Surfing...

Eric woke up early this morning to give his first shot at surfing. He reported that it was fun, harder than expected, but wanting to give it some more attempts. I think that he and Rob are going to go out again later this afternoon. Thank goodness that the great white shark that was off the coast this past week was gone! :) No sharks today...just some dolphins. How awesome is that! Now, to prepare for the aching body parts this evening...

A LIZARD HAS BEEN CAUGHT!

Since day one, Jack & Sam have been with net in hand trying to catch one of the many lizards that are running around. I am happy to announce that the challenge has been completed...and we had a somewhat jealous older brother...but he's getting over it.

Sam (with a little help from Mom) snatched the little reptile up with his net and a couple of neighborhood boys helped him get it into an old toad cage. Jack & Sam kept it well fed with flies and ladybugs that they caught and were trying to be so convincing that they could be great pet owners and thought that they should keep it. Not ready for that yet. Tears did start flowing when the conversation came up about when it should be released, but Sam let it go the next day and he has been on the hunt for the next victim since.

Here is the poor little guy telling me "thank you for saving my life" before he ran off into the flowers... Run little guy, run!!

Another great weekend...

I was quite bummed that I was not able to go back and join my family for my Mom & Dad's 50th Wedding camping excursion. We decided to make the most of the weekend here. We invited our good friend and the boy's idol, Uncle Rob Dbach over with his lovely girlfriend, Maegan, on Saturday evening for a little feast.

Sunday, we ventured to South Bay to join up with them again and another friend that was in town from the East Coast with his family. Now this weekend, the boys could boogie board. It was busy, but the waves were a crashing. Sam got taken by a few waves, but it didn't stop him. Jack got a little one-on-one lesson from Rob and I so wish that I had my camera! Of course, it was left in the car. He caught some good sized waves and rode them in. Then they dug and caught endless crabs in the sand. We had a great time at the beach and then ventured over to Uncle Rob's place for a fantastic dinner.

Here are some photos from Rob's place...

Dbach, Herfert and Eric...oh yeah...and Jack's little sneaky head. A future ATO as well???

Me and Dave's littlest one, Kennedy (aka mini Herf).

Olivia, Mack and Sam & Jack chillin' watching some Star Wars.

Busy doing "things"...

We have now been here for 4 weeks and we already have some swimming lessons under our belt. Here are Sam and Jack after completing their level. Sam was super stoked as this was his first ribbon from a sport. Jack was happy as he was moved up two levels at the end. Hmmm...that's what happens when you pay attention in your lesson.

We were so fortunate to find Sam a place in a highly recommended Christian Junior Kindergarten for this fall, too. It was their last spot and an afternoon one, but after thinking about it, that might work best with a new baby coming around that time, too. He makes the Kindergarten cut-off birthdate out here, but with everything going on (move, baby, life adjustments, etc) we thought that it might be best to hold off until next year as this is what we were anticipating in MN anyway. I hope that we made the right decision. The Immersion program out here for Kindergarten is more intense than what we are used to as well. I know he could have done it...but could have I??

Jack's attempt at eating a "hot dog"...

Most of you know my children are a bit different when it comes to their eating choices...and I am not complaining at all. One of their items that they do not like are hot dogs...what kid doesn't like a hot dog! Sam has tried them, but Jack refused as when he was younger his little brain made him think that they were actually made from dogs. He is now over that. I am proud that he always gives new things a try...and finally on the 4th of July...he said that he would like to try one! Eric had noticed that his old stomping ground of Wienerschnizel was out here. So we loaded up the truck and headed over to give them a try. We opted for the chili dogs and as Eric was lovin' it, the boys and I were doing good, but had enough after 1/2 of one. Jack would like to try a "homemade chili dog" sometime, but I think that his dog eating days are done. I think he'll be sticking to the sushi...

Sam is a new boy in California...

I don't know what happened. Perhaps it's the water that he's drinking or whatever. And I'm not going to ask any questions. The costumes have not come out once and he even wants/asks to shop for clothes. For those of you who know him...this is unthinkable knowing where he was just a few short weeks ago! I knew it was just a phase! Knocking on wood... What a handsome young man. :) I think he's dreaming of becoming a Rock Star!

Oh to be a kid again...

Remember the day when your front teeth were loose and it was summertime and corn on the cob was so good...but so hard to eat! Ahhh...this is where Jackie is now! That and his favorite apples are so frustrating for him, but he seems to find his way thru it as these photos show....

A day at the beach...

We ventured out this weekend trying to find a calm beach as all the boys were treated to new boogie boards. Why they don't make them with a hole cut out in the middle for us pregnant people? We had one beach in mind, but ended up at another which was a bit harsh and rocky for the boys first encounter with their boards. However, they were all troopers and got over the initial fear and were fine after that. The photo with the water...Eric is in there somewhere. Sam did end up losing the arm floaties and he didn't want to stop after he got over his initial shock. And I tried to get my belly in the foot shot, but couldn't lay back and focus at the same time...sorry! :) Ahhhh the beach.....

