Lake Philsbury

 The second week of June we headed to Lake Philsbury for our first camping trip of the summer. We've been going to Lake Philsbury for years (Josh has been going there since he was a young boy because his family has property there). Lake Philsbury is so beautiful and we were fortunate enough this year to get the popular group camp site. In order to obtain this site you have to sit on the phone (for hours) calling over and over until you reach someone, by the time you get through to a person you are left with just a few week time slots left to pick from. Lucky for us, one of those slots was the week we wanted. We headed up Friday and stayed through Tuesday. (We would have stayed longer, but Josh had to leave that Thursday for Seattle.)  The group site is shady, which is perfect for keeping the tents cool & when relaxing at camp during the day. We have a private road into the site, therefore we didn't have to worry about anyone being there except us. The kids could ride their bikes freely, we didn't have to worry about noisy neighbors, we had a huge group fire pit and eating area, our own food storage building, private bathrooms, horse shoe pits and private area to dock our boats. The site is huge (sleeps 50). We split up nights for cooking meals with 3 or more families in charge of a particular night (cooking and cleaning). This was great because the other nights you relaxed while someone else cooked for you.  During our stay there Hannah had such a great time running around camp with her friends collecting treasures (in their home made treasure boxes they made during arts & crafts), fishing & kayaking with dad, wake surfing for the first time this summer, roasting marshmallows, riding bikes, painting rocks, sitting around the camp fire......needless to say she was not ready to leave on our last day. :) She LOVES boating and camping! The first two nights were a little rough with Jordyn, she was fussy before bed and it was cold/windy throughout the night. The second two nights were great...much warmer, no wind and she slept through the night (both nights!!).  We spent our days out on the boat, playing ladder ball and corn hole back at camp, relaxing with a drink in hand while watching the kids play. We had such a great time and look forward to hopefully being able to reserve the group site in June again next year!!

Our huge 2 bedroom Costco tent

view from our tent window

arts and crafts time

kayaking with dad

first time fishing

swing time

with her buddy Tyler

daddy and Jordyn relaxing at camp

she's getting much better on her balance bike

Our big girl

had to add this...2 years ago...same chair/same lake  :)

Hannah and Kenzie in 2010

and in 2012...

kayak ride at camp

BFF's

loves driving the boat with dad

sister pic

sleeping yet again

family pic

all cozy with dad

ready to wake surf with dad

happy girl

Just before Josh let go of the rope to surf the wave with Hannah...didn't get a picture of them surfing without the rope this trip, but will post one from another time later

ready to tube with mom, Tracy and Kenzie

Tubin' with dad, Dave and Kenzie

this is what nap time looked like every day for Hannah...exhausted! :)

Beach Day

 This summer we've been able to enjoy many family outings. Josh and I are so grateful for the amount of time we get to spend together with our girls (just the four of us) during the summer. Being able to head out to the beach on a weekday when it's less busy is sooo incredibly nice. We packed lunches, sand toys and made a last min stop at a kite shop ( Candy and Kites) once we reached Bodega Bay. The temp was over 80 and the breeze was perfect for keeping us cool, however not so perfect for flying our new kite. Josh and Hannah had a good time trying despite the lack of wind.  :)  Jordyn enjoyed her first trip to the beach. She napped most of the time, however did enjoy riding around in the Bjorn and playing in her Pea Pod. After building sand castles, Josh and Hannah set off to explore the dunes, while Jordyn and I relaxed on the sand. Before heading home we made a pit stop at Patrick's Salt Water Taffy shop. (Best Taffy ever!!!) It was the perfect end to a relaxing day at the beach.

enjoying our lunches while watching the waves

putting together our newest kite

putting warm sand on mommy's toes

off to fly their kite

Daddy and Hannah

sand castles

Mommy and Jordyn

family pic

Jordyn enjoying her first trip to the beach

hiking through the sand dunes

Jordyn fell asleep to the sound of the waves

our favorite stop on the way home

Wrapping up May...

