietnam Veteran hat. My mom always tries to get my dad to wear it too!

We embrace the opportunity to teach the kids to stand for the flag with their hand over their heart. It never fails, as the flag passes, Sam and I always look at one another at the same moment and start bawling.

We are so grateful for this great land.

Thank you to all the men and women who have served to preserve our freedom. We know you truly do make this world a better place.

The kids even spotted Santa! They concluded that because it was almost summer, he must be vacationing in North Highlands. They reasoned that it was okay for him to be here because both North Highlands and the North Pole share the word "North"!

What is it about a mini-American Flag that just begs to be waved?

After the parade, we stopped at another favorite of my Grandpa's: Weinerschnitzel's!

And we finally ended our day together with the best deal in town on a hot day:
Wendy's Frosty's!

You can't beat it! A Kids Frosty at 50-cents a pop! And it's just the right size!

Isabella with her Aunt Julia!

Another perfect day filled with smiles!

Getting out of Dodge: Point Reyes, California

On Friday night I spoke to the kids about what we should do on Saturday. Because the baby is due soon we've kept our weekends pretty clear just in case. Since it was Memorial Day weekend we wanted to do something! So I suggested to the kids that we go to the beach and they went bananas! They could hardly wait for dad to come home so we could tell him where we were going. Oops! Should have talked to dad first, but the kids loved surprising him!

Bella immediately went into baking mode (wonder where she gets that from) and made chocolate cupcakes for the trip.

We left early the next morning, and after making some pit-stops for a gas fill-up and snacks, we were well on our way. We had a map of the Northern California Coast & Bay Area, but no specific destination in mind: We just wanted to go to the "beach"!

We ended up in Petaluma, California and enjoyed a nice ride through their incredible downtown.

We stopped for a bit to stretch our legs...

...before continuing on to Point Reyes and the Sir Francis Drake Beach!

Even though it was late in the afternoon and everyone was hungry for lunch, nothing sounded better to the kids than digging in the sand!

When we left our home we all had flippies and shorts and t-shirts. You've got to love Northern California Coastal weather, where you'd better be prepared for gusty winds and overcast skies. Luckily, we know our California and packed appropriately.

Isn't this the best? Just staring into the great ocean and watching the waves roar in.

So beautiful.

Samuel could not resist finishing what Bella began. With the help of the kids, he created a beauty of a sandcastle that drew quite a few onlookers who were eager to take pictures.

I could literally see Samuel's head swelling with pride!

Owen stayed pretty close to our home base, but after a few hours started to get curious about the water. Samuel followed him down and removed his socks and shoes so he could feel the sand and water on his toes. This proved to be very disconcerting for him, and he trotted back up to me high-stepping it all the way and doing quick in-and-out Lamaze breathing. I think it was sensory overload!

Cuddling with my boy. I can't believe that soon I'll have two sons!

Coming into the beach are fields and fields of dairy cows. Unlike here, these cows are the classic black and white and Owen was smitten. You could say that rather than having a sing-a-long in the car, we had a moo-a-long.

It seems to go on forever.

Nature at it's best.


What a wonderful day trip!
We had so much fun, and on the way home, we couldn't resist planning all of the other wonderful places we'd like to visit next time!

22 days to go!

Mosquito Magnet

Between the Father & Son Camp-out and playing outside of Grandma's House, Owen managed to attract nearly every hungry mosquito in the area! And this even with a liberal coating of bug spray!

He took it in stride until he discovered how great it felt to scratch the bites until they bled, hence the massive number of band-aids we placed all over his body.

Luckily, he LOVES band-aids!

I weigh 20 pounds!

For Mother's Day, Ava's class hosted a special program complete with lemonade and cookies. Each child presented their mom with a bevy of handmade gifts, and some of my favorites are shared here. The funniest was a "fact sheet" she created about me. I love that in my daughter's eyes I weigh 20 pounds and my favorite place to go is Walmart!

Thank you for a wonderful Mother's Day sweetheart!

Playing Dad

We always keep a baby and a bottle in the car because that's when Owen gets very paternal. I love to sneaks peeks at him as he plays "Dad".

We love you Grandpa Lopez!

On Saturday May 14th we visited the cemetery for my grandpa's one-year anniversary.

We love you grandpa!

Next stop:
The Temple!

Father-Son Camp-OUT

Samuel and Owen had a blast at the ward Father & Son Camp-out up at Rollins Lake. Samuel said there was a good turn-out, lot's of laughs during the Guess-Who Father & Son slide show, and a terrific breakfast. What a great opportunity for the brethren to bond as members of the Priesthood!

Mother-Daughter Camp-IN

Since the boys were off in the wilderness, we girls decided we were going to create some fun of our own. Ava's great idea was for me to take them camping too. Good try Ava! Except mom prefers hotels over tents, and besides, Dad had all the camping gear! Whew!

So we compromised and had a camp-in in the living room. The girls dragged all their blankets and pillows down for the big event. Since Samuel was taking the camera with him, we took some quick shots before they left.

Owen's not too happy here because I was trying to kick him out of the picture. After all, it's GIRLS ONLY! But since he cried, and mom felt horrible, we let him cheese with us.

Since it was still early and plenty hot, I had the girls change into their swimsuits and surprised them with a trip to the Fountains. They had a blast romping through the water, and later they played on the playground.

Afterward we picked up a pizza, and then settled in for a movie. The girls were voting for old movie favorites, and were just getting ready for a serious game of paper-rock-scissors to break the tie (Mom stays out of the voting but Iris always votes twice!), when I surprised them with a movie Sam and I bought especially for that night...BOLT!

The girls were so excited they started screaming like mad people, and it culminated in Ava yelling: "We're having way more fun than Dad and Owen"!

We ate in front of the TV (another treat), and after dinner and dessert--which was peppered with food items we rarely buy (Twinkies, Ding-dongs, & Rootbeer-everyone even got their own can!)--the girls were in a sluggish stupor. They sprawled out on the floor and mom came by (per an earlier promise) to give manicures and pedicures.

The next day we all slept-in and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast. It was a happy surprise when Sam and Owen came home early enough to join us at the table!

Here's to a fabulous Mother-Daughter Camp-In!
And yes, I'm still exhausted!