More of Ashlynn's Birthday

 Ashlynn's favorite present, by far, was the candy graham from her Activity day friends in SLO. She wants to keep it FOREVER!!!

 Not sure how this random bit of awesomness came about.

 Ashlynn, at the ripe old age of 10, has finally gotten into Barbies. CC introduced her to them before we left, and now she loves collecting them, displaying them and doing their hair. She never really liked them as a little girl, so it's fun to see her enjoying them.

 New markers.

something was funny.

Dear Dady ...

Ty's behavior has been a little off lately. I think he is having a hard time adjusting to Kindergarten and school five days a week.

This evening he lowered a bucket down from the loft into the kitchen with this note attached. It says:

Ty: I'm not going to eat my dinner.

Dad: Yes you are!!!

Ty: It is yummy, but I'm not going to eat my dinner. Daddy (heart, happy face, happy face.)


Now. I think it's cute that my five year old writes with emoticons, but the attitude is just not right!

Today he told me he didn't want to go to school because it is boring. I told him he had to, it was the law. When he asked why, I told him because he needed to learn to follow the rules.

"But I already know all the rule!" he informed me.

I wanted to tell him, "Just because you can read the rules, doesn't mean you are willing to follow them!"

So then I told him he needed to learn to write his lower case letters.

"I already know how! I know everything already!"

Even if this is true, the kid still needs to go to school! And to be honest with you, I would think something was wrong with him if he didn't fight it as much as he is. We are talking about a kid who has always tried to get out of things - nursery, preschool, his crib...

Perhaps he's like his sister and takes 2 months to warm up to the new school year.

Lovely.

(I really hate this time of year...)

Kings Canyon Camping

We were able to go camping this summer to Kings Canyon and had a great time!

We saw and climbed Giant Sequoias.

Went fishing and Brian caught a 10"rainbow trout. We were actually pretty surprised we caught anything. The conditions weren't exactly ideal.

Can you see it as he is pulling it out of the water?

Our handsome Briggs enjoying the quiet time of fishing.

Ashlynn's got to be fully integrated into whatever she is doing.

Daddy and Ty

Ashlynn sucking on her Camel Back during a tour of the Sequoias.

Ty on the tour

Walking through a giant sequoia.


We played one or 12 hands of UNO!

Ashlynn made a fairy house, hoping the local fairies would leave her a treat or a message.



Brian's hammock from Brazil was a big hit.

More of Little Miss Thing

I had so much fun looking through these pictures that I had to share them all. This is how Ashlynn's life use to be. Most of our friends didn't have kids yet, or their kids were very young, so we would have get togethers and they would all dote on Ashlynn. This group of friends have all scattered across the map now, starting new lives elsewhere, including ourselves. I miss those day and friendships!

Happy Birthday Ashlynn!

Ashlynn and Briggs with friends, Esther and Roger, at her 3rd Birthday

Once a stinker, always a stinker!

Funderland

So there's this little place called "Funderland" in the same park as the zoo and Fairy Tale Towne. It's a miniature amusement park nestled amongst oak trees in William Land Park. It's free to enter, but each ride costs one ticket (which is equal to about one dollar).
The rides are little kiddie rides, but the kids had a blast, nonetheless. I think they liked the idea of walking into a park like this for free, as if it's just a neighborhood park. It only takes about 15 minutes to get there from our house, which is an added bonus.
Nana treated the kids to the tickets, so we spent a good hour and a half enjoying the rides, then stopped for a picnic lunch.
Thanks for a fun time, Nana!

P.S. up until this point in our move, I hadn't found our real camera, yet. So all of these pictures are from my phone. I have since found the real camera, however, I can't promise any better pictures. The photography gene seems to have skipped a generation...

Fourth of July

This is our first year setting off fireworks in our backyard. We set off a few in the backyard, then later that night, we drove to a field where we could watch the Elk Grove Fireworks.



It was a perfectly warm night filled with the sound of crickets and exploding fireworks. The kids had fun putting together glow stick accessories, as well.

August Catch-up

 A visit from the Whites!

 Nana's birthday!

 More first day of school pictures.

Sacramento Train Museum

 One warm afternoon we decided to venture out to the train museum in Old Sacramento.

 It was pretty hot.

 That makes the kids tired. And only a little cranky

Trying to teach Ty how to ride a 2-wheeler. Not much success. He kind of just sits back and relaxes while we do all of the work.