Winchester House

We headed to the Winchester House in San Jose when J's parents were in town. It is a maze of weird rooms, built for weird reasons as well. This picture makes it look like a normal mansion with lots of character. We weren't able to take too many pictures--none inside the crazy house, but we did get this quick picture outside with the boys. It is worth the drive down to see it.

www.winchestermysteryhouse.com

A California Beach in August

So J's parents flew out from MN before J left for his "trip" to experience some wonderful CA weather. We warned them that San Fransisco can be chilly and to pack some coats and pants for our adventures there. Who would have thought that the entire time they were here we only wore shorts once. They did get to dip there feet into the frigid ocean.

Getting hit by a pretty big wave.
Running away from another.

We were the smart ones who stayed away from the water.

At first only M was daring enough to dip his toes, but after watching how "fun" it was J decided to join too. They all ended up soaked and sandy, but were treated with some great fish & chips and chowder for supper to help warm up that night.

Panning For Gold

J's parents flew out for a visit before he left for his "trip". We packed in a ton of adventures including a trip to the spot where the California gold rush started, Sutter's Mill.

We took the time to try our hand (reenactment style) in panning for gold.
N even got into the action as well.

Looking for the real stuff, found lots of fools gold and also garnets.

N LOVES water so he ended up walking away soaking wet, but it was a hot day and it cooled him off too.

The boys actively panning. J's mom actually did find 3 or 4 tiny pieces of gold that she was able to take home with her.

Rocking Out!

J REALLY enjoys playing Lego Rockband, and N likes to play right along. J usually sings, and I think his reading skills have gotten better because of playing Rockband. N just likes to be involved with what is going on. Notice this is in our temp house....it is pretty sparse, but we had to have a TV and some electronics to kill time while living here ;)
My future RockStar!

Challenger Soccer Camp 2010

Both boys participated in the Challenger Soccer Camp this year. M did it last year and LOVED it, so I shelled the money and signed both boys up for it this year. J looked like he was having fun as well, even if he said he didn't ;p I think both boys will be working it into the schedule next year as well.

M huddled up, he was on the blue team and wore blue socks.
J in the red, M in the background in the blue playing a training game.

J with the ball and not knowing who to pass it to.

Boys with one of their British Coach Lee.

The boys with their British Coach Danny.

First Day of School

First Day of School in the backyard. The boys were excited to start a new school.

Getting ready to get on the bus.

Bye mom!


Back from school...J looking a little tired.

School Open House

So the day before school started we got to go and meet the teachers and see the classrooms the boys would be in. They were totally excited! J is in first and M is is second.

New Digs--well soon anyway

So we have been in limbo for about a month with turning in the keys to the off base rental and moving on base. We are currently in a temp house and will be moving into a much bigger house. We have yet to be in said house, but have the blueprints...almost 2200 square feet of fablousness! With hopefully no unexpected ponds that we will have to run a sump-pump for, no lights and plugins deciding not to work, no cat urine, no garage door deciding not to work, no more pg&e power bills that suck away all the extra money and no more long wait for j to get home!

We will be moving into our new house in less then a month and look forward to snuggling on a couch and not living out of boxes and suitcases.

Worn Out

So with all that is going on I thought I would try to get blogaway to work on my phone to post to the blog...that way while waiting for the boys to get off the bus I can be productive in some way...well in theory ;)

N is depicting how I feel, the boys @ school not so bad, but once school is over I may have over scheduled our family -1, when I really need that -1 to help drive boys and remove crabby ones from the situation...when is it my turn to be removed and put into a timeout ;p Another reason for using the blogaway is that i never have my regular camera ready...I always have it with, but with an almost two year to keep track of the camera on my phone has been put to good use. We will see how well they publish. With that this is my test run...bear with me.

Once again a bad blogger

We have had a whirlwind of excitement and haven't posted any of it...once again. So what has taken us out of the blogging world? We have moved, but will be moving one more time before finally being settled...well for now anyway. We have moved out of the rental house in Browns Valley (a division of Vacaville) and were given a house on base. The catch is that is it is still under construction and we won't get to move into it till mid September. So for now we are on base, but in a temp house that is just fine...just glad we don't have to cram all of our stuff into it ;)
We had visitors, J's parents, the week before he left on a "trip" and toured a large part of the country side once again. We made it to the Winchester House, the ocean, Muir Woods, Fisherman's Wharf, Jelly Belly Factory, Sutter's Mill and even quacked on the Ride the Ducks. I think we wore the kids (and ourselves) out! Pictures of some the events to come...if I can locate the camera ;)
So we are here, and busy as normal, so posts may be hit or miss. The boys start school Wednesday, so maybe I will get time to track down those pictures ;)