Summer Adventure Part 4

Don't worry, I am almost caught up from our California summer adventure!  Last Friday we went to Sonoma and met my Aunt Mary Ann at Train Town.  We had a wonderful time!  Before we left the boys had to have some soccer time together! 

Back when Travis was 3 we took  him to Train Town. This was during his obsession with Thomas the train.  Connor likes trains too, but not nearly as much as his big brother. However, it is a fun little place and I knew that Travis would still enjoy it too.  While we were waiting the kids got to climb through some old train cars. Here is Travis sitting up high in this chair.

Connor enjoyed sitting on the train rides. He was ok with just sitting and climbing on them, no need to put in any quarters!

Here are Connor and I getting ready for our ride!

Here we are with Aunt Mary Ann. 

Uncle Billy and Travis had to ride up front.  I think Travis feels like he is driving it if he sits up close like that!

Once the train reached our destination we got out to look around. On one side there is a petting zoo and the other side has these cute little buildings.  I thought we had as much time as we wanted.  Oops.  We were only there for about 15 minutes then we had to load up and head back. The last time we saw the animals. This time we went in the buildings.  I like the building tour better myself!  Look- they found a jail!!

Travis is teaching school in the school house!  It looks like Connor and Uncle Billy are deep in thought....

Riding on an old fashioned fire truck.

After our return trip on the train Travis wanted to check out some rides. I tried to get Connor to ride on the plane but he was just too scared.  Connor? Scared? It must be something to do with turning 3. I have never known him to be "scared" of much. I am sort of glad to see a little fear set in with him though.

Another carousel ride! Riding the carousel is becoming a favorite of Connor's!

After all of that excitement we went to lunch at Mary's Pizza Shack.  I wish I could say my boys were "angels".... however, I won't tell you how many pictures I took until we got this cute one of the boys with my aunt!  I think they were on overload by this point in the vacation.  Sorry Mary Ann!  Hopefully the next time we see you we will be able to have a more enjoyable eating experience!  LOL

Here is a picture of the happy bunch! 

All in all it was a lot of fun!  It was so nice of my aunt to meet us there, she really made the day special! After this we went home and just "chilled out" so to speak.  A relaxing ending to a fun filled day! 

Summer Adventure Part 3

On Thursday we planned to meet up with some friends that live just around the corner from grandma's house.  Karen was friends with Daryle in high school.  Rumor is that she tried setting him up with several of her friends, but nothing ever worked out! When Daryle and I were dating we would run into Karen and James from time to time. Since I was attending college in a different city we didn't get to hang out too often.  We ended up getting married just two months apart, in the same church!  When we did our marriage preparation classes Karen's brother and wife were our mentor teachers. Karen's mom had us on her prayer chain to be praying for couples getting married that summer.  Conicidence or what??!  Then, their first son was born just as they celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary and then later that summer we brought Travis home.  We also were celebrating being married 10 years!  Fast forward a few years and their second son was born.  Six months later we brought home Connor.  Connor is just 6 months older than her son.  We thought it was funny how we had two boys and they were all pretty close in age.  Imagine our surprise when Karen found herself pregnant last fall!  I won't go into details, but this pregnancy was a true miracle due to unforeseen life threatening medical issues for both mother and baby.  As with the first two babies they didn't know the gender until the baby was born.  Surprise, surprise, it was a girl! And she was born on Connor's birthday! I couldn't be in Santa Rosa and not see them so we planned a little get together with the boys.  Here they are early on. Travis and Dominic have been hanging out for years, but this was the first time Derek and Connor had been together since they were little babies.

Travis took this shot of Karen and I. Not too bad!

 It was getting a bit warm so a Popsicle break was in order!

 Connor and Derek enjoyed filling up this water table from the little pool.  I was wondering how in the world we were going to keep all four of these boys out of the pool. Suddenly, this started.....

 A water fight was in full action!!!  They had a BLAST!

 As I was taking these shots I was having a conversation with little Kristen about how I would help protect her from all of those boys! Something tells me she will be able to hold her own though!!  lol

 Travis asked, "Can I pet her?" (I guess we have seen one too many dogs and asked permission for that!) I told him we don't pet babies but he could touch her head if he wanted to. He gave her a gentle pat and I got this picture of them.  He asked where she came from. I told her from Karen's tummy. He kind of looked at me, processed that and then went back to his water fight. I still am not sure what was running through his little brain at that moment!

I can't say for sure whether or not we will keep "matching up" with these two as far as kids go!  On one had we would love to have a little girl. On the other hand I wonder where the money tree will go in my backyard?? Until then I will live through them as they raise this precious little girl!

 After that fun and exhausting afternoon we went back to grandma's house. She was planning a family get together. Here are my boys with Matilda. She was born on Travis' birthday, how weird is that??  Both of my boys have a birthday twin in the same city!  Connor and Matilda are just 3 months apart, they had a super fun time running around together.

 Connor was trying out his scooter.  I love how his little leg is up in the air!

Phew, he is exhausted!  As you can see from the picture above, he didn't get very far!  lol  I guess I didn't get pictures of anybody else that evening. I was busy visiting and chatting it up with everybody.  We had a great time, good food and  good company for sure!

Summer Adventure Part 2- Mendocino

On Wednesday we ventured out to the coast. We hopped in Grandpa's new car and headed to Mendocino to visit Uncle Mike, Aunt Susan and their dog Ollie.  Thankfully we did not have to be on Highway 1 for more than 3 miles. (For those of you not familiar with that road, it is extremely windy, not for the feint of heart!)  However, we still did have to drive on some windy roads to get there.  The night before I was worried about myself getting carsick.  Windy roads tend to do that to me.  However, once we were well on our way it was Connor that started to feel carsick!  Ooops! I wasn't anticipating that one!  Thankfully he didn't actually get sick in the car.  Since we weren't in a hurry we were able to make a few stops along the way for him to get out once in awhile.... even if it was just along the side of the road. Here are the boys all loaded up and ready to hit the road!

