Look Ma No Hands

That's right, Ada is on her way to walking (My apologies about the sideways video, for the life of me I could not get it how I wanted). She is getting funnier as the days go by, very needy, but hilarious! I have been practicing with her to stand on her own, and she usually sits down. Well, I was getting dinner ready and she was in the family room playing with this toy. I would check on her periodically and I walked in to see her holding her hands way up high, the she would topple over. I had to grab the camera and her show did not disappoint. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

River Cats Game mixed with Random Memories and Thoughts

Scott and I leave for Florida Saturday morning. We have been trying to fit all the last minute hang out's, game times, "never been before's," before we head back.
So, with that said, we were able to "catch" 2 birds with one stone (I know the real word is kill, but this is my blog post and I don't like that word). We went to a RiverCats baseball game (I have been once years ago) with my sis and her fam, and one of my best friends along with her family. We had such a good time and the weather could not have been more perfect. I love the atmosphere of triple A baseball games. There is always fresh cut green lawn to sit on, the music is catchy and dance worthy, and you find the most interesting people to stare at (like the couple in front of us who were practically on top of each other and finally left. I think they heard us saying how we would never do that in public).

So, you need a little back ground information about Jenny "Hill" Peterson. We were freshman roommies at Ricks College. We were probably the most annoying girls to our poor roommates. We were always dancing around the apartment (with or without muscic), singing the wrong words to all of the songs (Jenny was the worst with that), and making the most grotesque faces in the mirrors while asking, "Would you be my friend if I looked like this?" Jenny was the most spastic person I ever knew, probably more so than myself (and Jenny, you know that is true). :) She would probably argue that I was. My favorite to date story of Jenny actually happened at the game. All of us girls were waiting outside of the gate while the husbands bought tickets. This random guy (we think he was a worker), who was a little strange, stopped by all of the little girls and pulled out bags and bags of mini jelly belly's from his pocket (I know, kind of scary, huh?). The girls are squeeling with delight and Jenny practically reaches in front of him and grabs her girls hands while saying, "Now girls, you know to always ask me FIRST before taking candy from ANYONE." Then she smiles a cute smile at the guy and he walks away. I was laughing so hard at the same time feeling very proud of my friend for protecting the girls that way. Anyway, we have stayed really close througout the years and I love being able to spend time with her. She and her family just moved back from Sacramento. Too bad I was not able to spend more time with her.
Don't ask me what the heck I am doing in this picture.

Juls joined us at Ricks our second year. She was greatly accepted into our two man click. We really did have some great adventures those many, many years ago.

What a good-looking guy he is. I am so proud of all that Scott has done. He just finished interning at the Attorney Generals office and really enjoyed it. Our ultimate goal is to get back to Sacramento when he graduate. Keeping our fingers crossed.

The little girls and...the RiverCat? I am not sure of it's name. To be honest, I always called the RiverCats, River"Rats" just because I thought it was a lame baseball name. But that was before I knew how awesome they were. SO I really don't know if they are awesome or not, I have never seen thier stats.

Juls and Brian. We had a blast sharing my parents house for the past 4 weeks. We have had many late nights playing games (which I never won, not once!), visiting, and raising all sorts of ruckus. Brian starts work in November and just finished taking the California Bar so life is pretty much chill for him before taking on his new adventure at the law firm. Ada LOVES Brian and even cries when I take her from him. I am not sure where the bond happened, but it happened and it came on strong.
The summer has been great and although we are sad to leave our families and friends again, we are excited to get back to Florida to finish off Scott's last year. Thanks to Mom and Dad Lovell for opening up your home to us and giving us free rent and food all summer (mixed in with movies and little vaca's). And Thanks to Mom and Dad Foley for letting us crash at your house random weekends and hanging out with us, and also helping us out with our move!
Peace out Sacramento...until Christmas.

Jelly Belly Factory Yet Again

After we all settled down from the chaotic camping trip, we all jumped in the cars and headed to the Jelly Belly Factory. You will remember (those that read the blog) that we went only a few short weeks ago. All of the kids loved the tour except Jeff's Audrey. At the end of the tour In a very disappointed voice she said," That was it?!" Kids say the darndest things don't they? :)

We left fairly early so we could get a good spot in the line. However, when we got there, the line was pretty much out the door. It was okay though. The ladies waited in the line while the husbands kept the kids entertained.

My brother Jeff and his family. They drove down from Oregon to spend the week at my parents. Every single person in their family got sick. It seems like that is happening a lot to those that visit....hmmmm..

Julie and her family

Our little fam

And Jeff cheesin it up for the camera.

We had a lot of fun spending time with the siblings. Ada has been a trooper with all of her missed/late naps. Now if only she would start enjoying the car more and actually take a nap there if we are on the road.

Camping in the Redwoods

My family planned a big camping trip down to Big Basin. I was really excited to try it out with Ada to see if she was a true camper at heart. Scott and I stayed with his parents in Benicia the weekend before. Monday morning we get a call from my mom saying they couldn't go camping because a couple of my brother's kids were sick with the stomach flu. Boo. So, we decided to just got with our little family and it did not disappoint! We borrowed all of the gear we needed, including a brand new tent that was a present to Scott's mom. It still even had the bow on it. My mother-in-law let us shop in her cupboards for the food we needed. Thanks Vivian.

Ada was thrilled to be in the great outdoors. She could not get enough of scrambling around in the tent and sitting outside while eating her food. Yes, we were somewhat anal and did not let her crawl in the dirt. The reason behind it is because she puts practically everything in her mouth and I did not feel like chasing her around every second.

