Kids

They were just cracking me up with their "outfits"....Jake in his blue moose hat, and Mia (my not-so-girly girl) with her head phones and chainsaw. Dang these kids make me laugh.

Messy girl!!

Mia is in the process of learning how to feed herself.....wow, what a MESS!!! I have to let her try, or she'll never learn, but I swear that we're going through more stain remover than that crazy family with 20 kids. Often I have to remove her from the high chair and just plop her straight into the bath. Eventually she'll get the hang of it.....I hope!!

Apple Season

It's apple season in our yard....our one tree produces more apples than you can believe and fortunately, they're really good! Although, they all come at once and there's only so many apple recipes you can make! In any case, the kids have fun picking (and eating) the apples.....Mia often chooses the ones from the ground that have already been "sampled" by the squirrels....eewww! Brian and I can't help but laugh too, thinking of Bailey....that dog used to eat about 2 dozen a DAY (not exagerating)......and boy, do I miss him helping me keep them picked up off the ground!

Pool in the yard

This is a video from earlier this summer when the Wallace crew was visiting.....this one's for you, Punk....enjoy!!

Mia says "SMILE"

I'm sure this has NOTHING to do with the fact that I'm always saying this to her while shoving a camera lense in her face ;) Here she is, with one of her first few words.

What a day......

We were driving yesterday morning and saw this little dog walking around....no tag. It was 9am and already 95 degrees out, so I knocked on some doors but didn't find his home. Couldn't bear to leave him outside and wandering in the heat, so I thought we'd keep him inside for a little while. I put up some signs, left my info with the shelter, and was SURE that someone would claim this little guy momentarily. When he came inside, he jumped right up on the couch and made himself at home. He was SOO sweet.....let the kids play with him, snuggled right up to everyone, and was DEFINITELY someone's pet. Since nobody had come for him, we let him stay at our house for the night. When I climbed in bed, he hopped IN bed with me and snuggled up on my pillow. Not gonna work for me....I love dogs, but have never had a 'lap animal' of any kind. So my new dog friend and I bunked on the couch together instead.....I needed my space :) He was just fine on the other end of the couch from me. To my amazement, a day and a half later, nobody had claimed him. And I learned that he is NOT an outside dog.....left him out there for an hour or so to run an errand and came home to a destroyed screen door. Ugghh.....I'm sure Brian's going to have a few choice words over that!! In any case, the shelter has picked him up now and ASSURED me that if the owners don't find a home for this dog, he would be adopted with NO problem and not put to sleep. Jake is NOT going to be happy when he wakes up and his buddy is gone. He's told me on more than one occasion that he LOVES the dog and will miss him when he's not here. Mia loves all furry friends and couldn't have been happier with our visitor!

Stuff...

Mia doesn't have too many words yet, but said "cheese" today while smiling for this sweet picture.

Popsicles!!

Mia has been trying to feed herself.....love her, but she's not really getting much better at this little task :) On this particular day

Obsession

Sooo, Jake's latest obsession is the skateboard park. I have often taken him to some of the bigger skate parks to just watch the skateboarders.....he's always been thoroughly entertained watching them from BEHIND the fence. Well, this time we went to one that was a little less intimidating (and had no fence)......once he saw some kids riding scooters out there, that's all she wrote. He was out there with them, "scootering", and doing a great job staying out of their way :)

It's nearly impossible to keep Mia off of the skating area, so I have to come prepared with lots of snacks! Once she's through with her food, it just becomes a game of her running to the skateboard area, me picking her up, and her screaming at the top of her lungs. If there aren't any teenagers, I've let her go out there and she just runs around in circles.....smiling the whole time!

Here he goes, down the "big ramp". It doesn't look that steep in this picture, but let me tell ya', it seems steep when my little man is going down it.....with the wheels shimmying on his scooter!!

Here is Mia, smiling up at the squirrel she was trying to make friends with.....
who of course ran safely up a tree to escape her :)

The face......you may have to click on the picture to see it, but this is Jake's intense look when he comes down the ramp....tongue out, eyebrows furrowed. Love him.

Oil Change

Our neighbor, John gave the boys (his 4 year old twins and our Jake) quite a lesson the other day. He was changing the oil in his car and the kids were SOOO into it!! I may have to remind
Jake of how cool it is to change the oil when he's a teenager and can actually do it for me!

Another trip to the cabin

We took another quick weekend trip up to the cabin last weekend.....had some fun in the pool, at the lake, and visiting with Papa and Tutu! Didn't take too many pics.....the kiddos enjoying their popsicles on the porch, and Mia helping me pack my bathing suit.

