Swimming with Floaties

As I mentioned in my earlier post, the kids are starting to love swimming. We bought some arm floaties a while ago that didn't work. They kept deflating so I wrote them off. Libby insisted that they work so I went to Target last week and bought a different brand. Well, of course, they work. Check out the kids in the video below. Kayla loves being independent with her floaties...adorable!!

Weekend at Aunt B's!

On the carousel with Aunt B (above)

On the choo choo in the playground (above)...didn't get a photo of the actual steam train we went on

In the airplane at the playground.

While Kyle was away at his 25 year high school reunion in Conway, Arkansas, I took the kids down to Libby's to hang out in the sunshine! We went to the park and rode on a choo choo and a carousel, played at the playground, swam in B's pool, took walk after walk in the neighborhood and ate a great dinner with Libby and Steve. The weather was absolutely perfect and the kids are starting to love the pool...which makes mama verrrrryyy happy.

Los Altos Art & Wine Festival

We found ourselves at the Los Altos Art & Wine Festival late Sunday afternoon. We met Libby there and hung out for a couple of hours. The kids loved the rides, snow cones and face painting.

Choo Choo!

Dragon Ride

Kayla looks a lot like my mom in the above photo.

4th of July in Russian River/Guerneville

We took our summer vacation at the Russian River with the Whites, the Hylands and the Retchlesses. The kids had a blast. Our rental house had a pool in the backyard and a big stretch of lawn in the front yard. We swam and also explored the area from Armstrong Woods all the way out to Jenner, where the Russian River meets the ocean.

The Gang: Kayla, Hanna Hyland, Reed Hyland, Paisley Hyland, Charlie White, Henry White and Tanner

We ventured over to Francis Ford Coppola's winery in Geyserville and spent the day at the pool there. Yes, a winery with a pool! It was very upscale and we were able to order gourmet pizza and drinks poolside! It's also a very family friendly place believe it or not.

Our umbrella set-up at Johnson's Beach. Sorry about the shadows but the sun was so bright and hot that we needed all that shade! The temps were into the 90's while we were there and might have even hit 100!

Kayla insisted on a kayak ride with her dad. She loves boat rides!

Johnson's Beach had great food....mostly because the cheeseburgers cost $2.50 and a giant soft serve was $1.50. The kids only wanted to eat ice cream...no surprise there.

Kayla and Paisley in the backyard posing in their 4th of July outfits.

We saw some gorgeous scenery around where the river meets the sea in Jenner.

Here are the kids at Armstrong Woods aka the Redwood Forest. The kids started running the minute their little feet hit the trail. They are their happiest in nature!

Family photo in the woods!

Kayla and Tanner in front of the Armstrong Tree - oldest tree at Armstrong Woods - over 1400 years old.

Getting ready for Kayaking!