Fun at the Beach!

Ok so I'm finally finishing up our vacation! We spent our last play day at the beach. Can you believe those waves? The ranger drove by and warned us to not get in the water because of the danger of being swept away. Not that I would have got more than my feet wet. The water was soooo cold! But that didn't stop the kids from having fun!

Noah searched the beach for rocks to throw. And later at another beach he found a special "Ocean Rock" that we brought home.

Lydia wasn't bothered at all by the cold sand.

In fact she thought it tasted pretty good! She must love salty things like her mama!

These tracks were from the ranger's truck. They were deep enough to almost go to their knees!
So after playing at this beach we went to another one where we ended up having a sunset on the beach all to ourselves. There was absolutely no one there. Here are the rest of the pictures below. I hope you enjoy them!

Fun in San Fran!

Our trip to San Fransisco started with a cold, but oh so fun ride on the ferry! We could have sat inside but the site-seeing was too much fun! So we snuggled and watched the sailboats as we raced through the water.

Noah was just happy to be on a boat in the ocean. As long as he had his blankie, he was just fine!

The first thing we did was stare at a bunch of crazy, and stinky seals. Noah thought they were so funny! Especially when a couple of them came up out of the water right in front of him. That made him giggle!

Lydia was enjoying playing with her cousins while they helped her take her first steps on the boardwalk. This was not the only walking we would do for the day. We wandered all over the streets of San Fransisco. I even did all that walking with a broken pinky toe. I didn't care though, cause it was so fun to be there. This was my first time in San Fran, and I was super impressed. It was just like the movies. The steep hills, the street cars, etc. The Ghiradelli Chocolate Store was a plus too! Peppermint hot cocoa was perfect to warm up with before our crazy journey back to the pier. We decided to take a bus back so I wouldn't have to walk all that way on my now pounding pinky toe. So we boarded the bus, only to be entertained by our crazy bus driver lady who loved the horn, and was in such the holiday spirit. We just sat back and laughed!

The night ended with a feast at The Crab Shack. I'm sure you can tell that Mathis was in Heaven! I was just wondering how he was going to eat 6 pounds of crab only. Good thing his dad and Hartman were in on that feast too. Although I think he could have done it. He loves crab that much! It was a perfect ending to a perfect day!

Here's more pictures from our day in San Fransisco.

I'm So Thankful!

Wow! The one thing I have always been thankful for is my Family. For Thanksgiving we went to San Ramon, CA to visit Mathis's sister Chelsea, and her cute family! It was a big surprise starting from the moment we arrived at the Oakland airport.

Noah was so lucky to go on his first plane ride (thanks to GP), and he actually got to meet the Captain and sit in his chair. He even got to fly the plane for a little bit! Just Kidding! Can you imagine sitting in your seat and hearing a 3 year old over the intercom say, "On a Plane! High in the Sky!!"

Sissy was super impressed too! She mostly slept the whole way there. That wasn't the same situation on the way back. If any of you fly with babies, I recommend the late night flights!

So we made it to the Oakland airport, and now it's on our way to go surprise our family. Chelsea picked us up and when she pulled up to the cirb she didn't even see us sitting there for a few minutes. Oh but when she did it was hugs all around! We arrived to their home around midnight and rang the doorbell, and waited for the screams and laughter to fill the room from our sweet nieces and nephews! Lily, Gabe, Ethan, and Olivia.

The festivities started with Lily's birthday, and that is just the beginning of our fun adventure. I will update you more on our fun-filled week with the Andersen Family. Thank-you Hartman and Chelsea for letting us invade your home for the week. You'll never know how much you mean to us. Can't wait to do it again!

Trick or Treat!

Halloween night started with carving pumpkins at grandma's.

This spider was my favorite one!

While grandma stayed home to make homemade donuts, we went over to the church for some trunk-or-treating. Noah was really good at saying, "trick or treat." He just kept saying it over and over, and he always said thank-you after getting his treats. What a sweet boy!

Noah's favorite treat was a bouncy ball. He liked the chocolate and suckers too!

Poor daddy had to work all night so we stayed at grandma and papa's until he got done. They had so much fun!

Halloween Party!

These are the pictures from our Halloween Party with our friends. Mathis and I figured these costumes out last minute (literally!) We were shopping for our things an hour before the party started, so needless to say we were late of course, but we had to put on all the finishing touches (makeup, painted toenails, painted noses, etc.)

Lydia was trying to win the donut eating contest!

So mommy joined in to help her, but we came short by about 7 donuts. Our friend DJ won with eating 8!

Mathis had to be an old woman with his pets. Although we couldn't find a gray wig, so the blonde one had to do. Kind of scary though!

We decided that I was a crazy old man, and Mathis was my trophy wife. Ha Ha! Don't we make a cute couple?

I Love Spaghetti!

Lydia is the complete oppposite of her brother. She is the best eater, and man does she love her spaghetti! She just scoops it up into both hands and tries to shove as much of it in her mouth as possible. It's amazing that she stays so small with how much she eats! She just turned 9 months yesterday, and I am amazed at how fast the time has gone. Can you believe those big blue eyes?

Tractor Fun!

Ok, so this is my first time blogging. I need to get some more recent pictures onto my computer, but this one is the most recent of Noah. He got this tractor for his birthday from Grandma and Papa. He is slowly learning how to ride it. He is very cautious, and likes to stare at the wheels as he's going instead of watching where he's going. After all evening of everyone trying to help him learn, he finally was able to drive it all by himself with no help. He's getting too big. My little boy is 3 already!