Old Sacramento

After the train museum, we walked around Old Sacramento for a bit. It's such a fun place to see and walk around. We walked along the train tracks outside and went to one of the old fashioned candy stores for salt water taffy and rootbeer barrels. Mom got a bunch more candies that she kept saying she hadn't seen in a long time. We also had to stop at Jaxen's favorite toy store. It's an emporium and it's so fun to go into. They have a big robot, and trains that go around the room and a huge mountain the trains go through. There's a race car track set up. It's so fun. there is alot of old time toys as well as the new generation toys. I love going in there. And yes there is also a Thomas table set up for kids to play with as well as thomas movies playing. Jaxen loves it there. When ever we go to Old Sacramento we have to stop at this store. It's alot of fun. We had a great day!

The Train Museum

The next day Ron had to go back to work and Kaeryn and Tristan had to go back to school. So it was just Grandma, Grandpa, Jaxen and I. I took them to the train museum in Old Sacramento. I knew they'd love it. The bottom floor you learn about the history of trains and get to see the real trains. It's so amazing and neat to get right up next to one. Some of them are huge, the wheels are as tall as my mom and I. Jaxen had fun running around and going through the ones they let you walk through. He started to get into a hurry because he knew that on the top floor where all the model and toy trains are there is a Thomas the tank engine set up for the kids to play with. Of course that's the best part. But we had fun. My dad and mom walked through all the model and toy trains while I stayed with Jaxen at the Thomas table. Dad said it was a walk down memory lane. I'm glad I was able to share that with him.

Family pics!

It was such a great day and we were so happy to share something we love with my mom and dad. The kids loved seeing them and were so excited to have them here!

Grandma and Grandpa's turn

So after all the excitement of dad and I having to be rescued, mom and dad wanted to go out together. They were loving it. They've been rafting and canoeing but never kayaking. They loved how you just glide over the water. They had a great run and went to the other side of the lake. It was a beautiful day.

Rescued!

Well, I was feeling pretty good that day. My knee and back were feeling well enough that I decided that I wanted to go for a run with my dad. I love kayaking, it's so fun! So we went out and decided to go check out this building that's floating in the middle of the lake. I hadn't noticed it before so we went to check it out. And yes people, it was a bathroom in the middle of the lake. We laughed and laughed! I guess some people are able to get themselves up on the plat form by themselves, but I for one am not one of them. After we had a good laugh we pushed off from the restroom thing and turned around to start heading toward the shore. We had a pretty good rythum going and were going faster and faster and were tipping here and there but was able to correct it and keep going. Until.......splash! We had capsized, fell out into the cold water (which actually wasn't so bad after a bit). Now we were laughing harder! Dad kept trying to flip the kayak over but we just couldn't get a good enough grip on it, after about half way it would come back down. I started saying to just start swimming back to shore, but dad was thinking the kayak would go smoother if we could tip it over. Finally we just decided to start going to shore when we were surrounded by a bunch of guys in their kayaks. They helped turn our kayak over and hold it still for us to try to get back in. Dad was able to get back in but I wasn't. My life jacket kept bouncing off the kayak and pushing me back. Not to mention my asthma wasn't helping at that point and I still couldn't stop laughing. Finally the rescue boat from the aquatic center came out to rescue us. It took a few tries but I was able to get up on the rescue boat. They took us back to the dock, because my asthma was acting up they decided that it was best. I still couldn't stop laughing. All part of the adventure right?!

Kayaking with Grandma and Grandpa Walker

This month my mom and dad came for a visit. It was really great to see them. We decided that we wanted to take them kayaking for the first time as well. The kids were so excited, Kaeryn especially because she's our little water baby. Kaeryn wanted to go with grandma and show her how well she can paddle the kayak but also teach grandma how. Tristan was excited enough that he wanted to go with grandpa. This was a big deal because tristan usually just wants to play in the water, he doesn't like the tipping of the kayaks. But he wanted to go with grandpa. It was cute to see. While they were having their turn in the kayaks, Ron and Jaxen and I went over to the other side where there is a little beach to play on and places to sit down. It was a beautiful day and a perfect one to be at the aquatic center because there was no one else there. It was great!

Cooking with Daddy!

So a few weeks ago Ron and the kids decided that they wanted to start making some soups. Well, a cheeze soup to be exact. I suggested bread bowls(because they always make the soup taste better). Ron looked for them but couldn't find any at the store. So I gave another suggestion " Why not make them?" I reminded him of his yummy french bread and said to just make them into balls instead of loaves and see what happens. So he and the kids decided to try it. We knew whatever happened we would still have yummy bread to go with our soup. The kids love making bread with daddy. They each take a turn adding ingredients and all that. We've had some yummy dinners made by our kids. Well, the idea worked and we ended up with the best 'wisconsin cheeze soup in a bread bowl' ever!
It was so GOOD! After that they decided that each weekend they want to learn to make a new soup to go with their bread bowls. I think i'm going to like this venture!

Book Sale!

Once again we scored again at our favorite book store. September 12th was another sale where they opened up their warehouse and let us go through. We scored all this for under 100$. It was so fun. The kids had a blast. We look forward to every sale. The next one is in December. This has been a great find for us. We really want to build a library in our home and this book store has really helped out. I have had so much fun with our story times. Jaxen and I found some really great picture books. Tristan has been into info books and got some about space. Kaeryn found a bunch of American Girl books. Ron found more novels. I got some art and photography books, but my main focus has been on kids books. We love this store! We can't wait for the next big sale. We have already been reminded of the day! It's so exciting to see our kids love books like Ron and I do. I hope they never grow out of this stage!

still more pics of Bodega Head

More pics of Bodega head

Sight's of Bodega Head

These are some of my favorite pics I took while we were at the beach.

Bodega Head

This weekend we went to visit Ron's brother and his family in Petaluma. They are only about 20-30 minutes away from Bodega Bay so we decided to go to the beach there. This is Bodega Head. It is so beautiful. It was an overcast day, but it was still beautiful. The scenes were amazing! We had so much fun. The kids loved chasing the waves and digging and building in the sand. There were shells all over and we had fun treasure hunting. The water is a bit cold so you really can't swim in it, but sticking your feet in the ocean was still fun! We saw several sea birds and a crab. The kids had fun building a fort wall to keep the water out. It was great to watch them race against the waves to build their wall taller. I loved watching the waves come in and out. Some of them were really tall. They would cover somme of the rock formations completely. I don't know what it is but there is something about the ocean and listening to it that feels so peaceful. I love it. I could have sat there forever. We had so much fun. We did have to leave after a while though, we went back to Ron's brother's house and had pizza for dinner and watched the BYU football game(Ron's brother is a huge fan, it was very entertaining to watch him watch the game). It was so nice to visit and chat, the kids were so excited to play with their cousins. They were in heaven. It was a fantastic day! Can't wait to go back to the beach!