Check out the size of this tent. We had plenty of room for our family. I was so excited to be out in the woods. The big letdown with the campsite though was the amount of campers there were. We were so close that we could hear the conversations of the other campers (and not conversations that I wanted to hear either).

We took the family on a Twighlight hike hoping to see some cool things. It was really pretty and everything, but the only sign of wildlife that we saw was the raccoon that peaked out from underneath our car while we were loading Ada up. It had no fear. Scott had to chase it away.

First morning. I had Ada snuggle with me while Scott went and got her bottle ready.

I am not gonna lie. Even though the nights were only in the high 40's low 50's, it was bitter cold for us. That is cold right? I was FA-Reezing the first night and even worse had the most horrible tooth ache. It was terrible. I could not wait for the morning sunshine to hit our tent. Oh, and not to mention, there were the most annoying campers right next to us that were playing poker into the late night hours and making all sorts of noises. If I had not been reading a scary book just hours earlier, I would have probably gotten up and asked them to be quiet.

Doesn't Ada look cute with her little hat on? I loved it. Thanks Doug and Jenny! You were life savers!

When my family camped here in Big Basin years and years ago, I got lost on our family hike. I was certain that I would have to live off of berries from the forest, that I would never ever see my family again (I know, seriously dramatic girl!). Of course, my dad found me and of course, even if I truly was lost, there were many, many campers and hikers that were on the trails that day (and I was on the trail), that there is no way I would have stayed "lost."

So, since Scott and I had a full day ahead of us, I really wanted to find the hike that I hiked so many years ago. Didn't happen though. We decided on a hike to a waterfall which was a little on the lame side. The hike was along side the road and the "Waterfall" was more like a trickle of water. It was still really pretty though. Ada did not love our little outing as much. She was tired and hungry, so we had to keep her entertained. I did love the little pack that we loaded her up in.

The Lovell cousins (the one's that were sick) were better by day 2 for us and jumped in the car and headed out to Big Basin. Unfortuneatluy for them, two more kids got sick when they got there and kept their parents up all night (and me since we were their neighbor. But I am not upset).

Audrey LOVES her little cousins. She is such a great helper with the little babies.

Ada was a rock star! She slept through the night and even took naps! She was literally a happy camper.

Brother-in-law Brian probably got about 2 hours of sleep. Luke woke up screaming in the middle of the night and after driving him around for 1 1/2 hrs, almost running out of gas, giving him milk, watching movies, he finally crashed.

Ever seen a banana slug? I had not until this day. My sister-in-law Jenna heard that if you lick a banana slug, it tastes like a banana! Okay, maybe not.

No judging on the grossness (for me anyway). It was a VERY long night for all of the families. Scott actually slept through the night without any issues, but since I am a light sleeper and we were basically on top of everyone, I would wake up with every cry, snore, scream, etc. The shower felt amazing that day!

This little girl keeps us entertained. She was a baby gone crazy when we let her loose in the tent. I think she had all sorts of balled up energy, not to mention being overtired.

We can't wait for our next camping trip. Hopefully there are some cool places to go to in Florida!

What Have We Been Doing?

Well I will tell you.

These pictures are totally out of order, but I have been getting grief from a certain family member (Lisa you know who you are :) ) to get a new post up. So here goes.

There is a cute little park with a stream that runs through. Juls and I met up with our friend Stasia and let our kids play in the water. Poor Ada was crawling all over the rocks and rubbed the skin off on part of her feet (Which the scab fell off at church today and I got blood on my sisters skirt!). Nevertheless, she had fun in the water and loved exploring.

The cement park was a highlight. Not so much for Ada, but for me. I was very hesitant going down the slide with Ada because I was not sure how fast it was going to be (AND I may have started becoming more of a wuss in my later years!). I did a test run (first without the cardboard under my bum) and decided that it was not too fast for us. I sat Ada on my lap and slid on down. I was expecting a scream of terror OR delight. Neither sound escaped her mouth. Ada was just there. So, I took her for a few rides and it just did not excite her. Maybe she was expecting more? Maybe not. Maybe it was just nap time and she was ready for me to stop trying to entertain.

Anna on the other hand LOVED the slide and kept going and going. That girl wore me out.

Scott was so nice to let me and Juls have a girls night with some friends. What his agreement included was watching a movie with a very sad 4 year old. Julie told Anna she could stay up and even sleep in Grandma and Grandpa's room. Scott was planning on staying with her till she fell asleep. His plan did not go over too well. Halfway through the movie after he had already dozed off once, Anna popped up and told Scott this was her new favorite movie (Chicken Run). She was totally wide awake. I texted him a couple of times around 9:30 and did not hear back. The above picture explains the reason why. He finally gave in and decided that she was not going to fall asleep any time soon.

Julie and I thought it would be fun to meet up with our very good friend Kathy. They were in the Bay Area visiting family so we found the halfway point and discovered that it was Jelly Belly Factory. Fun huh? Well, it was a lot of work and a lot of driving. However, I could never pass up an opportunity to see Kathy! I just hope they didn't get stuck in traffic on the way back with screaming babies in the car...we did!

On the tour

Ready to stuff our faces with booger and baby wipe flavor Jelly Bellys. Okay, we didn't try them, we got fudge samples instead! Mmmmm...

Wish we had more time!

One other thing that Scott and I got to do was go and see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. Scotts dad is a thespian (after working hours) and has acted in many plays. I have had the opportunity of seeing a couple of them. We had a blast. I don't have pictures to share, but we had fun watching Gary play Jacob and Potifer.

So that is basically it. Scott and I head back to Florida in a few weeks. We still have at least one more San Francisco visit, a camping trip and family time before we leave.