Kacalek Family Reunion

We went up to Redding, Ca from July 24th-26th, 2008 for The Kacalek Family Reunion. We drove up early Thursday morning to help Dave and Annette set up for the 75+ relatives attending. The kids played and had a blast while us adults helped to put everything together. The reunion had a very successful turnout. It was great to meet all of Aaron's family on the Kacalek side. I even ran into an old co-worker from when I worked at Gap Inc, which was the corporate offices for Gap, Old Navy, and Banana Republic. Turns out that old co-worker happened to be Aaron's cousin, Dawna Callahan (Kacalek). I totally remembered Dawna having a different looking last name and being intimidated to say it because it looked so strange. Little did I know that approximately 5 years later it would be my married last name. Such a small world. It was great catching up with Dawna. She is due any day with her second child. As soon as her little one arrives and they get settled in, we are all planning on getting together. I am looking forward to doing another reunion in the future with the Kacalek Family. Aaron's mother's side of the family is in the works of planning the Zimmerman Family Reunion for sometime next summer in San Diego. A beach reunion should be a blast. I don't have a lot of pictures from the reunion, because I was trying to take as many photos for my mother-in-law on her camera since she was so busy hosting. As soon as I get some from her I will post more. I only have some of the boys and their cousins Sophia and Bella.

The Fountains at Roseville

On July 18th, 2008 (Friday), I decided to take Colby and Colton to The Fountains at Roseville. It's a new shopping center, but it's really centered around families with small children. They have a huge fountain that plays to music and mists. The fountain I've heard is similar to the one at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, but not as nice. They also have a playground and a water play area. The boys loved going there. They were spoiled with caramel corn and blended lemonades. The boys got to play and I was able to check out some of the awesome new stores :)

North Lake Tahoe

On July 16th, 2008 (Wednesday), Aaron and I decided to take the boys to North Lake Tahoe since we had so much fun the week before at Muir Beach. The boys are really starting to love the water again. It's so strange because they both loved the water when they were babies and then they all of a sudden they were scared of it. Having big brother Macray to look up to really helps them to get over their fears.The weather was perfect in Tahoe. We played on the beach for a few hours and built sand castles. After the beach we went to a restaurant called Jason's. The food is so yummy and reasonably priced. We ate outside on the patio and enjoyed the view. I use to go to Jason's as a child. It was sort of a tradition with my family and Sue, Don, and Heather. Sue is my godmother/mother's best friend and her daughter Heather and I have been friends since birth. Aaron and I have decided to keep the tradition going with our family. It's neat to see a childhood memory and tradition be passed on to my kids. I am loking forward to our next road trip!!

Muir Beach 2008

Aaron and I decided to take a small day trip yesterday July 10th, 2008 (Thurday). We wanted to get away from the heat and all the smoke that has been in the air from the wild fires. Looking out the window you could easily forget it's summer time. The sky is so grey it looks like it's about to rain. Of course as soon as you step outside into the 105+ degree heat you are reminded that winter is definitely not here!! We drove to Muir Beach and let the boys play in the ocean. This was our first time taking the boys to the ocean. It was hilarious, Colton was terrified of the water at first, but slowly grew to love it. Macray and Colby instantly loved it. Macray has been to the ocean with his Mom before, but this was his first time with Dad, Elle, and his brothers. We had so much fun. I have been waiting for the day I got to take our boys to the beach. I am not sure why it ranked so high on my things to do with my kids. Maybe it's my love for the ocean and all the memories I have of it from growing up as a child. The ocean has always amazed me. After an afternoon at the beach we took the boys to Pier 39 and let them see all the boats and Sea Lions. We ate a yummy dinner at Bubba Gumps and then drove home. The boys had so much fun driving on the bay bridge. They all raised their arms and screamed like they were on a roller coaster. From that point on Colton identified every bride as the "Bay Bridge". The only problem was that "Bridge" sounded like a word you would use when referring to a female dog. By the time we got home all three boys were passed out and in a coma. It was a great ending to a beautiful day with my family. It's days like this I realize how blessed I am and realize the beauty in life and all that God has created. At the very bottom of these post is a video of the boys running into the ocean. This was before they got completely comfortable.

4th of July 2008

This was our first 4th of July party at our house ever. We figured it was perfect since Aaron and I both finally has the night off and we live in a court. We had Aaron's parents come down from Redding, my parents, Uncle Eric, Aunt Judy & Alex, and my Grandma Hazel. It was absolutely perfect. The weather was so nice for July and there was no smoke in the air from the wild fires. We had a BBQ with hot dogs and hamburgers with lots of yummy fruit and appetizers. Aaron and I bought a ton of fireworks and sparklers for the kids. While we lit off fireworks the kids rode around the court on their bicycles. Only a few of the fireworks scared Colby and Colton. Macray was so excited because this was his first 4th of July with us and his first one with fireworks on the ground. It was great to have our close family and all the kids together for such a wonderful holiday. The night was definitely a success. The picture of Uncle Eric I had to put on because he looked so silly. I will definitely have to show this to all the ladies. Below is a video of Colton driving Uncle Eric's truck. Colton is completely obsessed with keys and cars. I think the video is pretty funny. Maybe we will one day have a race car driver on our hands!!

