Humboldt Redwood Marathon

signs that the cross country girls made and held up during the race as we ran by

the Kneeland Ladies

about mile 10...still feeling great!

rounding the corner...we can see the finish line!!!

celebratory drinks

The journey began about 6 months ago when I convinced my Kneeland girlfriends to train with me for a marathon. Some of the ladies were convinced from the get go and others came kicking and screaming :0) There were days when we felt great and days when we were feeling lousy, but we managed to log MANY miles throughout Humboldt County. We motivated each other with stories and supported and pushed each other to run despite the snow, rain, and heat. (it's amazing just how many different types of weather conditions you can face over the course of 6 months) The ladies even willingly drove to flatter terrain for runs to accommodate my injured knees. All of our hard work paid off. On October 17, 2010, I ran and finished my first marathon! Thanks Jorie, Melinda, and Michelle! I'm looking forward to the next marathon (maybe in another 6 months?)

Pink Panthers

Zoe is playing soccer again this year, and she's LOVING it! This is her second year on U-6's and the basic concepts seem to be really clicking this year. She seems to be scoring at least 2 goals per game and last week she actually scored 6 goals! We are really proud of our little soccer player!

A New Chapter...

Well it's official...we have a full fledged kindergartner in the house! Zoe loved her first day of school, and her "teacher" (a.k.a mom) loved having her in the class too :0) It's going to be a fun year!

Humboldt County Fair

Happy Noah

Still happy Noah...this is before he decided he was really did NOT like the airplane ride. Before the crocodile tears started and the man had to stop the ride to let him off.

A happy Zoe...finishing the ride without her brother

Clowns freak me out..why are they always in childrens' areas.

The one game I let me kids play and what do they win...swords!

Serious concentration

Noah loved the merry-go-round

Each summer we look forward to going to the Humboldt County Fair and this year was no exception. The kids enjoyed the rides, games, and of course a little junk food.

Fun in Fresno

large macaroni sculpture on Pier 39

Water slide fun at Wild Water Adventures

All Smiles

Playing in the pool with mommy

At the end of July we took a mini family vacation. Our first stop was in San Rafael where the kids enjoyed swimming in the pool and eating snacks & drinking o.j. garnished with cherries. After San Rafael we made a stop in the city. It was a beautiful day in San Francisco and the kids enjoyed the stroll along Fisherman's Wharf. They especially liked playing the games at the Museum of Mecanique...and until then, I didn't know it was actually possible to loose a ball while playing ski ball :0) After our day in San Francisco, we headed on to Baba and Papa's house in Fresno. While we were in Fresno, we did some school shopping (a must for our soon to be kindergartner), played games at Chuck E. Cheese, spent time at the swimming pool, enjoyed a Grizzlies game with awesome seats right above the dugout (unfortunately we found out after the game we missed seeing an old friend that was at the same game with his kiddos) , played miniature golf at Blackbeards, and rode some waterslides at Wild Water Adventures. Needless to say, the kids had a BLAST!!! When we left Fresno we decided to drive home a different way. We spent a FREE night in Suisun City. It was a nice little town along the harbor of the Delta. While staying in Suisun City, we took a short drive to the Hello Kitty Store where Zoe got to choose a "prize" for going over 2 weeks without chewing on anything at night. (For those of you who are unaware, Zoe has been chewing on a blanket at night since she was about a year old. On her 5th birthday we said goodbye to the blanket and hello to being a big girl who doesn't chew on blankets. Well obviously she wasn't ready to say goodbye to her blankets so she started chewing on random shirts and things to replace her blanket at night. About 3 weeks ago she took the final plunge and completely stopped chewing on something at night...hence the hello kitty reward) While staying in Suisun City we also took a side trip to the Jelly Belly Factory where we bought some belly flops to enjoy on the ride home. It was a fun, kid friendly vacation and a good time was had by all!

Blueberry Picking

The girls were so busy picking berries that they weren't that interested in stopping for photos.

A couple of weeks ago, Zoe & her good friend Sparrow spent the afternoon picking blueberries at the nearby blueberry farm. The girls had a great time filling their pink buckets and nibbling on yummy, organic blueberries. Zoe was determined to fill her bucket to the brim. In the end she picked more blueberries than me...even the owners were impressed with the amount of blueberries she picked on her own! What a great way to spend a sunny, summer afternoon.

A Day at the Beach

a little brother and sister teamwork

Noah's first time being buried in the sand

building the "perfect" sand castle

being the "sand monster"

"perfect" sandcastles take serious concentration

Noah called this..."jump and land on your face"

(literally this is what he said every time)

Yesterday, it was HOT at our house so we decided to head down the hill and spend the day at the beach. We enjoyed a picnic & even had a chance to use our "new" picnic basket (one of our recent thrift store finds). The kids played and played in the sand and even splashed around in the ice cold water. We even had the opportunity to watch a near by sea lion that was playing the in water and beached up on the sand. As I've said about a million times...I LOVE living by the beach...beautiful, cheap entertainment!

My Monkeys

We have been taking advantage of the beautiful summer afternoons and evenings by heading over to school to ride bikes and play on the playground. I love that the school is literally a minute away. It's a cheap way to get out of the house and have a little fun!

Dress Up

Tonight, before dinner, Noah decided that he wanted to play dress up. Most of the dress up clothes are geared towards his 5 year old sister's taste. He picked all of this out on his own for his "fashion show". I'm pretty sure in a few years I'll be able to blackmail Noah with these photos.