Day Trip to Camanche

We decided to make a quick trip to Lake Camanche for the day. We packed some sandwiches and headed to the lake for the day.

Jeff took the girls on little nature hikes when we got there. They found a lure then hung high in a tree so we can check to see if it is still there next year!

The girls loved the boat ride. We even headed over to the store for their delicious soft serve ice cream cones.

As we were making a final trip around the lake, we stopped in a little cove for a quick swim and saw two cute little Bambie deer! They were so cute!

We had a great family day at the lake. On the way home we ran into a road block though! It turns out that a piece on the boat trailer broke and we ended up leaving the boat at the lake for a few days. Jeff had to work the next day, so he couldn't come get it until Tuesday. Other than that snaffu, we had a great time!

July 30, 2010

Antioch Water Park

Sydney, Emma and Aidan head down the slide! Fun to make a big splash to end the summer!

Allison, once again refused, to go on any slide. She was happy to float around in the pool.

Layla loved the slide!

Camden enjoyed hanging out with Aidan as they traveled down the big slide.

All the kids loved to cross the lily pads. Emma waited patiently in line for her turn. She quickly made her way across to the other side.

Sydney and Emma also enjoyed the slide where they could go down together. The tubes flew quickly down that slide!

Lora took Jenna down the slide. There was even a trip she made with Aidan where she completely flipped over and lost her sun glasses in the water! They had to stop the slides so the life guard could find them!

Aidan had fun sliding down with Amy!

The kids all had a great time at the slides! We lucked out and had great weather too :)

July 29, 2010

Color Me Mine

Summer was winding down and we tried to pack in as much fun before Emma had to go back to school August 2nd. We planned a trip to Color Me Mine. The girls received gift cards from the Fire Department Christmas Party and we hadn't used them yet. It was the perfect opportunity to gather a few friends and head on down...

Allison painted a fire engine piggy bank for Jeff.



Emma painted a guitar pencil holder.

Adrienne painted a pretty flower bowl.

Ella insisted on painting Minnie Mouse.

Sydney painted a castle box to keep all her treasures.

Camden painted a snake to keep his trinkets in.

Layla insisted on painting Ariel.

Aidan painted a drum set.

Stella painted a mug.

Sofie painted a cereal bowl.

It always makes me nervous to take the littles into Color Me Mine because there are too many things to break. All the kids were so well-behaved and did a great job painting! There were so proud of their masterpieces!

July 28, 2010

Gilroy Gardens

Mom asked to take the girls and me to Marine World, but I had heard really good things about Gilroy Gardens. We decided to go there instead because we'd never been before. It was a great adventure that we all really enjoyed.


As we walked into the park, Clifford the Big Red Dog was there to greet us. Allison didn't want to take a picture with Emma and me though. She loves Clifford only when he's in a book!

The gardens were beautiful and made for a perfect backdrop for a picture of the girls.

They enjoyed the carousel. The first go-around they would only ride on a horse that didn't move. After that trip, they wanted to go again. This time they were so brave and ventured onto a horse that moved up and down! They're so wild!

Of course, we had to ride the fire truck for Daddy!

We just loved the garlic hats. Emma modeled it and then Mom bought it for me to wear for Crazy Hat Day at school. Oh, I am going to have the best hat around! So fun!

We enjoyed the little boat ride looking at all the beautiful flowers.

The caterpillar was a fun ride too.

Allison enjoyed sitting in the artichokes with Grandma!

The girls were so excited to ride the paddle boats. It was a bit of a wait, but they were very patient. Emma rode with Grandma and I took Allison with me.

Grandma was one crazy driver! She and Emma left first and were all over the pond. Allison and I started after them and we made it back to the start before they did! I must admit, it did take some time to get used to the pedals and how to turn though.

We came prepared to play in the water. My friend, Jen, took Ella and Adrienne, her 4-year-old twins, at the beginning of the summer and told us to pack swim suits because there was a great water play area. Allison loved the water play! It was a bit chilly, but she made friends with a cute little girl and they played together for a bit. I just loved the way the water drops showed up in this photo!

Allison took a while to figure out how to use the water gun, but after that, she loved it!

Emma had fun shooting water across the play yard too.

Grandma said the girls could pick out a gift to take home to remember the trip. First they tried on silly masks. Emma ended up settling on a guitar necklace...yes, I said a necklace! So Emma!Such a great memento from Gilroy Gardens :)

Allison chose a bag of rocks...so Allison!

We had a great time. Thanks for the fun adventure, Mom. The girls were beat and slept all the way home!

