Camping on the Russian River

For the first time since AB was born, we took the kids camping. A couple of friends from the neighborhood all went together to a really nice spot on the Russian River across the Golden Gate Bridge. We had such a great time! The kids got to do Karaoke, get their faces painted, swim in the river, roast marshmellows, and jump off huge cliffs! I wish I had clips of the Karaoke. It was great! The kids really wanted to do it so of course Lyle makes me go with them first. We sang "I can't feel my face". That was all they needed to get going. Luke then did Animals by Maroon 5.... I can't describe how funny that was and Ella did a Taylor Swift song with Annabeth as a background dancer! It was hilarious! Out of no where she started to tumble saults on the ground behind her! It was a great time and Daddy was with us!!!

My kids!

Headed out for an adventure with these three!

Our summer in AR

I have so many pics from our summer vacation in Arkansas that I think I may just stick them and explain in short details! It was such a fun fun time!!
We started the trip out by being treated with a party with out friends! It was so nice to see everyone from Little Rock. Made me super excited about moving back home for real in a year. The next morning we made a special trip over to visit our girl. So nice being able to see this spot again and feel close to her.

 Of course we made a beeline over to my brother's house to see his kids. They had a little boy Samuel in December and we had yet to meet the little guy!

 Reunited and it feels so good!

Here are some shots with some of our friends:

After a couple days in Little Rock, we finally made it back to the farm and boy did the kids let loose! They stayed up way too late, ate a ton of popsicles and got filthy! I think they had fun!
Here are just a few shots of all the fun!

 We went for a hike with the kids and my mom up on Mt. Magazine.

We also got to spend a few days at my sister Julie's house. It was the first time we had seen her since she moved into her new house with a pool!

We also got to spend July 4th with my parents. They decided to build a big slip and slide in the back yard. It was quite the ordeal. It worked really well for a little while and then something happened that made it not so slippery but the kids loved it regardless!

That night we shot off a ton of beautiful fireworks!

A couple days before we were to leave, we took a drive up north just to get out of the house a little bit. We hiked around and at a great hamburger place that mom and dad have been to several times.
It was such a great day!

Such a great trip that went way too fast!!

Our vacation at Mims' and Pa's

We had such a busy summer. We spent half of our trip in Dallas with Mims and Pa and then half in Arkansas with my parents. So I am going to break this trip up into two big posts. One in TX and one in AR.
Mims and Pa picked us up from the airport. We couldn't wait to be home and feel the warm sun on our skin! The summers are cold in SF. But boy was it hot in Texas!!
Here is AB finally being old enough to ride the pony Mims and Pa got Ella when she was little. The kids loved being at their house and getting to stretch out a bit. They were really excited about getting to go swimming in the new neighborhood pools!

 It was so nice. We basically had the whole pools to ourselves! It was the perfect way to kick off our trip! AB got so comfortable swimming. As long as she had her little life jacket on she was perfect! I think I might have even fallen asleep on the side of the pool for a couple minutes:)

Pa surprised the kids with a Rangers game. I love going to see the Rangers play and Luke was really getting into baseball so he was thrilled! He made sure to take his glove. He actually almost caught a foul that flew our way....Ella too! We were actually on TV and got to watch it later that night because Pa recorded the game. All you can see of me was crouched behind Ella trying not to get hit! It was a fun night! Mostly for Luke because during warm ups, one of the pitching coaches gave him a ball and the when Elvis Andrus (Luke's favorite Ranger) came off the field he threw the ball right to him! He was pumped! Pa also made the game even better by buying the kids each a hat and Luke a jersey!

I also made plans to take the kids to visit UTSW where Lyle and I went to graduate school. Now that Ella and Luke were getting older I wanted them to meet my graduate school mentor. I then took them around Dallas and showed them places we used to live. Ella remembered a lot of it but not Luke. He was only 18 months when we moved.
Here is me and my mentor Rolf Brekken:

One night, Mims hired Ella and Luke to help her put together her football calendars that she sends out to her clients once a year. They were super pumped about this and stayed up until midnight getting it all finished! Oh how money talks!

 They also had a fun time with their cousins who came over for a sleepover! Fun times! Geez, everyone is getting so big!

Huge Thank You to Mims and Pa for making our summer so great! Can't wait to get back home again!