Russian River

Ryan's Aunt and Uncle have a cabin up in the "chilly" Russian River. Ryan and I went up there about 8 or 9 years ago and haven't been since. But, this summer she offered a bunch of the fam. to come up and stay, whenever!!!! We had a nice little 4 dayer here at the cabin. It was freezing but nice to get away and spend some time with the family : D Ryan's Mom and 2 Sisters and our Nephew came up as well!!! Super fun, Apples to Apples, Guestures and hangin' out!!! Super great weekend!

I thought this was hilarious! Can you see Gracie holding up her fingers, squinting through? We are reading "Lady Bug Girl" and she does this from a tree to her brother in the book. She's so clever sometimes!!!! I didn't realize she was doing this until I was looking through the pictures at home!! We went to the Gravenstein Apple festival in Sebastopol. Got a little warmth and apple pie, mmmmmmm.

Ryder happily sweeping up the deck!!!

Thanks Auntie Debbie and Uncle Dan!!!

Boating

Ever since I was little we have been out on the water. While as a youngin' I didn't really enjoy the fast boats my Dad had, I grew up to LOVE being on the water and I still LOVE it. That's why when my Dad asks are you guys up for a boat ride, I drop everything and go!!!! This time we just headed up to the delta for a half day of fun in the sun. The kids had a great time and Bubba came along too!! Gracie is not a huge fan of the rocky waves and the bouncing but she got used to it and all had a nice nap on the way back in.

Ryder enjoying his boat time.

Grandpa letting Ryder steer!

This is my baby Bro and Gracie girl!!!! Aren't they so cute?

Bubba's 8th Birthday

Bubba who has been a proud member of our little family, celebrated his 8th Birthday on Friday!!!! Wow, 8, that's like 56 in Dog years, scratch that, I don't even want to think about him getting old!!! For now, he's happy and healthy, and that's the way we would like to keep it. Anyway, when I mentioned it was Bud's Birthday, the mini party planner in Gracie popped out!!!! All I mentioned was making some party hats and we ended up having a full fledged "party" for the Dog!!!! Oh my!!!! It was fun, I'll have to admit. Besides, everyone knows, I'm always down for a party!!!

I found a recipe online for "doggie cookies", I loved that it was super easy and I already had all the ingredients!

Here they are ready to go into the oven

Ryan pointed out that there was something wrong with these cookies, they had tails, off the tails came!!!

Gracie even cleaned the entire living room for the "party", those are the hats we made on the table!

Look at how happy Bubba is, he's even smiling : D

Blow out your candles Bud, oh I mean your matches!!! Ha Ha, we were not very prepared for this impromptu party!

My original "baby".

Pinecrest #1

Ryan has grown up going camping at Pinecrest. We have also made it a tradition since before we were married. We took Gracie when she was just under 1 and now we have had the privilege of going again this year to take Ryder in his first year! So much fun!!! But whhhheeeeewwww, camping is a LOT of work!!!! I felt like we prepared and packed for longer than we were actually there! Next time we are going camping, we added a day, hopefully this will make it feel a little more relaxed!!!! Never the less, it is always fun sitting at the lake and chillin'. They also have outdoor movies and this year, among others, they were playing Toy Story 3!!!!! Yep, that's right, so cool!!!!! We totally went and for Ryan and Gracie it was their second time to see it but they didn't' mind one bit!! My sister Amanda and brother Zeke also came up for one night which was so good to see and hang out with them. They live super close and we had just spent the night before at my Mom's to get an early start to our trip. You can read about that here. Overall it was a great trip, nobody got eaten by bears and we spent time together, always cherished!!!!

Gracie helping Daddy "cook"

Ryder, oh geez, what can I say, here he was doing what he does best. Note that we were "trying" to keep him somewhat clean with that tarp, but as soon as he saw something of interest, there he went, off the tarp and everywhere but!!!

My beautiful baby, no, she's not nakie, she has her bathing suit bottom on under there. This was a rope they found at our campsite that kept them busy for a while!!!

I captured this great shot after Ryan whispered, go take a picture of your Boy!!!! He was pooped and just stopped to take a breather, long enough for me to snap it!!

Here is Gracie and I at the lake!

Daddy and Ryder

Daddy and Gracie

We take this same picture every year that we've gone to Pinecrest and we have them hanging in consecutive order in our hall, it has definitely become tradition!

This one will replace Ryan and Gracie alone in that photo!

This one was cute too!

The kiddos and me!

Eating hamburgers!

Eating, anything!!!!

So this year I tried something different. I was talking to a neighbor who also frequents Pinecrest, and she was telling me that they pre-make things and then freeze it. This not only saves time but you can use the frozen meals as ice in your cooler!!! So thrifty!!!! Anyway, this is a veggie and chicken meatball concoction that I made before we left and we just heated it up, made some rice (on the left there) and it was yummy!!!!

It wasn't that cold to have a campfire, but we had to do smore's!!!

This is also a ritual that we have done when we go camping. Gotta get the shot of the kid's (and usually Bubba but those one's were all not good) in front of the camp site number.

Sibling Love!

Geesh, we have a lot of ritual!! This is yet another one, the family shot on the table at the site!

Grandma's

We went up to Pinecrest last weekend and since neither of us was very busy on Sat. (the day before we were supposed to leave) we decided to go up one day early and stay at my Mom's in Oakdale. It's about half way up and we thought it would be good to get a early start on Sun. morning. We had so much fun at my Uncle's house swimming and riding horses!

Auntie Manda and Ryder

Gracie and Daddy

Ryder and Daddy

Carly's new baby; Cash

Off into the sunset.

The Fair

This was our 3rd and final day of tackling the fair. This was the hottest day yet but we had a few more ride tickets pre-purchased that I couldn't let go to waste!!! Here Gracie is on a few rides!

It was soooooo hot this fair day!!! Good thing she brought that hat!!

At first, Ryder didn't know what to expect from this ride.

As the horse moved, he became more an more anxious!

Here's my ol' pro. Cowgirl expert!

Hurry up and take this picture people!

Ok, I kinda like this horsey thing!

"Home, home on the range".......

Okay, now I really like this!!!

My cute cowboys!!!!

Gracie's "real" Birthday!

For Gracie's actual Birthday (June 30) we went down to Gilroy to have a fun day at Gilroy Gardens. It is an adorable vegetable theme park especially designed for little ones. While we had heard about this little gem often, this was our first time and both the kids had a great time!

Cool guy ready to start the day!

Everyone ready to go on the train!

Gracie, Ryder and I on the Merry-go-Round!

Birthday Girl!

Disregard the kid in the front, no idea who he is, anyway, Ryder went on this little "goldfishy" ride all by himself. At first he was nervous but then when it got going, he loved it, helped that Sissy was behind him so he could look back every so often!

We unfortunately had to "rush" home so we could get to the pool to celebrate Gracie's birthday even more! We just had some family and the neighbors over for a "pool party" I say it like that because it was about 65 degrees. Of course the kids went in the pool but all the adults were huddled in the few minuets left of the warm sun and then bundled up in jackets after!!! Crazy Summer were having!!!

So I usually make a theme cake for the kids for their birthdays, well with Gracie I always have. I was devastated when I found out that Wilton has discontinued their Minnie Mouse pan which coincidentally I could have bought on eBay for like $90 (no thanks) So I decided to be summery instead and make this watermelon cake that turned out pretty cute!

Here were all her gifts and cute Minnie plates!

The Birthday Baby, definitely tuckered out from a long day of fun!