More Updates!!!

Well again I have made more posts and have caught everyone up! We had a very busy and fun summer so please take the time to read through them, there is a total of 14 new posts. I hope you enjoy!!!!

 

I love this mountain, if I could have I would have taken back to Cali with me!!!!!

Father's Day 2009

 

We started our wonderful summer off with Father's Day. We were lucky because Dave had the whole day off and the kids were actually able to spend it with him. We decided to go to the LA Zoo for the day, the weather again was beautiful. Dave and Brandon were glued to each other the whole day, I love watching them together because they really enjoy each others company! I think it gives Dave an excuse to do some really silly stuff and Brandon just loves it because it is his dad. I really love my family and enjoy being a mother!! :)

Tide Pools

 

Just down the road from us there is a really cool beach with tons of rocks. When it is low tide you can see all kinds of see life; starfish, hermit crabs, regular crabs, sea enemies, muscles, all kinds of stuff. Brandon loves going because it is so hands on and up close! We usually spend a couple of hours at least, but I think Brandon could stay all day.

Swim Lessons

 

This year we decided to put Brandon in swim lessons at the local pool here on base. At first he was pretty scared and wouldn't even put his face in the water but by the end of the 2 weeks we couldn't get him out of the pool. He is growing up so fast I am having a hard time keeping up with him! Man I love him!!!!

4th Of July!

 

Down here in Southern Cali the thing to do on the 4th of July is to go to the beach early in the morning and hang out all day & wait for the Fireworks! This year we decided to go to Santa Barbara where they have a really cool beach and tons of vendors. The only problem this year was it was pretty windy so when the sun finally went down we were pretty chilly!

I love the fourth because all you do is hang out with the family and watch fireworks! It is so relaxing and involves everything I love to do, family, sun, beach, outside!!

San Fransisco

 

Dave's grandma, Mamasita, lives in San Fransisco & she rarely gets to see the kids so we try to stop there every time we go back and forth. We stayed in a hotel right across the bay from the airport which Brandon loved, we sat and watch planes come and go for quite awhile! We also drove around town to do normal sight seeing things, like the Golden Gate Bridge!

The Redwoods!!

 

On our drive up to WA we decided to take a slight detour(only about 6 hours off the path)to see the Redwoods. They were awesome, it is so daunting. You know that the trees are big but really don't realize how big until you are standing next to them. They have also added a gondola ride to take you along the treetops and up to a beautiful look out, you can see all the way to the ocean!! The trees are absolutely beautiful and I suggest it to anyone that loves nature and to hike! We were only able to stay one day but would love to go back to camp for a few days!

Salmon La Sac

 

This was our first camping trip to Salmon La Sac, all of my siblings were able to make it except Shawn, too bad! There are so many of us and we all have our own busy lives it is so hard to get all of us together at one time, that is why this trip and our next one were so special.

There is this really cool rock that you can jump off of into the river it is probably 15ft high and yes, of course, I did it! We are all pretty daring people so usually it is a race to see who can do it first or the best. After jumping off the rock a few times I decided to get brave and try the rope swing that was across the river and probably another 5-10 ft higher. That was a lot of fun but on the last day we decided to go off the rope swing one last time. The rope twisted at the last second and when I finally hit the water, my butt hit first. I hit so hard that I had the deepest tailbone bruise ever, it felt like I broke it! I couldn't sit or run or anything for almost the rest of the summer. This happened at the beginning of July and it took well into Aug for my butt to feel like normal again! I joked all summer about my butt being broken. Needless to say our second trip to the same campground I DID NOT go on the rope swing again!!! HAHA

Isa's 1st Birthday!!!!

 

We did a lot of really fun and great things this summer but probably the most important and biggest milestone was Isa's 1st B-Day!!! My sister, Shannon, was nice enough to offer up her house for the party which was great because they have a great backyard for entertaining including a pool! The weather couldn't have been better, it was actually a little on the warm side, I think it hit up into the 90s.

I love when the kids have birthdays because it bring both sides of the family together! My parents, Dave's mom, Joanna, Dave's grandparents on his dad's side, Betty & Ken, Both my sisters, Alicia & Shannon, Brandon's Godmother, Patti, my niece, Haley, & Shannon's Husband, Jim were all there, oh, and Brandon & I were there too. Dave wasn't able to make it because his job sucks and they wouldn't give him the time off! Aside from him not making it we had a great time, we swam in the pool, ate cake & ice cream, & opened presents! She had a blast and was pooped out by the end of the day!

Dash Point

 

While we were home in WA there was some unbelievably hot weather, there was about 3 or 4 days in a row that reached 100 degrees. For those of you that are not from the Seattle area that is really hot for up there! Our summers usually hover around the 80s.

Where we were staying, at my in-laws, they unfortunately didn't have AC so we had to find something to do that would keep us cool and, of course, didn't cost anything! So we went to the beach just a couple of miles from their house, it was absolutely beautiful. I love the sound there because there is so much to look at, beautiful scenery, boats coming & going, people, sea life: the list keeps going. This was another fun day!

Splash Down!!!

 

There is a small water park in Spokane, so while we were over there for Spike N Dig my older sister and I decided to take the kids. This was Brandon first time at a water park so, of course, he was a little scared of the water slides. We never did get him to go down any of the big slides but they have a really nice little kid area. By the end of the day we couldn't get Brandon off those slides! Haley took Isa down one slide and by the picture you can tell she DID NOT like it!! HA, HA!

More Salmon La Sac

 

This is the second camping trip we took to Salmon La Sac, with the whole family. If you have never been to Salmon La Sac you should really go, it is tons of fun! There is a river & hiking trails! All kinds of fun!!!

All my sibling were there most with their significant others and my brothers had a few of their friends come also and my parents were there! I think there was about 20 people all but 4 in one site. It was a lot of fun!

The rope swing that I hurt myself on is in the bottom right of this picture!