Every little boy's dream

Actually, I should title this "every guys dream", because Kevin thought it was so cool too.......

A couple weekends ago, we visited Tilden Park in Berkeley.  There is a little farm there where you can feed the animals, but the main reason we went is for the steam train.  But I'll get to that in a sec.

Jacob has always been a little timid with cows (while visiting Kevin's brother and his wife, Jacob would take off anytime he heard a "mooo" from thier cow), so I was happy that he was willing to feed this one celery.  His expression is awesome. 

He looks like an old-fashioned soldier in this picture to me.

On to the main attraction...the steam train.  This thing was awesome.  It is a real working miniature steam train that takes you on a little ride through the mountains.  At one point we had an amazing view of San Francisco too.  Jacob was in heaven (and I think Kevin was too).  I also kept thinking how much my dad would get a kick out of this:)  

don't worry, this track wasn't in use

Enjoying the scenic ride.  

The steam train.  

Two happy boys.

4th of July

Our fourth was pretty fun this year.  We started off with a parade in Pleasant Hill.

Then we headed to the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield to go on a factory tour.  It was really interesting to see how the jelly beans are made.  Jacob is obsessed with jelly beans so this was awesome for him.

We weren't paying attention very well, so Jacob ended up eating this entire bag of jelly beans.  They give you tons of free ones and he also got some from a little vending machine.  It's funny how kids can eat sugar and become instantly hyper.

After the factory we headed to Kevin's parents house in Elk Grove and spent time with the fam.  Jacob really likes fireworks.  He loved the sparklers, and whenever the fireworks would be going he would say "can I touch it?"

Oh, Jacob can say the pledge of allegiance and it is so stinking cute.  Proud to be an American!

Wednesday Field Trips

Since there are so many fun things to do in the Bay area, the girls in my ward started doing "Wednesday Field Trips" for the summer.  Every Wednesday we have a fun outing.  This usually means I have to sacrifice my precious afternoon nap time (when both boys are sleeping at the same time--it is wonderful), but it is worth it to get to explore this great area that we live, and it is a lot of fun for Jacob (Hudson could probably care less, but he's easy-going).  So far we have had three outings and all three were a lot of fun.  We went to Pixieland, Mrs. Grossman's sticker factory, and into the city to Mission Dolores Park and Bi-Rite Creamery.

Pixieland

So excited to be on the train

Pixieland is a tiny little amusement park (and I'm mean tiny).  I think there are about 5 rides, but it is perfect for Jacob's age.  His favorite thing there was the train that takes you all around the park.  He didn't really want to go on anything else, but I was able to get him on a few other rides.  He also liked driving the old fashioned cars.  This place was great because you just pay as you go, so once they got tired and cranky I was able to just leave and didn't have to worry about getting my money's worth.   

Mrs. Grossman's Sticker Factory in Petaluma

Remember these stickers?  While touring the factory, I saw displays of sticker designs they had throughout the years, and when we came to the 1990's I recognized most of the designs because I had most of the stickers!  That was back in my sticker-collecting hay-day.  The tour was really interesting and they gave us a ton of stickers.  Hudson tried to eat his.  After touring the factory, we went back to the viewing room where we watched a little video and the kids made a picture with even more stickers.  

here's all our loot!

Mission Dolores Park and Bi-Rite Creamery

Mission Dolores Park is in San Francisco, so we took BART with some friends to get there.  Riding the train was so much fun for Jacob--we probably could have just done that and called it a day!

This park is awesome.  I would say the only downside is that there is not much shade, but it has the most awesome play structures and huge slides!  

After playing at the park for a bit we headed over to Bi-Rite Creamery for some amazing ice cream.  Jacob got an apricot popsicle, and it was sooooo good!  While we were outside eating, a photographer was getting ready to take someone's engagement photos.  He saw our kids eating and asked to take a picture of them, and it turned out so cute:

Back to the park for some more playing!  I would definitely make the trip to come to this park again.

Can't wait for more Wednesday Field Trips!

1st solids

On Sunday we gave Hudson his first taste of solid food.

"I'm ready!"

"Looks weird, mom"

"interesting texture....."

"ok, I'll have another bite"

"you call this food!"

"Please, no more"

had to call in big brother for back up

"yay, it's over!"

Stinson Beach

 Last Saturday, we met up with some family at Stinson beach for a fun beach day.  Going to the beach with a baby and a toddler is a lot of work, because you have to bring so much stuff! (I have also decided that going out to dinner with kids is no longer fun for me--it ends up being a lot of work too).  But the beach was still a lot of fun because we were in good company:)

The water was pretty cold, and it was only in the mid 60's, so I never even got in my bathing suit.  Others braved the cold water and went boogy boarding.  Jacob had lots of fun playing with sand toys.  Especially the train one--he pushed it all over.