 Here are the boys on one of our pit stops along the road. Lucky for us we were able to stop in the middle of a Redwood forest. Breath taking landscape for sure! 

Once we got to Uncle Mike and Aunt Susan's house we got the grand tour!  I forgot to take any pictures!!  I was so amazed just looking around and taking in the amazing views from their home.  Then we made some sandwiches and headed for the beach.  Here you can see that there was some fog heading in.  (Or "foggy fog" as Connor told us.... I guess he learned that from his friend Dora!)

 We found this big log to sit down and eat our lunch.

 Typical. While we are eating Connor is playing and taking in the action!

 Young Hawes brothers.....

 Not-so-young Hawes brothers! (haha!!)

Uncle Mike kept trying to give the boys a "science lesson". He didn't think they were listening, but I think they heard more than he thinks they did! I love it when people take my kids under their wing and teach them things that are new to them.  They really enjoyed their time with him and I would like to think that they did learn something!

As you can see, Travis took a special liking to him!

 Connor was still too busy playing in the sand and water to pose for a picture.  So here are Aunt Susan, Uncle Mike, Travis and Ollie. Ollie is so cute!!! What a great little dog.  Travis suggested they change his name to Charlie.  Silly boy!

 Connor finally graced us with his presence for a picture!

I LOVE the beach, I LOVE the ocean and I now LOVE Mendocino!  I do NOT LOVE the drive to get there but at least now I know I can do it without getting sick in the car!  As long as you keep your eyes on the  road it is a beautiful part of the country. If you haven't seen it you are really missing out!

Summer Adventure Part 1

Well, Connor and I couldn't let Travis have ALL the fun in California!  We headed out on a jet plane on Tuesday morning. I must say, Connor is becoming quite the traveler, just like his big brother! It is sooo nice when they reach the age where they can take off their shoes and push their things through the security system. No stroller, diaper bag or holding a baby for dear life because he might run off any minute!!

 Checking out the planes... he wanted to know what the plane's name was. As I was trying to explain that I didn't know a man said, "Oh, his name is George!" Now why didn't I think of that?? It satisfied him immediately!

 On the plane...yes his teeth are blue...sometimes a sucker is in order to keep him entertained! (and still!!)

 Connor enjoyed his airplane snacks.

 FINALLY!!! I see who Travis missed the most! He ran right for Connor first!!

 Once we got to grandma's it was all about saying hello to Charles... the cat!

 We wasted no time at all. Straight to the park we went. First we took a train ride.

 Then Connor got his first carousel ride. I didn't realize he had never been on one until we were standing there waiting for the ride to start!

 We had to ride the horses too.

I have so many pictures from each day that I have decided to do them in a few posts over the next few days.  The first day we got there it was pretty hot, for Santa Rosa anyway.  After that the weather was absolutely beautiful! I miss it already!

Shhhh!

It's not that my 8 year old will be reading this blog.  It's not that he won't see these pictures hanging up in the house. It's just that he is out of town right now. Every time we talk on the phone (several times a day) he asks what we are doing. When I tell him I hear, "That's no fair!!"  Then I remind him that he is in California.  By himself. With two grandparents doting all over him. However, if I had told him that Connor and I went to get pictures taken I think it might have sent him right over the edge!  I snuck into a few pictures as well. A few years ago (before Connor) I snuck into one of Travis' photo shoots.  So, I think it is fair that I get a picture of me with Connor.  Let me preface this by saying that I did take both boys into JC Penney for pictures on Monday.  Their programs won't let me down load pictures other wise I would have posted those earlier in the week.  One thing I wanted was to get a picture of Connor in a shirt I bought him in Moscow.  I had a shirt for Travis and had his picture taken when he was about 2 1/2.  When we went on Monday I didn't like any of the three pictures she took in his shirt. I wanted to be able to see the whole thing. That is why I decided to take Connor in today. Then when I called of course they told me about the cute  beach scene they just got.  Sigh. I am such a sucker!  Of course I got him a swimsuit outfit (of course he will get a lot of use out of it as well) just for the pictures.  I must say he is so darned cute. It also helps that he is 3 now.  Taking pictures of a 3 year old is so much better, hands down!  For that, I am thankful. I shudder to think about how much money I spent (and Grammy too!) on these pictures. I just love pictures. I have a weakness.  However, the last time I took my boys in was a year ago. I usually do it more than once a  year.  Also, I have bought countless pictures of Travis this year (basketball, soccer, baseball, fall and spring school pictures... for example) so I figured I owed it to Connor. After all, when Travis was the only child I took him in at least twice a year.  Keep in mind they took 93 pictures... I got the CD and narrowed it down to these to show you.  Enjoy!

In case you were wondering, Travis is having a wonderful time in California. Hopefully the cats in the house/neighborhood are doing well.  Connor and I will fly up on Tuesday, I am sure by then we will be more than ready to see each other!  I am not sure how much Connor misses Travis... on the first day it took him ten hours until he realized he was gone!!  It was at dinner time and he noticed "a body" was missing so he went looking and calling for Travis.  I think he is enjoying his time as "an only child". Who wouldn't??!!  (As for me, I miss his hugs, and sense of humor around here!  Thank goodness for cell phones, I always know where he is!!)