Mountains and Lakes

We had such a great week at Pinecrest Lake with some friends from our life group a few weeks ago. We spent a few days in a beautiful cabin and enjoying the great outdoors. All of it was amazing! The kids loved playing on the "beach" at the lake. We rented a kayak one of the days and took turns checking out the lake. When the adults were done, Audrey decided she wanted a turn, so Ross took her out on the Lake. She did awesome! The boys were busy making their own tide pools, which they thought was a blast.

When we weren't at the lake, we were busy eating, playing games, and looking at the stars and planets and rocket boosters reentering the atmosphere. It was incredible! We saw Saturn and Mars through their telescope. We saw a few shooting stars, and then we saw this huge mass entering the Earth's atmosphere and breaking apart across the sky, which we later learned was a Chinese rocket booster. Pretty cool for a couple of space geeks.

We were back at the lake each day, so we did a little boating, fishing, and hiking while we were there too. It was a great way to spend one of the last weeks of summer. Great friends and great experiences make wonderful memories!

There are more pictures in the album as usual!

Christmas with the Taylor/Rodriguez Family

We had the most wonderful Christmas season this year! We had family at our house for 3 weeks straight with a maximum of 10 people sleeping at our house at one point, which might sound overwhelming to some, but it was SO much fun and such a blessing in so many ways. Living in California with most of our family in Louisiana and Texas, but also spread from Connecticut to California, means it's harder to get together. Having so many people willing to travel to spend time with us was amazing!

The same day my mom left town, Susan, Leslie, Philip, Mitchell, and Taylor arrived! Baby Taylor was often the center of attention, providing lots of entertainment and smiles. He has the most infectious laugh, which the kids enjoyed getting him to do by playing peek-a-boo. They also discovered how much Taylor loves to listen to singing. Any time he would fuss, they would start singing him Christmas songs and lullabies, which quickly calmed him down. The kids were also entertained by playing with fun Star Wars apps on Uncle Philip's phone!

Their first full day here was mostly spent hanging out. However, Audrey had a gymnastics camp to attend, so Leslie and Philip took Mitchell and Jackson to see the new Star Wars movie. This was Jackson's second viewing of the movie...we went as a family for Ross' b-day while my mom was in town.

We spent most of Christmas Eve visiting, preparing food, decorating cookies, and playing. We got a few pics of the kids before we left for church. They did amazingly well in the service and loved lighting candles and singing "Silent Night." When we got home the kids all put on their matching Moosletoe pajamas, and Jackson led everyone in singing a few more Christmas carols.

After a few more group photos under the tree, the kids laid out their cookies for Santa. Jackson read everyone a book, and they snuggled into bed, anxiously waiting to see what Santa might bring!

Christmas morning came early and was over quick! Jackson and Audrey were both beyond excited to find their most wished for presents under the tree. They both asked for Bitty Babies because they both LOVE taking care of babies! Then the chaos of gift unwrapping began. Before we knew it, we were done and had piles of paper and presents everywhere! We took a short break for cinnamon rolls and our traditional egg casserole somewhere in the midst of the gift exchange.

It rained most days during their visit, so we were grateful for a break on Christmas day. We took advantage of it by driving to Woodside, CA for a hike. It felt great to be in the beautiful outdoors! Even Taylor wore himself out, and fell asleep in my arms by the end of the trek. After our hike, I drove Leslie, Philip, Mitchell, and Audrey along the "skyline" where we enjoyed some picturesque views of the Bay Area.

The next day we made our way to the Dell'Osso Family Farm for a little winter delight. We started the adventure with some snow tubing. It was a blast! We had tickets that let us go down the slides as many times as we wanted for 90 minutes. Mitchell wasn't much of a fan, but Jackson and Audrey didn't want to stop! They rode with us on double tubes, as well as by themselves in single tubes where they could spin in circles. Every ride ended with a huge grin and often some belly laughs.

While we were busy tubing, Mitchell and Leslie did some ice skating, which Mitchell loved! We all did a little snowball throwing, and the kids did some pillow jumping and roller coaster riding. I'd say it was a successful day!

My dad joined us that evening, and the Taylor/Rodriguez family headed home the next day. We were sad to see them go, but we enjoyed every moment they were here! There are several more pictures in the album!

Spring Break

Spring break was so much fun this year! Susan, Leslie, and Mitchell came to CA for a visit. Mitchell saw the ocean for the first time, we rode rides at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, went wine tasting, and visited Fisherman's Wharf and the Exploratorium in San Francisco. All of that was done between the simple joys of playing with your cousins.

Ross and I were able to trade days off so we could both get a little time in with everyone, which means I don't have pictures of everything. I had fun trying to capture the joy of their discoveries at the Exploratorium though.

