Farmer's Market

We went to the Hanford Farmer's Market last week and had a great time. Having fresh produce was awesome, but there are tons of other things to check out as well. They have vendors selling homemade jam, hummus, veggie chips and jewelery just to name a few. They also had a bunch of food vendors and there was one who sells my FAVORITE treat, CHURROS!! I ate mine as well as 3/4 of Lainey's. That was my dinner, super healthy I know :). They have a beer garden, bands playing, carousel rides, pony rides, bounce houses and the best people watching ever. The farmer's market goes until October so we will for sure be heading there a few more times. It was really fun. We didn't take many photos, but here are two of the kiddos:







I had to attach a clip of how FAST this merry go round was:

Camping Trip!

The boys went for their first father/son camp trip and let me tell you, Ethan LOVED it! He got to do all sorts of "boy" things. Here he is standing on top of a huge boulder doing wolf calls:

He is SO happy to be there!



Here is the one and only shot of Andy:


A view of their camp site from the top of a "HUGE HILL" (as described by Ethan):


Their campsite:
Here is a picture of my first sewing project: A flag for Ethan. I made it out of an old GTMO t-shirt of Andy's. It was the first thing they put in at their campsite and the last thing they took down.



Andy gave Ethan his very own Gerber...I can't even tell you how elated this boy was!
Making his mark on a tree:


They even whittled their own hot dog/marshmallow sticks:
Chilin by the fire. They had hot dogs filled with cheese (gag), beef stew from a can ( i don't even have words to tell you how that makes me want to retch) and marshmallows. They loved their manly dinner! They had a great time and they both look forward to many more adventures just like this one. As for me and Lainey, I am planning on a mommy and me date when she is a bit older, but our trip includes the Hilton hotel and the spa.

Ethan's Summer Fun!

Ethan still loves to do nerf/war. There aren't really any kids to play with like in Okinawa, but he makes the best of it and often recruits Lily to take part in his adventures. Right now he is obsessed with wearing gloves. Not just any kind of glove, they have to have the fingers cut out..awesome! I have to wash them everyday though because they get nasty and I have had to tell him multiple times "no, you absolutely cannot eat with them on Ethan". Ah, boys!




On the last day of school my friend Hillary and I thought it would be a fun idea to fill up as many water balloons as possible and let the kiddos have a water fight. We can't take all the credit though, our hubby's helped out with filling the balloons as well as taking part in the water fight.


Here are Ethan and Lily getting ready for the war:

There were SOOO many that the kids actually got a bit bored! Here are some fun pics of the kids biting the balloons:


Ethan got his to squirt...
Lily's well, not so much...ha!

All four of the kids playing:
Ethan got hit HARD, oops!


That night we had a sleepover at our house. Lily and her little sister Aubrie came over for a night of movies, candy and sleeping in a tent! Here they are stuffing their faces with candy:


We survived the sleepover (it went surprisingly well) and the next morning Andy made pancakes:
They all ate enormous amounts of them and then later on that afternoon after they went home we took a long family nap!
So far summer is going well. It's only been 10 days since it let out, but so far, so good! Ethan is doing swimming lessons right now and is also doing summer day camp through Youth Services. We are keeping him busy which is a good thing for both mom and son!

Ethan and Andy went camping this weekend so I will post those pics next!

Lainey pics..

Lainey loves tattoos..here she is sporting her Hello Kitty half sleeve:


This child constantly has a wedgie when swimming:



Remember in Parenthood (the movie from the 80's) when they have have a kid who wears a bucket and runs into things...yes, Lainey is his twin sister!



I love this picture that Andy took. Lainey was upset about something and he caught the perfect moment:


She came downstairs wearing these:
I'll post some Ethan pics tomorrow!

Grammy Barb came to visit!

My mom was able to drive down this past weekend for a quick visit. It is about 6 and a half hours from here to Redding and so it isn't too bad of a drive. The kids LOVED having her here and it was so nice to see her face again. It had been far too long. There is just something about having your mamma around that is so comforting even when you are a "grown up".
My mom brought down her sewing machine to patch up a few things for me and gave me a quick lesson on the machine. I seriously haven't touched a sewing machine since 7th grade home ec where I made a pillowcase and a hot pad. My sewing skills are at about an 11 year old's level and that might even be exaggerating a bit! She had to show me about 10 times how to thread the machine. Just so you know people, I am going to practice and if you are lucky, you will all get a wonderful homemade Christmas gift from yours truly....I just hope you all like pillowcases :).


Here is a picture of Lainey with Grammy Barb. Lainey thought Karl was such a wonderful puppy..too bad he didn't have the same feelings toward her. We told Lainey not to point her finger at him, but of course she did. She thought it was funny that "the puppy bite my finger"..we heard that quite a few times a day. Ethan on the other hand is old enough now that Karl likes him. He was able to pet him whenever he wanted and Ethan thought that was so cool. He told me in the car today, "Mom, Karl used to not like me when I was 3, but now that I am seven I can pet him on his fat and he doesn't growl." Awesome Ebear!

Me and my mamma:


Ebear and Grammy Barb:




Lainey giving Grammy loves:


Notice in the pictures how my mom is holding Karl. He would try to run away if she didn't. Hmm..wonder why?!

Fun at the Pool

They just built a new Community Center right behind our house and it is beautifully done inside and out. It has a gym with a playroom, a game room, banquet rooms, etc . I tried out the gym, but Lainey won't go near the playroom unless I am with her. It makes it difficult to actually get any sort of work out in. You should have seen how many times I had to walk her back into the room, it was a joke! Anyway, our favorite part of the new center definitely has to be the two swimming pools. We are so lucky that it is a hop skip and a jump from our own backyard (albeit big ones). I wasn't really thinking and didn't take a picture of the actual Community Center, but I did get the most important ones:



The small toddler pool:

My handsome Ethan:

At first Lainey was a little scared, but that didn't last long!

She LOVED jumping in the pool. She loved it so much that she jumped in when Andy was playing with Ethan. I was sitting on the edge catching some rays (the pool water is still WAY too cold for me). Sure enough, I jumped on in after her in my shorts :). Andy giggled about it because she did have floaties on and he was only about 10 feet away, but still, it freaked me out. She swallowed a bit of water and was fine, but I am not sure I was... She is such a daring little thing!


Ethan and his friend Hailey:

Ethan doing some water tricks with Hailey's dad:


We had a great afternoon at the pool even though it was a bit chilly!