Vacation

Hello there! I guess I have been gone for a bit. Having too much fun on summer vacation I guess!  The week after Connor's birthday we participated in Vacation Bible School at our church. Of course my friend convinced me to help her run the games so that meant I had to be there too! The good part of that was that Connor got to go too since I was a volunteer.  We all had a super time that week. However, nothing much else got done around here.  I finally  found time on Friday to pack for our trip to Santa Rosa to visit our family.  The plane ride there was pretty uneventful.  Connor slept pretty much the entire 2 hour flight.  On Sunday we had a small family/friend get-together. It is always good to see everybody! Here are my boys for their annual picture on grandma's bench.

 Holy Cow. Gage will be a freshman in high school this year. He towers over Travis!!  Travis LOVES hanging out with the "older crowd".  Good thing they both like baseball and scooters.  Travis would like to have him as an older brother, I am sure!

 We wish we lived closer to these little munchkins! Daryle and their mom, Karen, went to high school together.  Karen and her husband and Daryle and I used to go out once in awhile during the dating years.  They got married in May and we got married that July. In the same church. By the same priest too!  Our boys are all pretty close to the same age.  The only difference is they have a little miracle baby girl now.  When I am around Karen the pressure is on! She informed me that we are behind schedule for our little girl.... She is too funny!  Don't let the looks on my boys face make you think they were miserable... they were having a great time. They were more upset that their friends were leaving!

 On Monday we made the trek to Fairfield to visit my friend Stephanie and her girls.  We went to the Jelly Belly Factory and had a great time. Notice the same scowl on Connor's face? He has decided mom takes too many pictures. I either get a folded arms, angry face or he holds up 4 fingers in front of his face.  He doesn't want me to forget he is 4 now!

 After that we got some lunch then headed back to her house for some swimming.   The water was cold by our AZ standards... but that didn't stop the kids from having a great time.  Look at these three trying to tread water for me so I could get a picture of them!

Connor took a time out for a Popsicle.  He was done.

I can't believe how big these kids are getting!  They had a fun time playing on their iTouches... Travis learned a thing or two from them.  We had a really nice time visiting.

 That day also happened to be our 18th wedding anniversary.  Wow.  Where did that time go? When we got home Daryle's mom surprised us with a delicious ice cream cake... yummmm! What a sweet surprise, that's for sure!

 The next day we went to visit Uncle Billy at work. I was told I was not allowed to put photographs of this place online.  That makes it sound like he works in some top secret place doesn't it?!  Well, I guess in some ways it is!  You have to know someone who works there to get in.  He works out near the coast and it took about an hour to get there.  If you know me you  know where it is. If not, sorry. We don't want to get Uncle Billy in trouble!  Here we are enjoying lunch with him.  The grounds were beautiful and we had a very nice time checking the place out.

 Fourth of July... need I say more?

 Thursday we took the boys to San Francisco!  We took Travis when he was 4 and hadn't really gone back because who wants to take a baby in diapers to walk around there?  Now that Connor has gotten older it is much more fun to go to new places.  This year we decided to take the ferry boat ride from Larkspur over to the city.  It was awesome! Here are the  boys getting ready for the ride.

 Despite some wind and cold the trip over was uneventful.  However, we did get this spectacular view of the Golden Gate Bridge on our way over. 

There is our boat in the background.

Through FaceBook my college friend who lives in San Francisco asked if we wanted to meet up for lunch.  We decided on meeting at the Rain Forest Cafe.  Little did we realize this would be an hour walk for us.  Thankfully Travis was an awesome big brother and he gave Connor a lift for part of the way!

 I can't believe we have known each other for over 20 years! We met in the dorms at St. Mary's College. It was so awesome visiting my friend Chimene and meeting one of her daughters. I love having friends where you can just pick up like no time has passed at all.

 The walk back to the boat was more leisurely.  We checked out the wharf and Pier 39.  We spent a few hours just wandering around.  The boys had a super time.

 We caught some street performers. Travis couldn't see so I put him up here so he could get a good look. I couldn't see a thing but Travis assured me that the guys were putting on quite a show!

 The "Silver Guy" as my kids called him. He was pretty cool. All of that stuff around him spun wildly in the wind.  My boys were so curious about how he got this way.

 Time for a hot dog rest for Travis.

Back on the ferry to head home. It was colder out by this time. The water was more choppy.  We decided to sit outside and enjoy the cool breeze and mist and think of how hot it was in the desert we call home.  Unfortunately, these smiles did not last long....

 This is what Mr. Connor thinks about getting splashed with water in his face!  Classic!!!

He was so.darned.mad.

 Friday was finally time to head to the beach. We like to head out to Bodega Bay. This year we went to Doran Beach. It was foggy and a little windy when we got there.  After about an hour the fog lifted and it was a super nice day.  The kids always love having time to play in the sand and chase some waves around.

 This one cracks me up. I told Daryle to take a picture of us... little did I know that Uncle Billy and the boys were behind us!

 The Hawes Family enjoying the beach.

 Look at those hands!

 Saturday.. what did we do... oh not much.  The kids hung out with the neighbor boys. I did laundry.  We watched tennis on TV. It was a relaxing day just hanging out.  On Sunday it was time to go. And time for those dreaded good-byes.  First we had to say bye to Charles. He is getting old, not sure if we will see him again or not.

 Saying good-bye to grandma too. 

 Back home to AZ we go.  It sure is a lot easier to travel when both children can handle their own bags! 

As usual, we had an awesome time.