Getting buried in the sand and digging a large hole were also favorite activities:)  

Even though it can be a lot of work, I still enjoy a good beach day with fun people:)

A Father's Day Tribute

With father's day coming up, I Had been thinking about my dad and also my grandpas, and reminiscing about fun times.  So I decided to do a little post about them.  I started looking through some old pics, and I don't have many of either of my grandpas.  Then I started realizing that there is a lot I don't know about my grandpas.  Unfortunately both of them have passed away, but I wish they were still around so that I could ask them questions about their lives when they were growing up.  And I miss them because they were both great grandpas!  I found the programs for both of their funerals and it made me all teary-eyed.  My goal is to do some research and talk to my mom and dad and see what more info I can find about them.  In the meantime, I thought I would just share a few fun memories of my grandpas and my dad, and of course the main man in my life, Kevin.

This is my grandpa Bell, on my mom's side.  He was a great grandpa.  I know he was in the military (I think the Navy) but I don't know anything about his time in the military.  But I do remember spending a lot of time at my grandparents house.  I would go there almost everyday in between school and work, and my grandpa would always have a can of  spaghettios for me because he knew I loved them so much.  He also had some tattoos on his arms that he got while he was in the Navy.  One of them was a Panther, which I always thought was a little scary.  The other was a picture of a naked lady, but after he joined the church he tatooed clothes on her!  My grandpa would give me blessings when I needed them, and I always loved to see how he treated my grandma.  he loved her so much and was so good to her.  I always thought it was so cute when I would catch them holding hands:)

My grandpa Bell in his military uniform

Dinner time at grandma and grandpas

This is my grandpa Nelsen, on my dad's side.  He too was a great grandpa.  He was the most generous person, and he was also very neat and tidy.  When we were little, he used to babysit us on the weekend, and we had the same menu everytime:  Hamburger helper cheeseburger macaroni, canned peaches, and oreos, and then later we would have black cherry ice cream.  We loved it!  He also had a closet full of games that we would play, our favorite one being kerplunk.  My grandpa had false teeth, so he would always play tricks on us my flipping them upside down!  Then he would put them back, and try to pull on them really hard and pretend they wouldn't move:)  Everytime he saw us, he would give us a roll of quarters.  And because of my grandpas generosity, I was able to attend a four year university, which I am very grateful for:)

My grandpa and me on my graduation day

At grandpas house in South Dakota for Christmas

This is my dad.  He is hilarious.  I of course have lots of funny memories with him.  We had a drinking fountain in our front yard (which was awesome!) that gave really cold water.  Almost every night at dinner, my dad would have one of us kids go fill his cup up with "fountain water" because he loved it so much.  We also had the best decorated house for Halloween.  My dad would fill his clothes with newspaper, put a skull for the head and make a scary guy to put up in our tree.  And he would put a real ax in his hand, with spray painted blood.  Kids were terrified!  The scary man sat in a chair that was on a pulley, so before my dad would put the guy in the chair, he would give us rides in the chair.  He would pull us all the way to the top, then let go of the rope, then catch us at the last minute!  It was terrifying but we always went back for more.  And, whenever we would go swimming we always made whirlpools and the biggest waves!  My dad would also get fixated on words, and then would use those words over and over again during the week, which I always thought was so funny (it turns out Kevin does it too!).  Remember dad, when you used to throw pillows at us and say "Carolanne!"  and we would freak out?  I could go on and on with the fun memories.  Happy Father's Day dad!  I love you!

Holding Jacob at Thanksgiving

Me and Holly with dad

Just relaxing

The scary man in the tree

bike riding with daddy

This is my Kevin.  He is also very hilarious.  I think I am the only one that gets to witness the full comedic act of Kevin, because he is a little more reserved around others (except for maybe his close friends).  He and Jacob have tons of fun together.  He gets Jacob laughing so hard and gets him so hyper that it takes him a while to calm down.  He is such a good daddy to the boys.  Hudson just grins from ear to ear when he sees Kevin, but it is Jacob who gets to have the most fun with daddy right now.  They go on bike rides together, build forts, play with trains, watch funny videos, and do lots of other fun stuff together.  I am lucky to have a guy who is a great dad and a great husband to me!  He works hard for us, makes us laugh, makes us feel safe, and makes us feel loved.  Happy Father's day babe!  We love you!!!!!!

My boys at Disneyland