Well here we are in the beginning of July already and I'm finally just wrapping up the month of May.  :)  As you can tell by my lack of blogging, I've been too busy enjoying my summer to sit down at the computer and Blog. I'm forcing myself to sit at the computer right now and am putting off for a few more minutes,the foot rub my husband is going to give me in order to get this post up.  :)  During the month of May I enjoyed my time home with the girls, but was very happy when Josh got out of school at the end of the month. 

giving Jordyn her first bath...she loved every minute of it

 Hannah was thrilled when it came time to give Jordyn her first bath. She wanted to help (of course) so we gave her the task of washing her sister's legs and feet. She was so excited and did a great job. Jordyn was very content (just like Hannah was) for her first bath. The only part she wasn't thrilled about was getting out.  :)

We enjoyed another visit from my mom when Josh was away for a weekend. It was so wonderful having her there to lend a helping hand with the girls. The girls loved their one-on-one Nonnie time and I loved the long chats and special moments that I shared with my mom & the girls.

morning snuggles

May started bringing some beautiful weather which meant lots of fun outdoor play time at home. Hannah loves being outside and playing in water. Her new water table she got for her birthday has been a hit.

Nice weather meant time on the boat was in the very near future. We spent an afternoon getting the boat de-winterized and ready for the water. Hannah of course pretended we were actually out on the lake even though we were just in our driveway. :)

My best friend Angelica and her kids Domenic and Izabel came for a visit during the month of May. It was so wonderful to have a visit from them. The kids loved playing together and Ang & I loved catching up, laughing and watching our kids play together. I'm keeping my fingers crossed Matt's job brings him to Sacramento in the near future because I can't imagine having our kids grow up only seeing each other twice a year....and I miss my best friend!!

they had so much fun together

taking a snack break

enjoying the sun and each other's company while watching the kids play

in their matching suits that they just happened to both own

Dinner and margaritas  :)

A couple days after Ang left two of my other best friends Lisa and Amber drove over from the Sacramento area with their kiddos to meet miss Jordyn and hang out for the day. It ws fun watching all our munchkins play together. Hannah and Gavin (4 months apart) had a blast playing together, while Henry enjoyed following them around and watching their silliness. Little miss Reese was content hanging out with the moms and Jordyn slept pretty much the entire time.

pretty good pic considering they are 3 weeks, 7 months, 19 months and 3 years old!

Stacy (Hannah's daycare provider) had an Open House for the kids who participated in the preschool program to share their work with their families. This is Hannah's second year taking part in the preschool program that Stacy does with them. It's been so neat to see her growth and development over the past two years. Stacy does so much with the kids and we feel so fortunate. Hannah will have one more year with Stacy and then move on to a larger preschool setting before starting kindergarten in the fall of 2014. I don't even want to think about my girl starting kinder, for the time being I love having her in a smaller, sheltered setting.

showing off some of her projects



picture of her family...notice little baby Jordyn  :)



Stacy with her preschool kiddos Zoe, Hannah, Kenzie and Tyler (Hannah didn't want to wear her grad hat)

proudly showing us her folder of work

Hannah adores Stacy (and so do we!)

On Saturday of Memorial Day weekend we kicked off summer with our annual "Girls Dance Party" at Ramona's house. We typically have two of these a year and it's always SO much fun! Everyone brings an appetizer to share, their drink of choice and of course their dancing shoes! We spent the evening eating, laughing, drinking and dancing. It's the perfect way to celebrate the school year coming to a close and summer starting. Usually I take a group picture of all 30+ of us, but completely forgot this year. The only pic I took was of Mandy and me on the dance floor.

Well I've somewhat caught up with May...next task is to catch up on all our fun from June!! In the meantime I'll be enjoying the 4th of July relaxing with my family at our next door neighbor's pool tomorrow and then heading with friends over to the annual neighborhood block party for fireworks and a 4th of July celebration.