Midwest accent...

AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!  I thought for sure that I had kicked my accent!  I have been trying to get over it since I acquired it back when we moved to MN...mostly on the word "boat".  This was all until yesterday when a gentleman came over to take some of our boxes that we placed on Craigs List.  He was a big hockey fan and pointed it out within our first few sentences with each other.  Oh well.  Next time I'll throw a "you betcha" in there just for fun and see what they say then.  I can turn on the "Fargo" if I need to...

Summer Baseball...

So, I think that we were a bit spoiled in Minnesota with our baseball league at Bennett.  We had our first games today for both Sam and Jack.  Sam was in Seventh Heaven as this was his 1st sport team event.  Eric was a trooper and helped out with both games.  I even got out there for Jack's as they were short on help.  Sam's face was purple when he was done and dripping of sweat.  Jack was hot after his game as there was no shade and all the kids were in a "coma mode" when it was done.  When walking to the car, Eric commented that he would "rather have had a needle in his eye" than what we went thru this morning.  :)  Yes, a tad unorganized and quite comical.  Again, we were very spoiled in MN.

Life in Cali...

It's been a ride so far.  We are enjoying all that there is to offer.  Alright, that would be impossible as there is so much here, but we are definitely getting ourselves out and about (and yes, I think that my "Minnesota O's" are going away when I talk).  Here's a sunset from our back...

They are beautiful.  And they are plentiful.  We have had only 1 "gloomy day" since we have been here.

And here is a couple crazy monkeys.  Yes, that is a pair of underwear....

To think that there is one more of these on the way...

YIKES!  

I think that we will do just fine here.  I am wondering if I will ever get tired of the "warm" weather?  I can't see it happening.  There is always family and friends that reside in cold winter destinations.  Wish that I could have it all...but, I guess if you look at it...I do have it all.  I am one lucky person...

Eric's getting old...

Eric was fortunate enough with everything going on to travel back to Grand Junction, CO to

 attend his GJHS 20 year reunion.  I am sure a good time was had by all.  Below is a photo of the 3 amigos...Eric, Chris and Tony.

Independence Day 2009

Tradition of ours for the 4th is to make frozen yogurt sundaes for breakfast with red, white and blue additions.  This year, for some reason, the boys weren't wanting them for breakfast (weird, I know), so we opted to make them right before we enjoyed the fireworks show from our back yard in the evening.  We had at least 9 different cities displays going on...it was quite spectacular...and I must admit a few "oooo's and ahhhhh's" came out.

Wall Drug

Amidst our travels to California, we couldn't just drive by Wall Drug...not knowing if we would ever be driving down I-90 again.  We had to stop.  Honestly, I can't remember if I've ever been there before...I am sure that I have, but my memory isn't there.  Junk stop central.  Sam bought a Jackalope (that I now think he's scared of) and Jack purchased his first crystals.  Now we can all say that we, too, have been to Wall Drug.  Yahoo!

It was one sad day.......

A moment in time that we all as a family were dreading...having to say "good-bye" to two great families that we made some amazing friendships with while in Minnesota...the Bendell's and Roslansky's.  Unfortunately our last moments of time with the Bendell's seemed like forced ones with movers everywhere.  However, with the Roslansky's we all got to have one last sleepover as our closing went late and threw off our driving plans.  It was a memorable way to spend our last evening in MN and of course the boys were extremely happy with that.

Some photos of the boys with the Roslansky's...missing Jimmy, though...silly as always.

A visit from Grandma & Grandpa Buskirk...

We were so lucky to have G & G Buskirk come and visit us in May/June.  Even though we had so much going on...it had been too long since we'd seen them.  This was taken at a field trip of Jack's...

A great school year...

As the chaos of our move was increasing...we also had the end-of-school year to not forget about as well.  We were so unbelievably fortunate to have two amazing teachers this year for both Jack and Sam...Senorita Carlson and Mrs. Buckman, respectively.  Here's a end-of-the-year photo of each of them...

A little behind on things...

I need to get caught up on some photos from the past two months...

These are from one of Jack's baseball games in Minnetonka...Sam was able to be the "bat boy" for a few games before we headed off to California.  You can about imagine how much on Cloud 9 he was.  Jack also received the Game Ball and Sam the Honorary Bat Boy Ball at one of the last games...

My first attempt at blogging...

Alright...we are going to give this blog thing a try.  One thing that I promised myself and the boys before we took the plunge to move to California was that we would stay in contact "better" with friends and family.  And, well, now since I have so much time on my hands (HA!)...I thought what better time than now.  

This first post will be a quick one as I need to play around with this site a bit more...and I have to get some laundry done!