Mountain Drive & 6 weeks to go! Preggo Belly :)

 2 weekends ago we decided to crunch as much into a (Time Change, mind you!) Sunday possible... well, not really, but it kind of turned out that way :) 

I was on for serving in nursery 1st & 2nd service so before I ran out of the house, my amazing hubby took a few 33 wk belly pics:

 After enjoying the 3rd service sermon, we jumped in the truck & hit the jeep trails :) This is currently C's favorite spot... & the boys and I enjoy it, too :)

 My amazing little men:

S2

 Z6

 J5 (I love this pic!! Brings a smile every time I see it :))

 A yummy pastrami picnic:

 A hike to see the view from another hill:

 A little rest :)

 A little tree climbing: How many monkeys can you find in the tree? :)

 And an attempt at more belly shots :)

 On our way home, as the sun was setting, we took a side road,

 and a little hike,

 passed my favorite tree: manzanitas,

 and to a rock cliff

It was a good, full day... we loved every minute of it :)

and then we got busy...

Ugh. It has been too long since I posted last. I have a goal of posting every weekend but then we got busy...

You would think that with me turning off the computer during the day the house would be organized, the boys would be clean, and I would be nearly bored. Nope to all accounts :) 

So this is the last 3 weeks summarized into a few photos:

The boys and I went on a field trip to an old west horse ranch outside of Paso Robles but soon after arriving we realized the van went completely dead. We have never had a problem with our van (& haven't since) but it was without a doubt not going to start. C was just a few miles away working so he came up to our rescue. We could've called AAA but he had been contemplating coming with us that morning but decided to work and found this a ready excuse to come after all :) We were glad to have him :)

Soon after S turned 1, he realized not only are those red things in the garden strawberries, he was now tall enough & heavy enough to reach them (the fence is to keep the rabbits out :)). Every day he ventures over & peeks in :)

Speaking of S turning 1, he now has shoes! Many thanks to his Aunts & Uncles: he grabbed his birthday money and bought his first pair :) He's so proud of them!

We had hot weather! For 3 days it was in the low 100s :) I switched their lessons for the week to reflect that: one of the days they enjoyed a frozen treasure hunt (I don't think S was too thrilled with the first touch :) He did enjoy it later on)

Z is on a game spree :) We hadn't even finished eating supper when the cards came out:

and then the next day I came out from putting S to nap and found they started playing all by themselves. They are getting so grown up {tear}.

 I'm not sure how J got them (I can guess, though!), but he came in the house the other day with bug wings so we whipped some magnifiers out to see the textures & colors better. We are such a boy house! :)

I was desperate for a clean van so the boys did their books while I cleaned :)

1st rain day of the season! Yes!

On Thursday we went on another field trip to a 118 year old fruit farm. The rain let up just long enough for us to run out & glean 80 pounds! of apples off the ground and then it started pouring again. We were soaked! It seemed a shame to leave all those beautiful apples behind but now that I still have about 50 pounds left and I'm getting kind of worn out from peeling, cutting, cooking/drying, and figuring out what to do with them, it's probably a good thing we were stopped! :)  We will for sure enjoy eating all the "fruits of our labor" in the months to come!

C is in the backyard right now working on the new coop... should be done soon... hopefully I can blog about the finished project next weekend :) Love ya!

montana de oro, yosemite, & sequoia

I moved to the "golden" state 8 years ago when my youngest brother was 15 . I've been back to visit MT numerous times since but never to spend one-on-one time with Tyler. He's now been married 2 years and even though I know that, my mind still held him as a 15 year old.

He called me last Saturday saying him & his wife will be stopping in for a day or two in a few days & I was excited to finally have family come visit =] But what I wasn't counting on & am pleased to say, he's grown into an amazing man & husband. Not only did I get to know him & his wife on a more personal up-to-date level, I got to spend 4 days with them =]

We took them to Montana de Oro:

A bonfire on Grover Beach

And then after all these years, we finally made it to Yosemite =]

That night we parted ways & then the next morning we took a detour home & went to Sequoia Ntl Park as well =]

I love how God sends little out-of-the-blue unexpected blessings =]

oh a fishing we shall go!

First off, I just want to say good bye to our trusty friend "Chariot" & hello to our new one "van"... since I can't remember anyone's name anymore, why bother trying with a vehicle? =] We found our '07 AWD Sienna on the internet & took a leap of faith to drive up to San Jose to purchase her. Here's our excited pic for the return home:

Z absolutely loves it & will attempt acrobatic things on the seats while stating "cause that's what I do in mini vans". He's so funny =]

C found out his new favorite lake has a special right now of buy 2 nights, get 1 free so he quickly bought a spot & worked, worked, worked last week so we could cram ourselves into Van on Friday & break her in real good to this family's style:

We arrived at our spot at 8, started unloading Van in the 37* weather, thank you very much, only to realize the "neighbors" were really enjoying their beer bombs too much so we reloaded & moved to a quieter spot & proceeded to unload there. The food went in the tent & we snuggled into the van.

Next morning Z was raring to go. He couldn't wait to start fishing =] There was a little dock below our spot:

to which C taught the basics of casting & reeling:

and maybe a little on resting too

I took a wonderful undisturbed nap while the guys took a hike & saw a snake & 3 deer & then we went for a drive around the lake & stopped a few times to fish

and play

and collect a little more firewood (this van did it all!).

Funny story: night #2: the boys & I snuggled into our bags & C went to do night fishing. He came back a little later to find he forgot to zip the tent closed & found a skunk in there eating the top off our muffins- thankfully that's all she got & she left peacefully!

The next day we rented a boat but still didn't have any luck with the fishes :( C kept stating "there isn't any fish in this lake!".... poor guy.

But we had fun none-the-less & even found where the creek runs in, followed it as far as the boat would go & then climbed out for a little "rock climbing" (saw a cute turtle sunning- always surprises me to see them in the wild =]) & a family portrait because I like them & to also prove I was there =]

Monday Morning: our last morning. (Z's the lump on the left.) C put a package of bacon on the picnic table & then walked away for a second to help Z to the bathroom (which he firmly states he liked the port-a-john much better than the regular bathroom- crazy kid!) & came back to find crows eating our bacon. Never had so much wildlife encounters! Anyway, we packed up, said good-bye to the frogs, turkeys, quail, & birds/ducks galore & headed home.

Poor Van smelled awful but never missed a beat. I do miss Chariot for the fact she was beat up when we got her so who cares what we do to her now? but I'd say Van has been a great replacement so far =]