July 27, 2010

Wharf to Wharf

The day we got home from camping at Camanche for a week, I unloaded the trailer, put away the food and stacked the laundry by the washer to do when I returned from my next adventure. I was already packed and ready to go down to Capitola for the Wharf to Wharf race I trained for for the 6 weeks prior. I picked up my friends, Jen and Colleen and we were off...hard to believe it was 3:30 and I'd just gotten back into town from camping at 1:00!

We arrived in Capitola about 5:30 and found our rental house. We unpacked our belongings and drove to Capitola village to meet up with the rest of our group. Amy, Joan, Raquel, Alison, Laura and Janine were already there. We met up at Zelda's and had a yummy dinner before heading back to the house to prepare for race day!

When we got to the house, I pulled out my clothes for the next day. Emma had slipped a note in my bag for me. It said, "Dear Mommy, I hope you have fun at your race. We love you. Love, Emma & Allison." Oh, it melted my heart! I always leave notes for Emma in her lunch at school and any time I leave for a night I leave both the girls a note. It was the sweetest thing ever that she did it for me too! I folded up her little note and put it in my arm band so I would have it with me during the race.

I am still waiting to get some actual race day pictures...will update those when I get them!

After the race was over, I saved my bib number and used it to take a picture from our house's balcony that overlooked the ocean. What a beautiful setting!

Following the race, Alison, Amy, Raquel, Joan and I put on our suits and headed to the beach for a little R and R. The only bad part was that it was pretty chilly and we had to bundle up. There's nothing better than the salty sea air though!

Moms Running Wild on the beaches of Capitola: Alison, me, Amy and Raquel.

July 25-26, 2010

Camping at Camanche

We made our annual trip back to Lake Camanche for a week of camping on the pond. It was great because the water level was higher than I'd ever seen it before. It made the walk from the pond side of the campground to the lake just a little bit shorter.

I always love taking pictures of the girls at the pond during sunset. It makes for amazing backgrounds! One of my favorite Camanche memories.

We had lots of visitors come throughout the week...

Auntie Loli came for the day with Tince and Jerry.

Ashely and her boyfriend, PJ, also joined us for the day. The girls just loved playing with Ashely. Allison asked her to read lots of books to her too!

Monica brought the kids up for a day. They enjoyed some time on the boat and playtime across the lake too. Creek liked having a friend to sit by as well.

Mom and Dad came for a day. Aunt Bonnie, Kim, Brady, Shandley, Mary, and Robert joined them for the adventure also.

We spent everyday across the lake. The first morning Jeff got up early and found a perfect beach for us. He set up the EZ-Up and we left it there all week so we always had our spot. I brought over the sand toys and the kids had the best time playing in the sand (really, there weren't even rocks on our beach!) and playing in the super warm Camanche water.

Heading across the lake for a day of fun!

Jeff launched Emma in the air!

Next, it was Danielle's turn to go flying!

Allison didn't want to fly. Instead, she played fetch with Creek. He absolutely loved the water. Running in after sticks, big and small, made for a great time for him.

The girls swam for hours and loved every minute of it!

Because we had so many people coming in and out throughout the week, this beach was perfect! Lots of room to play!

Darryl was the biggest kid there! He played with the kids in the water and they loved it!


Allison and Kaitlyn enjoyed filling their buckets with water over and over again.

Emma found a newly hatched dragonfly. She became attached to it and even made it its very own habitat. She learned about habitats in school and said she needed to provide water and shelter for it. She came back many times throughout the day to check on her new little critter friend.

I hit the water several times throughout the week for a little wakeboarding. I can't catch much air anymore, but I was able to pull off a "fakie" a few times :)

Darryl and Kim brought their SeaDoos to the lake. They were very generous and let anyone ride whenever they wanted. It took a lot of convincing, but I finally got Allison and Emma to come along with me. They had a good time and didn't want to get off when we came back to the beach! I miss my SeaDoo!

Kaitlyn loved the SeaDoo! She couldn't get enough of it! I had fun taking Kaitlyn and Allison out for a spin.

Back at camp, Darryl, Kim and their kids, Darryl and Ryan, had their motorhome right next to our camp spot. They brought an inflatable pool to camp that Darryl filled with some water. Emma and Allison thought it was so funny to be sitting in a pool at the lake!

Kaitlyn, Emma and Allison gave Creek lots of love!

Are those girls really snoozing on their Creek pillow?! No, not really, but it sure looked like it!

Loving the sunset for pictures of Allison, Emma, Drew and Kaitlyn.

Sad faces on our final day at Camanche.

They gave me a partial smile down by the pond while Jeff hooked up the trailer to head home.

Thanks for all the fun memories, Camanche! We can't wait to come back next year!

July 18-24, 2010