Six Flags/Vallejo Trip

We decided we needed to take a little family vacation and we decided to surprise the kids with a trip to Vallejo to Six Flags and we were lucky enough to have Grandma and Grandpa Stephenson meet us there.


The first day the kids could not wait to go swimming! Even though it was only like 75*, they were so beyond excited and jumped right in. I wasn't sure how Addy would do because she hadn't been in a big pool since last summer and that hadn't gone very well. She would never let go of me and was pretty terrified.  However, this year was a totally different story. She was so excited to get in the water that she put her little puddle jumper on before her swim suit.  The kids had a blast swimming and Addy was a bit of a maniac jumping and kicking and swimming, which made me so happy to see her doing so much better. Finn wasn't sure what to think of it all, but overall we think he had a good time.






















That evening, Grandma and Grandpa baby-sat and we headed to Oakland to have dinner with my host sister Louisa and her boyfriend, Aash. We had a wonderful time chatting the evening away over amazing pizza at Zachary's.  And Louisa even tried (and hated) root beer for the first time. :) I love having her so much closer to us now!




The next day we headed to Six Flags. The kids had a BLAST and so did we. It was nice having additional adults so Wes and I could sneak in a few rides.  We loved the Cirque dolphin show!  Finn especially loved clapping to the music and was smiles the whole time. It was a long day for the kids, but it was well worth it. We had a blast.

Art Town!

This year we have made it to a few artown events. We love artown! The first event we went to was music in Idlewild park on Food Truck Fridays. It was so fun and the kids had a blast dancing in the park. I love this photos I took of them.

 Then, one Monday we went with the cousins to get the fantastic artown face paint and balloon animals. This facepainting is above and beyond and even though it's free, I had to get the tickets back in May. It was WELL worth it. Addy had her mind made up she wanted a rainbow butterfly and Liam settled on a shark that had just had dinner. He made sure to tell them he wanted the blood on his nose too. I started to protest, but it's artown and they are all about the kids getting what they dream up so... Peyton was a ninja turtle and Izzy settled on a rainbow butterfly as well. A great time was had by all!

Last but not least, my favorite artown activity is dancing in the park. I convinced Liam to get with us this year. :) He was more interested in the fact that the lights were changing colors, but he still had fun although he reports he only likes the all guy dances because those are cooler.  It's just such a fun activity to sit down by the river and enjoy the evening of dancing.

Summertime Shenanigans

Summer always seems to fly by. I always have grand plans of taking the kids to the pool and the park every day, and then real life reminds me I have tons of stuff to do at home too. However, we've sill managed to squeeze in some really fun stuff. We have gone to the splash pad and then we took a trip to Sand Harbor with friends. The kids have had a blast with all of the activities. Last year Addy was pretty apprehensive about water, but this year she is a new girl. She's a total fish and was swimming like a crazy woman in Lake Tahoe. So here are some fun photos of some of our summer activities. Even though we haven't done as much as I originally wanted, we have still had a pretty great summer.
Liam with Brian Bodily and Matt Giles
 
Addy with Ivy and Sophie Perry
 

9 months!

Oh this sweet boy!  9 months has treated our Finny boy quite well. He is a crawling MACHINE and is loving being able to slightly keep up with the big kids and play with toys now. He also learned how to clap which is beyond ADORABLE.  He's sort of clumsy but super enthusiastic.  I LOVE it.  He's 19 1/2 lbs of pure cuteness. He's sleeping great (he'll go to bed around 7, wake up at 4, eat, sleep until 7). Still no teeth but puts everything in his mouth! He's an eating crazy man now. He loves real food and cheerios and gnawing on apples. He loves to be chased and tickled. I can't believe he's been out of the womb longer than he was in now. So bittersweet. It's hard to be sad about the growing when I swear he's cuter and more fun each and every day.