They all learned a lot, but more importantly, they had fun! Audrey got a little wind in her face and had fun mastering the slinky. Jackson showed off some of his dance moves, and Mitchell led the pack around from one exhibit to the next soaking it all in and enjoying the hands-on activities.

We were so glad they were able to come see where we live and what life in CA is like. Of course, there are more pictures in the album. It was a great way to spend their Spring Break!

1st Day of School in CA!

On August 18th, both kids went to their day care/after school care for the first time. It was Audrey's 1st day of Pre-K4! Jackson's school started that Wednesday, August 20th, so this gave him a chance to get familiar with the teachers and kids he would be with in the afternoons.

We didn't take the 1st day of school pics until Jackson's 1st day. It was his 1st day of 1st grade!

That morning I asked both kids what they want to be when they grow up. Jackson wants to be the Hulk, and he wants his job to be a scientist. Audrey wants to be Elsa, and she wants her job to be a doctor. I have to say...these choices describe them pretty well these days! Jackson really wants to smash things when he gets upset (his self control is GREATLY improved this year though), and he loves to understand how things work and do experiments. Audrey is a girly, girl and loves to be a princess. She has good intentions, but she's a little rough sometimes. She also loves to check things out when someone is hurt and take care of people. She's fascinated by anything medical related.

Both kids were a little nervous going into their new schools, but they were excited to make some new friends. They really miss all of their friends in Houston and were starting to get a little lonely.

When we picked them up on their first days, they were both smiling and laughing. They'd had a great day! It's going to take time to make new friends, but they are off to a great start!

As a side note...for those who don't know, Jackson loves the Hulk right now. One of the early days of school, he was asked to bring a paper bag with 5 things that tell everyone a little more about him. His Hulk toy wouldn't fit, so he asked me to take a picture instead. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take it and print it in time, so he took his Lego Marvels game case instead, which covered two of his favorite things...Hulk and video games. He also took his karate belt, a Texas puzzle piece, his favorite book from the Magic Tree House series, Night of the Nijas, and a picture of our family. These are the pics he wanted to take though. They are both doing their best to make Hulk faces. Notice Audrey can't stop smiling!

Hiking

We talked up all of the outdoor activities you can do in CA to the kids before the move, so they were excited to go for a hike our first weekend here. Honestly, Audrey wanted to go on a bear hunt (for those that know the "Going on a Bear Hunt" song, both of our kids LOVE it), but we didn't have enough time...after all, we needed to unpack!

We really didn't want our first hike with the kids to be a long one, so we found a nearby trail that led to a park.

The hike was a success! It was about 1.5 miles total. The kids got to use a pedestrian bridge, explore nature, and play in a park...what's not to love?

10 Year Anniversary

Ross and I had our 10 year wedding anniversary on August 17th! We took a 5 day trip to California to celebrate! Nana and Pop split the time with the kiddos so we could get away, and we are so grateful! It was a perfect getaway for us!

We arrived in San Francisco early in the afternoon on Saturday. We dropped our bags off at the hotel and went exploring! We started in Union Square where we did a little window shopping. Then we wandered into Chinatown where we checked out more stores and bought the kiddos their own kid-friendly chopsticks. We'd made reservations at a small French restaurant called Cafe Claude, which was a perfect anniversary dinner spot. The food and wine were delicious, and they treated us to a glass of champagne to celebrate! From there we made our way to Magician Peter Morrison's show, which was very entertaining! He involved the members of the audience quite a bit. Ross managed to avoid getting up on stage, but I had to dance with him. The dance of course was a lot of silliness that ended with a never-ending trick! It was a fun start to our trip!

The next morning we found a great place for breakfast called Stacks, which seemed to be a popular place for the locals. We got there just in time to snag a table. By the time we left there was a long line of folks waiting. It was good that we got there when we did because we had big plans for the day! We had signed up for a 10 mile Streets of San Francisco Bike Tour. Our tour guide, Beebe, was awesome! We got to see Golden Gate Park, Haight-Ashbury, funky street art in the Mission, Victorian architecture, and a historic “wiggle” route used by the city’s founding missionaries.

The street art was pretty impressive! Almost every piece had a very clear message. Beebe explained how the artists are responsible for maintaining their pieces. They will often get "tagged" by other folks, and it's up to the artist to fix it or even choose to leave it if they think it adds to the message. These were a few of the ones I found to be the most interesting.

Here are a few more pictures from the tour. I had the best bike...it was pink! It was a lot of fun to ride through the different areas of the city. We were amazed at the temperature differences in different neighborhoods. The fog, obviously, made a huge difference in the temperature, and it was much thicker in some neighborhoods than others. We learned a lot about the city's history and how it has become so well known for different eras. One of our last stops was at the Victorian homes in the picture, which are called the 7 Painted Ladies. One of them was the house from the show Full House. The park we stopped in to see these homes also gave us a great view of the city!