Sleepyhead

As much as I don't want to, we've been "weaning" Jake from his long, 3 hour naps. He was taking so long to fall asleep at night, that he would often be up until 10:30pm, just talking to himself in his room. Sooo, we've decided to still let him nap, but wake him after an hour and half or so. It is like waking the dead.....I've even tried bribing him with M&M's to get him out of bed....nope. I eventually just poke and prod at him enough that he gets up.....reluctantly. But I've been finding him "sneaking" sleep after I get him up. This picture is of him in a kitchen chair after he's had his milk and been up for a little while.....he decided he needed just a little more sleep. Love that boy!!!

Sweet faces....

These faces make me SMILE!!!

Summer fun....

We've had an unusually cool summer here.....one would think that California in the summertime would be a pretty safe bet for warm weather, but this year, Mother Nature is proving us wrong! There have been some warm-ish days here and there, so we've managed to squeeze in some fun!

One of Jake's trademark flying jumps into the pool.

Mia's having so much fun, she just can't stand it!!
And I can't stand how cute she looks in that itsy bitsy teeny weeny little polka dot bikini!!

"Helping" Daddy wash the car.

After bath play time....who could resist snapping this pic!

Jake taking Mia for a ride.....but look at her face.....she's gonna be trouble, that one!

Pink cadillac, crusin' down the street.....

Jake was just getting warmed up with the pink cadillac.....then he was ready for the quad!

Mia, having tons of fun in the back of Shaun's pick up truck

Slamma Jamma

Sleepy....

Well, Mia.....if you didn't wake up at 4:45am, maybe you wouldn't be so tired?!!

Ugghhh...Mia has been having a tough time teething this week, so we've been a bit more lenient with her as far as sleep goes. She has been waking up crying and uncomfortable, so if it's close enough to "wake up time", we've been bringing her in bed with us (I know, I know.....BAD habit). But today, she tossed and turned so much that NONE of us got any sleep after 4:45. She and Jake were watching a show while I took a shower and this is how I found her when I came out.....I really wish it was me taking a nap....I think I'm more tired than she is!!

Baseball for everyone!

Jake just got a new baseball toy, as he's currently obsessed with the sport. Moments after we put together Jake's new one, Mia looked at me like "YESSSS, now the t-ball is MINE, all MINE!"....she could not have been more proud of herself, carrying the bat and setting up the t-ball. Jake was thrilled with his new toy and could care less that Mia had officially taken over his old one.....win, win!

So proud....

Look at me, mom.....I can hit a baseball too!

Better set up the t-ball again and get some practice....I've got a big brother to catch up with!

Jake taking a swing at his new toy......I have to admit, it's one of the cooler toys he's gotten

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A trip to the Apple Ranch

We've been hearing about the Braga's apple ranch for decades now, and have NEVER driven up to Sebastapol to check it out. Well, we finally decided to do it and had a great time. I should mention that it was the first time in 10 years at Clorox that Brian has taken a day off "just because".....needless to say, I was very happy and the kids were thrilled to have an extra day with Daddy. Soooo, we caravaned up to the ranch with the Braga/Wills crew for a day of fun! The kids rode around in the back of what was like a farmer's version of a golf cart....loved every minute (I'm sure there's a name for it, but i don't know what it is!). They piled in the back and yanked apples off of the trees as we drove through the apple orchards. We walked around some amazing redwoods that are on the property.....had to have been WELL over 100 feet tall......the kids would refer to this part of the day as our "walk in the forest". Turned out that the apples weren't quite ripe, so we picked blackberries instead....YUM!!! This is my idea of heaven, by the way.....I was nominated to make blackberry cobbler for the group, so we all picked a ton.....ended up with about 20 pounds of the most yummy berries EVER! There was a huge barn filled with large farm equipment such as tractors, bulldozers, etc. Jake was beside himself!! All in all, it was a great day and so fun......we are STILL finding dirt in places we'd rather not, but it was all worth it :)

Goin' for a ride....I sat in the back to make sure nobody toppled out :)

Here they are at their first stop on the apple orchard "tour"

Still the best of buds after 25 years +....

Picking blackberries off the vine....I think Mia nearly ate her weight in berries!

Mia wanted a turn like all of the big kids....here she is, "driving" the forklift

Jake's at the wheel here......ask him if he got to drive a tractor at the ranch and he will quickly correct you...."NO, I got to drive TWO tractors".....Gary was awesome letting each child drive the tractors (this is the small one, but they also got to do the BIG one).

Sitting on one of the huge tractors in the barn......so fun.