Work and Play in CA

A couple of weeks ago we had the great family camping experience of the summer so far.  We went to our Church Family camp up on a lake in North Idaho.  It was our first time camping with both boys, but it went well for the most part.  It takes a little getting used to, but they both slept relatively well and we had a blast.  We shared a site with Chris and Izumi as well as their 3 kiddos and it was quite busy around the campsite to say the least.  Bees have been a huge issue in the area and they were all over the place especially during dinner time.

Matthew had a great time crawling all over the place.  He did get stung by a bee in the hand, but on the positive side we now know he is not allergic.

 

The garden has been going gangbusters and coming in quite nicely.  Now the tomatoes are getting red and we are looking forward to getting some good veggies.

The sunflowers are now almost 12-14' tall but in this picture I would say they are only about 10.

The boys sitting on the beginning of a giant pumpkin.

 

Last week we were in CA.  I had to go down there for a week of project work and thought that it would be a good time to bring the family along.  Since we could go down there we got a chance to see the grandparents and hang out with our good friends Kevin and Lyndsay.  A good time is synonymous with their names.

Matthew and Grandma Kootstra.

My Grandpa really had a great time teasing and laughing at James.  It was really good to see these two interact and get to know eachother.

Since my work was down by our good friends house, we had a great place to stay that was heads above a hotel and they just happen to have two kiddos around the same age.  They also have an amazing backyard and pool.

Said pool with waterfall.  So much fun to jump off.

Bathtime outside.  So many naked boys running around out there I felt kind of out of place with a swimsuit on.

Dessert time....popcorn on the couch.

Too small comes to mind when looking at this picture, but believe it or not one more kiddo fit in there later.

Jake and Matthew

Hanging out right before we head to San Jose.

 

After a week of work we headed to our old stomping grounds in the bay area and stayed with Brad and Karen.  We had a chance to spend a Sunday with some more friends at an amazing house they were house sitting at in the hills of San Jose.  It reminded me that there are a lot of people in this world with a lot of money.  Many of these people most likely also have a lot of debt, but they sure seems like they got a lot of money.

Matthew will suck on anything within reach...even toes.

Lots of kids love the TV.  Usually James just sits and watches about 1 minute then would rather play with cars.  I am sure he will like TV eventually, but it is very nice to have him this way for now.

 

Monday we had to fly back home, but we had the day to spend in the park hanging out with some friends.  There was a small scale real steam train that you could take around the park for just $2.  James had a great time and Mathew fell asleep in about 2 minutes.  We then headed out to Oakland and the kiddos slept almost the entire way.  Awesome time mixing work and fun and it was good to have the family along.

The Family

Jeremy and Jackie along with Matthew

Now arriving at home it appears like the garden is in full swing and the giant pumpkin(s) are doing great.  Although the weather has turned slightly to signal the ending of summer the pumpkins seem to be growing like gangbusters.  One of the plants is over 30’ in diameter so I am hopeful that the pumpkins this year will be epic.

James enjoying some blackberries.

The pumpkins is getting bigger....