4th of July

Last year on the 4th of July Josh and I hosted the first annual "4th of July Kickball Tournament"  with a bunch of friends, it was such a hit that we decided to do it again this year. Because we planned on going to the A's game on the 4th, we decided to have the kickball game on the 3rd instead. Other than getting extremely hot on the field at times (the high was 97 I think), the kickball game was a blast. The kids had a fun time cheering us on.  :) Following the game we BBQed, played botchie ball and hung out.

Mari, Leah, Hannah, Carter, James and Caitlyn enjoying a snack

Hannah and Caitlyn cheering us on from the dug out....it was too cute!

Josh pitching the ball

Me getting ready to boot the ball

evening swim that night after a late afternoon nap....it was still 86 deg. at 7:30pm!!

On the 4th we traveled down to the A's Coliseum to tailgate before the game. The weather was  perfect...light breeze and in the low 80's.  The A's unfortunately lost 2-1  :(  but we still had a great time with everyone. Total we had 20 adults and 7 kids. This was the first time Hannah explored the A's "fun zone" (kids play area), she also did really well sitting and watching her favorite team.

Snack time with Mari and Leah while tailgating

Playing  bean bag botchie ball, perfect for a parking lot!

With Maria, Karina, Sebrina, Kara and Monica

Our little cheerleader :)

I can't tell you how many photos we have of this exact same pose in the parking lot before an A's game :)

 That evening we went to our neighborhood block party to watch fireworks. Hannah enjoyed watching them, however as you can see from the photo below she did not like hearing them.  :)

Tomorrow we're leaving for Yosemite and we're so excited!!! First we'll travel with friends to just outside the park and stay at the Chukchansi Gold Resort where we'll get to relax by their gorgeous indoor/outdoor pool for the afternoon, have some drinks and enjoy a nice dinner. I looooove staying in nice hotels. :) We'll get up Sunday morning to travel into the park where we'll stay in Curry Village.   We bought a new Yakima Skybox to go on top of the Highlander which is soooo nice because we were able to fit everything up there when packing tonight except for the jogging stroller and Hannah's hiking backpack. As our family grows the Skybox will be appreciated greatly during all our travels. We'll be home from Yosemite on Tuesday just in time for Game Night at the park with friends. Wednesday will be filled with unpacking and then repacking for Fortuna. Thursday Hannah and I head up to Fortuna to see family and friends   enjoy all the rodeo week festivities. We'll miss not having Josh with us though because he has to work at the Bohemian Grove for the weekend.

Girls Dance Party

I feel so fortunate to have so many amazing girlfriends! What's even better is I get to work with so many of them. In the group pictured below, all but one of us are teachers! I love that we all get together for lunch dates, movie outings, girls dance parties, drinks, etc... Our girls dance party started with 2 hours of talking, eating/drinking, sharing stories and laughing, and then was followed by over 3 hours of dancing. Ramona and I had gotten together earlier in the week to perfect our dance party mix while enjoying some wine and then of course testing out our dance mix by dancing around in her living room.  :)  The mix was AWESOME and everyone had a blast!

group pic (with most of us)

Mandy and Me ready to get our dance on!

Our pedicured toes (Mandy and I LOOOOVE our pedicure days)

On the dance floor with Ramona, Michelle, and Mandy

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With some of my Evergreen colleagues

Discovery Museum, 6 Flags, Fun at Home, Day on the Lake

Below are some pics of fun we've had during the past week. As always we had a great time at the Discovery Museum. We renewed our season pass and will enjoy many more afternoons there. I love that our pass works at ANY Discovery Museum. We've only made it to the Eureka and Carson City one and hands down the Sausalito one is the best!  If you haven't been and are in the area it's such a great place to take the kids. Hannah is at the perfect age to do just about everything there right now.

Hannah and Carter

With Leah

squirting off the picture she just painted on the window/wall

Josh and I took Hannah to 6 Flags Marine World to meet up with two of my best friends Amber & her son Gavin (2 years old) and Lisa & her little guy Henry (9 months old). Hannah enjoyed watching the Killer Whale and tiger shows, watching the dolphins and sharks swim, she semi-enjoyed :) the bird aviary, LOVED running through the water, and had fun going on the rides with her buddy Gavin.

Hannah & Gavin looking a little terrified before their first ride of the day :)

watching the birds eat out of dad's hands

carousel ride

looking at herself in the carousel mirror  :)

going on the swings with mom

both wanting to push the horn

time to cool off!

After so many days of being on the go, we enjoyed some lazy days at home. Hannah loved sliding into her pool while I laid out, read and got some sun! Our days at home weren't completely lazy, I cleared out and organized our bedroom and Hannah's bedroom. Josh organized the garage....of course the poker tournament he held for the guys was good motivation :)  Next projects include organizing the guest room and kitchen and staining the front fence.

