School Open House

This past week was a big one for the family. The girls were busy all week prepping for their school's Open House, and Samuel and I busy doing the same, preparing for the school's Art Show that would take place the same night.

Everyone gathering in the courtyard for a warm welcome before being dismissed to the various classrooms!

Isabella and her desk full of recent assignments.

Standing before her completed "White Cabbage Butterfly" Project.

Ava and the hottest display around: The recently hatched baby chicks!

Showing Dad her "Caterpillar" book.

Because Sam and I were manning the Art Show, we took turns visiting the classrooms. After Sam relieved me, the girls took me through too.

Here is a shot of Isabella's very tidy desk. She was extremely excited to show this to me!

Showing me some beautiful writing assignments and an even more beautiful smile!

Her flower pot!

Ava and the fluffy chicks...again!

I love her interpretation of a baby chick! So spidery!

Bella in the computer lab!

Sam and I were so happy to share this special time with the girls. They have accomplished so much, and we are grateful for their dedicated teachers. In addition, the Art Show was well-attended and we even managed to raise some money to put towards future art supplies!

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!