Tour of the Jelly Belly Factory

Since the kids had this last week off from school (but we still had to work) we wanted to give them a little "mini" vacation. So on Wednesday, we loaded up five kids into our friend's SUV and took a 3+ hour drive up to Fairfield to take a tour of the Jelly Belly Factory. It was good fun, and we all ended up with WAY too many jelly bellys!

Isaac plays soccer

This weekend we got a few good photos and a bit of video of Isaac's soccer game. Click on the link below to see the little green scorpions in action.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Zfc2UspIus

Butterfly Garden

During an August visit to SLO we

were lucky enough to spend a little time in Idee and Theresa's garden. It's always so beautiful!

Soccer Season

Isaac decided he wanted to play soccer this year, while Max decided he didn't. Isaac's team is called The Green Scorpions. So far they've had two games, and are 1-1.

Max decided to take a hip hop dance class instead, so once he learns some moves, we'll post a video :o)

First Day of School

The boys started back to school in August. Max is now in 3rd grade and Isaac in 1st. Where does the time go? They wouldn't admit it, but I know they were happy to go back and see all their friends.

Great Summer

We've been having a busy, but great summer. It's been full of road trip, boat trips, pool/beach time, and visiting with friends (old and new) and family. Below you'll see some of our summer exploits. However, I think the best part, can be summed up in this photo and short video (click on the link below.) :o)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ-d9LHBPls

Jet Boat Trip Up The Rogue River

When Martin was a kid, his family took a jet boat trip up the Rogue River one summer and he's always remembered it, so we decided to do the same with the boys this year on the way up to Oregon. It was a great day, although we got pretty soaked along the way!

Hiking at Silver Falls With Old Friends

This year I was encouraged to make a facebook page as a way to interact with my students. Mostly I end up procrasting and wasting time on the thing, however, one benefit was finding my old school friend, Angie Van Rheen now living in Norway. After chatting a bit, we realized we would both be in Oregon this summer at the same time and arranged a meeting. It was a nice reunion, and a third classmate (Kay Mitchell) also came along!

Visiting the Enchanted Forest

The kids (and their cousin Brady) had fun visiting the Enchanted Forest near Salem, Oregon. It hasn't changed much at all since I was a kid, so it was fun for me too!

If you click on the link below, you can see Daredevil Max in action. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iv3clJ21oks

Boating in Washington

We had such a great time at my sister Marsha's house in Washington. Of course, one of the highlights was spending the day on the river in their boat. The kids especially loved innertubing.....Uncle Chuck couldn't drive fast enough.

Playing on the beach

My sister has a beautiful house on the river, and the kids had a blast playing on the beach and in the mud.

Music at the Lake

This summer in our little community, they started having Friday night music at the lake. It's a nice casual little affair where people bring out their blankets and chairs, the restaurant does up a BBQ. Max had a blast dancing to the music. As always, he put on quite a show.

More Photos from the Coast

Here's more general scenery from the coast..... I really liked this funky little painted house!

We Beat the Heat Over the 4th!

We decided to get the heck out of Dodge for the 4th of July and go some place cooler. Martin came up with the great idea to go down to Los Osos and stay with Idee and Theresa and see the fireworks at the coast. So on Thursday, we packed up the car and drove out to the beach. We spent the afternoon on the beach in Cambria, where it couldn't have been warmer than 70 degrees! Then we drove into San Luis Obispo for the Thursday Night Farmer's Market. It was SO crowded, seems everyone had the same idea, but as luck would have it, so did some old friends! We ran into Jeff and Katerina Levine (and their boys Daniel and Alec) in Bubble Gum Alley. Jeff and Martin went to Jewish Camp together when they were seven or eight years old and remained friends through high school. What was odd about running into them, is that they now live in Ohio! We spent the following evening down at Morro Bay together to watch the fireworks, and even took advantage of generous family babysitting to meet up on Saturday night without the kids to visit. It has probably been around seven years since we've seen each other, so it was really nice to catch up. Sadly, I didn't get a photo of their family (what's wrong with me!) Here's a collection of various coastal activities over the last few days. Sadly, we've come back to the Central Valley to even hotter weather! 110 degrees tomorrow! Bleck!

Morning at Bass Lake

Martin wanted to begin the month of July by running around Bass Lake (approx. 13 miles, crazy man!) So while he was off running the kids had fun playing in the water and trying their hand at bass fishing....Isaac snagged a little, tiny fish but thankfully it got off the hook before I had to take it off. We pulled out the BBQ and had lunch and made our way home just as the lake was starting to get crowded. I think we'll have to make this a regular event.

Birthday Party Fun

The boys were invited to their friend Parker's birthday party last weekend. Parker is Max's second grade teacher's son, so it was an added treat to go visit a teacher's house! It was good fun, that ended in a full on water fight.