Lake day with Uncle Scott and Carter

Josh and I relaxing while Kara wakesurfs behind the boat

Lovin' Sonoma County

As much as I've tried to have some low-key down time at home, it's been really hard with so many fun things to do around here. Although I loved growing up in Humboldt & think it is a beautiful place, I couldn't imagine living anywhere but here. There is always a never ending flow of things to do year round & during the summer we're able to take advantage of them even more. Because it's summer and we're both off Josh and I have the liberty to take Hannah places during the week when it's less crowded. I feel so fortunate that we our summers free together. As crazy as our jobs can be at times, we both love teaching and the added bonus of summers off. This week we've had swim lessons every morning. It has been so fun to watch Hannah's confidence grow with each lesson. Yesterday she was letting Josh guide her completely submerged under the water to her swim instructor a few feet away.... no sputtering, coughs or taking in water, just all smiles. :) Today she was jumping in from the side without holding onto Josh's hands. After swim today we headed down to the Discovery Museum in Sausalito with some friends. Hannah enjoyed the afternoon playing and exploring.

With her friends Caitlyn, James and Kenzie

the girls in their matching suits

Fun plans in the upcoming days...

Tomorrow: 6 Flags Discovery Kingdom; Friday night Farmer's Market in Rohnert Park
Saturday: Soccer class; Tom Petty cover band and lunch in Santa Rosa with friends; "Girls Dance Party" for me while Josh and Hannah have a  father/daughter night in Bodega Bay to watch the fireworks
Sunday: 2nd annual "4th of July BBQ/Kickball game" (on the 3rd of July this year)
Monday: 4th of July A's game (there's over 25 of us going...can't wait!)

JUNE Fun!

June has been a fun-filled, busy month!!! It started off with school ending (woo hoo!) and us heading to Tahoe.  The week after we got back from Tahoe we took our boat out on the lake for the first time of the season. It was so nice to be out on the water soaking up the sun, getting some wakesurf runs in and relaxing.  Hannah loves being on "my boat" as she calls it :) and did a great job of wearing her new vest the entire 5 hours we were out on the water.

Our little "princess" putting on her shoes while playing dress up

being silly

Josh's first wakesurf run of the season

watching dad wakesurf...ready to try it someday soon

relaxing in the sun with Renee & Hannah

chillin' in the water with my honey

Hannah was excited to have Nico on the boat for the day

The week after we got back from Tahoe, Hannah and I drove up to Fortuna to surprise my mom (and dad) for my mom's birthday! We were able to completely take them by surprise when pretending to Skype (video chat online) with them and instead popping our heads up in their dinning room window when they expected to see our faces on the computer screen. :) We enjoyed a fun birthday dinner at Curleys with the family, relaxing at my parents house, spending time out at the Coopers cabin in Bridgeville and definitely weren't ready to leave when Saturday came.

Out to dinner for Nonni's birthday

At the Cooper's cabin...excited to head down to the river

my happy girl

so much fun being naked

searching for pebbles in the river....look I found one mom!!

Beautiful Van Duzen river that runs below their cabin

with Auntie Cole

Having fun with Betsy

excited to listen to Nonne read his Father's Day card from her

ready to enjoy her first Bob's Footlong shake

slept just over 3 hours on the way home (from Scotia to Windsor)....love my good traveler!

Hannah and I got home early Saturday evening from Fortuna, unpacked our bags and then finished packing our bags for camping which I had mostly packed before heading to Fortuna. The next morning (Father's Day) the three of us (along with some friends) headed up to Bullard's Bar for our first camping trip of the summer. Bullard's Bar was hands down the best ski lake we've been on! The water was virtually smooth throughout the ENTIRE day! The temperature of the air (and water) was perfect and there was barely a breeze. We enjoyed long days out on the boat.

watching mom wakeboard

moms enjoying relaxing in the sun while the guys watch the kiddos

Hannah giving Hudson his first dancing lesson

Hannah posing with her boys Hudson and Carter

intently driving the boat with dad

Josh relaxing in the hammock with Carter, Tyler and Hannah

beautiful waterfall we found on the lake

Big "cheeses" from Hannah and Tyler

loungin' on the boat with mom

Soccer class

listening to Coach Allie

First time going on the big yellow slide at the fair

she had a blast on fair rides with her buddy Caleb

My mom came down for a last minute visit last weekend which enabled Josh and I have to have a night away in the city. We headed down to Larkspur on Sunday and enjoyed lunch & a couple beers at the Marin Brewing Co. after checking into our hotel. Following lunch we caught the ferry across the bay and over to the stadium. We met up with Ashley, Mike, Mandy and Mike for some drinks at Pete's Tavern before the game. Following the game we spent some more time in SF with the four of them for more drinks, delicious appetizers and some laughs. :)  Josh and I enjoyed staying the night in Larkspur (and sleeping in Monday morning!)  After breakfast we headed back to Rohnert Park for Hannah's first swim lesson.

view of the Golden Gate from our ferry ride from Larkspur to S.F.

excited Ashley and Mike were also in S.F. for the game

drinks with Mandy & Mike before the game

Ready for her first swim lesson of the summer

listening to her swim instructor Scott

with Dave and Kenzie