We're Moving!

I know I have vaguely mentioned before that we are moving.  Well the move is becoming a reality, FAST.  I'm not going to go into too much detail yet, but basically we are in the process of buying a home (a beautiful one might I add) in Auburn, CA.  We are suppose to close Sept 19th.  When that happens I will post pictures of the house and details about why we are moving and what not.  Anyway, when we got word that our offer was accepted, we put the wheels in motion to try to hit the closing date the bank gave us.  That meant an impromptu trip to Auburn for the home inspection.  We managed to pack the weekend full of family and friends.  

Friday evening I got together with my favorite girls (minus Megan) for a little dinner and chatting.  I love these girls so much and cannot wait to live closer so we can hang out ALL THE TIME! :)

Saturday morning was the home inspection, which went very well, YAY!  That afternoon we took the boys to a park and met up with our friends Scott and Amanda and their two cute boys, who are almost the exact ages as Ollie and Max.  We had a great time enjoying lunch, checking out the house they are hoping to buy and seeing Scott's parents new home.  We are excited to live closer to them and for our boys to be playmates.

The next three pictures are courtesy of Ollie.  I'm actually glad I let him play with the camera!

My boys love to swing!

 All Saturday Jason kept noticing flyers advertising a Spaghetti dinner and street dance in Newcastle.  We gathered up both our families and enjoyed the beautiful (and hot) evening.

Even my cousins Alicia and Maggie joined us.

My parents on the left, Jason's on the right.

Mom and my cutie patootie nephew Owen.

Ollie playing with Max.

Can't get enough of these two (actually I can, they were driving me a  little crazy last week).

Jason and Ashley

Ashley and Chrissy

 Sunday my mother-in-law was kind enough to have my whole family over.  We also were able to visit with my cousin Katelyn who was visiting from PA.  We jump at any chance we get to see our PA family, we love and miss them all so much.  It was pretty crazy with everyone, but as always, a good time.

The fam

Ugly faces!!

 As I mentioned before, stay tuned for more details on the move and pictures of our new house!!

Jason's Birthday Weekend

This past Sunday was Jason's 31st birthday.  A few months ago, he planned a fun weekend so we could celebrate as a family.  We rented a camping trailer (one similar to the kind we want to buy in the future) on Friday morning, and headed down to Watsonville and stayed at Pinto Lake Park.  Everyone probably knows what we did all weekend because I checked in everywhere on Facebook.  Is that annoying?  Cause I just assume everyone wants to know where we are at all times :) 

We got there Friday afternoon and the boys loved playing in the trailer while we got things all set up. 

Max was SO happy and kept rolling around and laughing, it was the cutest thing ever.

Ollie is at an age where it is really fun to talk things up to him.  We had talked this up a lot and he was pretty excited.

 Friday afternoon we went to the Martinelli's factory.  We weren't sure if we could take a tour or what but it turned out to just be a tiny little shop where you could buy their stuff (in bulk).  We ended up spending $40 on various kinds of apple juice, haha.  After that we walked around a little farmers market in town.  It was pretty awesome since Watsonville is pretty much all farmland.  That night we headed to Ocean Speedway to watch the sprint car races.  It was fun, but we didn't stay long because we wanted to get the kids to bed fairly on time.  

In the stands watching the cars warm up.

How cute is that face?  He wanted the earplugs in.  He doesn't like loud things very much.

Max had a tough time going to sleep Friday night.  He was so overly tired that it took him a long time to calm down.  Saturday we made sure he got plenty of naps, and he did MUCH better Saturday night. The next day we hung out at our "campground".  It had a pond with ducks and a play structure.

Here we are in front of Pinto Lake. 

Had to get a picture in front of the trailer.

Saturday, after a run to the store for a few things we forgot, we headed over to Gizdich Ranch, where we played in the hay, picked our own strawberries and got a delicious pie.

They really loved this hay.  It was cute.

Picking strawberries.  We don't know if it was in our head or what but these were seriously the best tasting strawberries.

Ollie with his berries.

We came back and napped/relaxed/played with the ducks, then headed to Elkhorn Slough where we went on a hike.  