After grabbing a late lunch, we hoped in the car and headed to Healdsburg. To get there, we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge. I managed to get a few photos from the car. The close up foggy pictures are actually from the drive back, but I think it's pretty interesting that the far away pictures with the fog covering the top of the bridge and the picture with the clear sky were within a few minutes of each other...

We got to Healdsburg just in time to check out the square and visit our first tasting room, Topel. The wines were great, as well as the staff. We talked about our plans for the trip, and they gave us some great advice! The lighting was gorgeous when we left Topel, so we had our own mini photo session in the square where I got to share some of the tips I learned in my mentoring session. We ended up with a few really nice pictures of each of us.

The next morning we walked to Wine Country Bikes for a 25 mile bike tour of the Dry Creek Valley. We were both a little nervous about doing this long of a ride especially after a decent ride the day before. It was great though! Our first stop was at Dry Creek Vineyard, which was beautiful. They were celebrating their 40th anniversary, which meant we got a good deal on some great wines! We also enjoyed a delicious snack on the property before hitting the road again.

Our next stop was the Zichichi Family Vineyard, which is a much smaller operation. They don't do a wine club and sell most of their wines before they're made, which we learned is called selling "futures". The most memorable part of this stop was getting to do a barrel tasting of the future old vine zinfandel, which we decided to buy a bottle of!

Our last stop on the tour was at the Quivira Vineyard. This vineyard also does some biodynamic farming and raises some animals, so they have a beautiful garden at the front of the estate with vegetables and flowers, as well as a pig, a chicken coop, and honey bees. We got to wander through the estate and take a few pictures of the giant sunflowers before enjoying lunch at one of their picnic tables. Our tour guide was amazing through all of this! He was the perfect host for the day, and we felt like we'd made a new friend by the end of the day.

We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening checking out more of Healdsburg, trying a few more wines, and enjoying another delicious meal. We actually joined our first wine club too! We really enjoyed several of the wines at Thumbprint Cellars, and decided joining the wine club would be smarter than trying to find a way to carry MORE wine back to Houston with us.

The next morning we hopped back in the car and made our way to Sonoma Canopy Tours in Occidental where we did a little zip-lining through the redwood trees! We had to pass "ground school" to be able to go up in the trees, and unfortunately, one of the sweet ladies that was signed up for the tour wasn't able to join us in the trees. She was 87 and was there to celebrate her 91 year old friend's birthday! The 91 year old got to join us. They were both such an inspiration! Apparently, they try something new every year.

They called the first of seven zips the "bunny zip" like a "bunny slope", which was a perfect way to get rid of any nerves you may have!

The next few zips got progressively longer. The longest was over 800 feet, and the highest point was 200 feet when we zipped across a gorge. I think the highest platform was 94 feet. We learned a lot about the trees and how they grow to survive there, as well as that they sway in the wind! The views were gorgeous, and it was incredibly fun!

We also walked up a spiral staircase around one of the redwoods to a couple of sky bridges. I loved the structures and was impressed with how they managed to construct them in a way the trees accepted them.

To end our adventure we rappelled from a platform to the ground. One of our tour guides was nice enough to take a picture of Ross on his way down since I went first! Did I mention I was the first one to zip and the first one to rappel? I was impressed!

We drove back to San Francisco after having lunch in Occidental. We were depending on our phones for navigation at this point. However, we weren't getting a good signal, so we just drove. We ended up seeing more beautiful scenery and eventually got our navigation going again and found our way to our hotel near Fisherman's Wharf. We walked from Pier 39 to Ghiardelli Square and back while taking in the sights, sounds, and smells of this major tourist attraction.

We wandered through a few galleries and shops before deciding we were ready for a break! We found a spot to rest and enjoy another glass of wine on Pier 39 and did a little people watching. Once we found some energy again, the sun was beginning to set. We caught a glimpse of the Alcatraz prison and the sea lions before stopping for a bread bowl of clam chowder for dinner.

When we headed back to our hotel we stumbled into one of Rodney Lough's photography galleries. We were both in awe to say the least. It was inspirational in so many ways to me and a great way to end our trip.

We had an incredible time but were also eager to see our kiddos when we returned! I think back on our wedding day, and one of the things I remember is my mom reminding me that the wedding day wasn't intended to be the best day of our lives. She reminded me that this was just the beginning and the hope is there will be even better days to come. After 10 years, I can say there have definitely been even better days, and I look forward to many more!

If you managed to get all the way through this lengthy post and are interested, there are more pictures in the album.