I forgot to mention that we're home! We arrived at 2:00 this morning. We tucked the kids into their beds, quickly glanced at the large pile of mail on the floor and then got a few hours of sleep ourselves before waking to little squeals of delight throughout the house. The kids were very excited to wake up in their beds and play with their toys this morning.
Lily and Lindsay playing at the campsite
Junior Ranger Program at Van Damme State Park on the Mendocino Coast
Watering Gramma's flowers in the evening
Milkshakes on the 4th of July
The girls had their toenails painted by our friend, Amanda
Fun! Fun! Fun! Phil and I had 6 kids in our tent with us!
Camping and enjoying a cup of hot chocolate before bedtime--that's not hot chocolate on their faces, by the way. What fun is camping if the kids don't get a little dirty?
The kids went searching for something yummy to feed their alligator lizard. They found this poor potato bug.
Lily was not the least bit interested, but Gracie and the boys watched the whole thing.
We camped up in Richardson Grove State Park with Phil's family and several members of Clear Lake Baptist church. The park is situated in the California Redwood Forest.
We enjoyed sitting by the campfire every night before bed, roasting marshmallows, eating s'mores and singing along while Pastor Ray played his guitar.
Gracie wanted to peek at the fire, and Lily was busy singing with Pastor Ray.
The kids enjoyed sleeping in a tent. We've gone camping every year since we've had kids, but this was by far the easiest year for me, because we didn't have to bring the following:
The boys had a wonderful time sailing their boats on this little bridge.
I wish I would have included their boats in these pictures, but I was distracted by the cute little boys dangling their feet off the side of the bridge.
Here are Lily and Phil walking across the bridge. Notice Lily wearing her hat backwards. So cute!
As sweet as these pictures are, I was a nervous wreck every time I watched my kids sit or walk across this bridge!
Poor Caleb fell down and hurt the area under his eye while we were camping. He was so snuggly after the incident. He's such a sweet boy.
What's a 5 year old boy with a loose tooth to do?
Why, eat an apple, of course!
And here he is, hiding his first lost tooth under his pillow in our tent.
Phil and I were able to take the kids down to Alameda to visit my Grandma Silva. After a 3 hour drive, they were happy to run around Grandma's yard and snack on orange juice and BBQ chips. We were also able to visit with my Auntie Lilly and Uncle Henry. They were good sports and agreed to dine with us at McDonald's.
Corinne, Gramma and Grampa surprised Caleb with this great puppet stage and AWANA Cubbies puppets for his birthday.
He loves all of his new friends!
Caleb is 4 today! Sisters put 4 candles in his blueberry muffin.
Look at this big boy in a booster seat, just like his brother, Jared!
Emily and I are having a great time together down here in sunny San Diego! She took me to IKEA this morning, then we went to Balboa Park, toured an art gallery and had lunch in the art gallery's courtyard.
We spent the afternoon relaxing at the beach, and finished off our day dining with a couple of her friends at a yummy Mexican restaurant in Old Town San Diego.
We've been busy, busy, busy! And, as far as blogging goes, I've been lazy, lazy, lazy! Here's a family photo that was taken yesterday at Caleb's birthday party. Caleb had a great Thomas the Tank Engine party at Nana's (my mom's) house.
I'm flying down to San Diego tonight to visit my sister, Emily, and to attend a family wedding this weekend. The kids are having a wonderful time exploring Gramma and Grampa's ranch and going on tractor rides with Aunt Corinne. I have many, many adorable pictures to share, but I'll have to post them later. Have a great weekend!
After a very long trip, we arrived in California Saturday morning at 7 a.m. The kids had fun waking up Gramma and Grampa (they were expecting us to arrive in the evening). We decided to leave Portland on Friday night instead of early Saturday morning, and I'm so thankful that we did. I was able to see my Grandpa before he passed away this morning. God's timing is perfect. Most of all, I'm thankful that Grandpa trusted Jesus to be his Savior last week.
Caleb just finished reading Set 2 of the Bob Books series! He calls them "the ring books" because our library attaches all 12 books in the set to a ring.
We needed to finish these up and get them back to the library before our big trip! Many of you may not know that our family is headed down to California for about 6 weeks this summer. We'll leave Thursday and spend Thursday and Friday night with Phil's cousin, Michele in the Portland area. We hope to arrive at Phil's parents' house on Saturday night and make that our home base for our stay in Lake County.
On the agenda this summer:
*Caleb's 4th Birthday!!! He'd like a Thomas the Tank Engine party with a watermelon cake
*Several doctor appointments
*My niece's Jr. High graduation
*A High School graduation (one of my former 2nd graders, in fact--yes, I feel old!)
*A quick weekend trip down to San Diego to see my sister, Emily, and to attend a family wedding
*Two camping trips
*Fourth of July BBQ (which we haven't discussed yet, so I guess I'm planning it)
*My Grandpa's birthday
