Labor Day Getaway

Keri's Aunt Merrill and her husband Burgess were up in the bay area over Labor Day weekend, visiting some of Burgess's grandkids. Keri and the kids headed out their way for a couple days of fun.

One of the highlights was getting to go kayaking! David had a particularly great time doing it, and got good enough to take others out for a ride in the bay!

David and August

Burgess and Joe (who never braved the kayaks)


David taking Alexis for a ride

Lily, post-kayaking

Evie and August

Evie thought is was great fun to see David and Alexis out there!

A few of the kids even ventured into the bay for a swim. The water in the bay seems to be really salty, so it's a bit of a different kind of experience--you actually float pretty easily in the water! David was first, but didn't enjoy the temperature or the salty taste, so he hopped out. Lily was brave enough to jump right in, but ended up with a bit of the bay in her mouth as well, so she didn't last too long! Alexis took the longest to inch her way in, but had fun floating and chatting with Merrill and Burgess for a bit.

Lily jumping in!

Alexis with Merrill and Burgess

First Day of School!

School started August 13th. I think Lily was the most excited because she started 1st grade, giving her a full day in school--with privileges like school lunch and walking home with the older kids, or at least walking to meet mom at the van!

Alexis is in 6th grade this year, her very last year of elementary school! David is now in 4th, and quite enjoying having a male teacher. It has been fun for David. Lily is loving the 1st grade and is really doing well. Joe has also entered the world of school, and is going to preschool Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings.

Jelly Belly and Family

The Jelly Belly Factory is a very fun place to go, but we have found that if we go too often, the kids gets rather bored. After all, it is the same tour over and over and over and over...and while kids tend to like repetition, that doesn't apply to all instances!

To keep it "fun" when going, we have discovered it best to reserve our trips to when family and friends are in town. Keri's cousin, Ryan, and his wife, Aubrey, and their 2 cute kids came through town for a wedding in August. We met up at Jelly Belly and had a fun time visiting.

Lily, David, Joe, Evie, Elle, Alexis, and Rhett

Swim Party

Grandma Jane's pool club that she belongs to had a customer appreciation party in early August. There was a barbecue, lots of games, and lots of swimming. Everyone had a great time! The kids got to enter fun contests for things like bocce ball, ping pong, and the limbo. There were fun water races, a coin dive, and the biggest splash contest. Everyone won a prize of one kind or another, ate, laughed, and had a great day!

Evie

David

Joe playing Boccee ball

Lily racing Ricky

David in his ping pong match

Alexis racing along

Skate Camp

There is a fantastic skate park at 28th and B in Sacramento (that is actually what is it called...), and it just happens to be close to Grandma Jane's house. David loves to go and skate there if he gets the chance when visiting Grandma.

Even better than "just" skating there is to get to go to skate camp, which is exactly what David got to do toward the end of July. He stayed the week at Grandma's and skated his brains out, or at least he tried to!

Camp was really fun, he got to learn and improve upon some of his skills, and he got to be taught by a local pro skater, Matt Rodriguez! David was in skater's heaven.

Diaper Duty

Evie loves her babies. She really, truly does. She typically has one with her at all times. I found her in the kitchen not too long ago taking very good care of one of them!

In truth, Evie spent about ten minutes trying to get this diaper to work for her. We finally stepped in and gave her a hand.









**As a side note--Evie does not always walk around slimy and grimy looking, like many of her pictures might suggest. She just happens to get into lots of things without mom and dad becoming aware of it until later on!

A little bread with our zucchini

We've planted a garden this year. It has been a learning and growing experience. Mostly, however, it has been a lot of fun. Lily and Joe enjoy it the most. They ask every day if they can go "harvest" vegetables. I finally had to make a rule that they would have to show me exactly what it was they wanted to pick before doing so, because we had lots of pre-ripened veggies for a little while.

We ended up with more zucchini plants than we realized initially, so we have been enjoying a lot of zucchini in a variety of ways this summer. Our favorite way, however, is zucchini bread. Our recipe is simple yet delicious, which just so happens to be my favorite kind of recipe!

Evie was my loyal helper when it came to making bread.

Evie doesn't mind the loud noise of the wheat grinder

Watching to make sure it is mixing and kneading well

Yum! A job well done.