I'm pretty sure the ducks weren't huge fans of Ollie since he liked to chase them.  He also liked to just watch them.

On our hike there was this cool old barn, here we are in it.  Ollie refused to be in this picture.

Ollie loves to find sticks.  Apparently (according to a lady we passed on the hike) this is poison hemlock,  needless to say, we didn't pick up anymore sticks and we thoroughly washed his hands.

 After our hike we headed back to our campground and Jason prepared a delicious pasta dinner.  I'm not going to lie, while I have always claimed to love tent camping (and I really do) I am a big fan of the camping trailer.  It was so nice to have a stove, oven, microwave, and especially a bathroom/shower.

He accidentally burned some of the garlic bread.  

Ollie LOVES to swing.  And I love to push him non-stop :)

The Flex did great!  We were definitely riding low and gas mileage suffered.

 While we were gone my sister and cousin and some friends stayed at our house.  When we got back Sunday we all went to church together, ate dinner, and then went on a walk.  It was fun to see and hang out with them, even if it was only for half a day.

Zach broke his foot and required assistance on the walk.  Let me just say I don't know if I would trust Letty to push me in a wheelchair :)  There were a few close calls.

The whole group on the walk. 

Making the most of summer

I feel like I say this all the time, but I love summer.  I especially love the summers here because the temperatures are so mild.  Where we grew up in Sacramento it is SO hot, and that is just how summer is.  It is downright miserable up there sometimes, but here, perfection every day.  I think that is a big reason why so many people live here.  Anyway, we have been getting out a lot this summer, enjoying our last summer in the bay area.  I still need to talk about our move, and I will, I just want to wait until we know a little more.  A couple weeks ago my friend Brittany (who also happens to watch my kids on the days I work) was kind enough to take us to Gilroy Gardens with her friends and family pass.  It was a beautiful day and the park wasn't too busy.  I loved all the green trees and plants, it is definitely called Gilroy GARDENS for a reason.

Brittany and her boys on the train.

Ollie and Levi holding hands, it was so cute.

Ollie loving the train.

Me and my boys.

On this ride holding babies on your lap was not allowed, Max didn't mind.  He is such a big boy now!

We ended the day with an ice cream cone, and naps for all the kids (except Max, little stinker) on the way home .  It was a great day!

We love our friends the Burtons and ever since we moved here we have been talking about them coming and visiting (Jason and Jared grew up together).  A couple weeks ago they were in CA visiting Jared's family and took a day to come visit us.  That morning Jason and Jared went on a bike ride.  I know Jason really wishes Jared lived closer so they could ride together more often.  When they got back we all headed to Santa Cruz.  We ate at the Surf Riders Cafe (where I ate with my mom and aunts a couple of months ago).  Then we headed to Steamers Lane to check out the surf museum and watch the surfers that were out.  After that we headed to Natural Bridges beach and let the kids play and play.  It was so fun and Ollie and Jamison really took a liking to each other, especially at the end of the day.  We were all sad to see them go and hope we will see them again soon (and meet the sweet baby girl).

All of us (minus a sleeping Max) at Steamers Lane.

Ollie with one of the surfers in the background.

The Burton family.

Me and my goofball Ollie.

The boys playing at the beach.

How cute is Jamison?  Such a cute kid.

Family pic at Natural Bridges.

We discovered that the boys had matching PJ bottoms.  They were having tons of fun on our spare bed.  I can't believe we caught them both smiling.

Yay!!  We love jumping!

Mid air.

Relaxing a little.

Almost every night we take a walk (or two) around the block so Ollie can ride his bike.  Max enjoys the walks too.  This is what I see when I look down from pushing the stroller.  Cute little legs just relaxing.

Last Saturday we finally hiked the Stanford dish.  It is a big satellite dish built in the 60's to search for extra terrestrial life.  There is a nice, steep, paved path up to it.  We went with our friends Liesl and Ryan and their girls, who just moved to Palo Alto.   It was a good walk, we had a lot of fun and we are so excited to hang out with the Probascos more!!

We made it!  All of us and the dish.