Crew's 3rd Birthday

June 28th, 2008 (Saturday), I took Colton and Colby to Crew's 3rd birthday party at a park in Rancho Cordova. Crew's mom Britt is a dear friend and sorority from college. It was great to see her and all of my friends. Tara, Jessica, and Tiffany were all there to celebrate Crew's special day. It was great seeing some of my favorite sorority gals. Tara brought her newborn son Alex and Jessica brought Kendra and her mom. The boys had a blast on the playground, ate yummy hot dogs, watched a magic show, and got to help bust open an Elmo pinata. Colton was afraid to hit the pinata hard, but Colby laid into it.
The picture of all the boys watching the magic show with Crew I think is adorable because Colby and Colton never sit still for more than five minutes. I was amazed, they sat there with their Capri Suns watching the show with their new friends. Of course after 15 minutes or so they lost interest and went back to the playground.
Colton and Colby were so well behaved. I was worried it would be too much for me to handle by myself, but they were angels. Colby is now 100% potty trained. I thought for sure he was going to have an accident because he got too excited, but he didn't. The picture below is the boys playing in the sand box and sharing. They didn't even get in a fight. When it was time to leave the party they didn't throw a fit and they both held my hand as we walked to the car. Finally, an event that I was able to handle without relying 100% on others to help. As they get older it definitely gets easier for me to manage them. The picture below is of the boys and Kendra. This is proof that
Kendra is playing favorites just like her Mommy does. I thought it was adorable how Kendra once again was reaching for Colton. The very last picture of Kendra I just had to post. She looks so precious here. I must say that I was a pretty good photographer with this picture. It was so cute, she just kept chewing on her little bug toy. She didn't cry the entire party. She just hung out by herself and made little noises. I remember when the boys were that little. It's amazing how fast time flies. Overall the day was great. Once the party was over I took the boys over to my parents house to go swimming and then I headed to work for the night.

River Cats 2008

June 27th, 2008 (Friday) Aaron & I finally got a much needed date night. My parents gave us two tickets to the Sacramento River Cats game. My parents have seats that are located in the first row right behind the catchers mound. They are great seats!! That night we ate $1 hot dogs and chili cheese nachos. We had a really good night. The weather was great, our section one two free lottery tickets, and the final score was 3-9 with the River Cats winning. I can't wait for another date night with my hubby. The next River Cats game we go to will probably be in the lawn with all the kiddos. I think they would really enjoy it. I took the twins when they were almost two with Auntie Jes and they don't remember going. They are finally at that age where they really enjoy stuff and understand more. The picture below I thought was pretty funny because I took a pictureof the score board and I didn't even realize that it had and advertisement for CHP.

Uncle Ryan, Aunt Charity, & Olivia

We went over to Uncle Ryan's and Aunt Charity's house for dinner on June 26th, 2008 (Thursday). The boys were so excited to go visit their cousin Olivia!! Charity made us such a delicious dinner. We had chicken and shrimp Alfredo pasta. Charity made the noodles from scratch. I don't know how she does it with a newborn baby, but it was yummy. I admire her love for cooking and wish that I had her talent in the kitchen. I know Aaron does too!! Maybe it's a good thing I don't because I love food so much I would probably weigh 300lbs!!! It's not that I can't cook, I just don't like to. Maybe one day that may change. Ryan got home a little late from work because he caught a group of bank robbers. Way to go Ryan!! Keeping the streets of Sacramento a little safer for all of us. It was so nice to spend time with Ryan and Charity and see Olivia. It's sometimes so hard to get together with all of our hectic schedules. I felt pretty special that night when I was able to rock Olivia to sleep. Charity told me I could come over anytime and put Olivia to sleep for her :) I hope that one day I too will have a precious baby girl. Either way I still have my precious boys!!

Papa and Nana's Birthday

On June 20th, 2008 (Friday), Nana Patty and Papa Rod came over so we could celebrate their birthday that they had on June 2nd. We had a BBQ and watched the boys ride their bicycles outside. We were also pleasantly surprised by a visit from Brent, Jessica and Kendra Blankenship. They were eating at a restaurant down the street and decided to stop by. Kendra is getting to be such a big girl. She is so animated and always smiling. Just like her mother she has already picked out a favorite between the twins. She couldn't stop watching and reaching for Colton. Of course Colton loved the attention. While I played with Kendra the boys decided to play rough with Auntie Jes. They wrestled, played tickle, and made Auntie give them piggy back rides. I think they wore her out :) It was definitely great to see them.



After the Blankenship's left we ate dinner and enjoyed yummy Drumstick ice cream cones for dessert. Nana helped me get the boys ready for bed and put them down. At 10pm us adults finally sat down to watch the movie Fool's Gold. About an hour into the movie my Dad passed out. My Mom decided that it was time for them to go home. Aaron and I decided to stay up and watch it. The movie didn't get over until after midnight and poor Aaron had to get up for work at 4am. Below are some pictures from our night. It was great spending some time with my parents and the Blankenship's.

Colby's 2nd ER trip.

On June 18th 2008 (Wednesday), Colby took his second trip to the ER. As I was changing Colby's diaper on the floor Pepper our dog ran up thinking it was play time. One of her little puppy teeth caught Colby on his right eyelid and cut it wide open. There was so much blood that I couldn't even bare to look at it. Dr. Daddy once again had to come to my rescue. Colby was so cute. We put him in his Superman pj's expecting the ER to take a long time. Luckily they were only there for a little over an hour. They said that their was nothing that could be done since it was a dog bite and on the eyelid. They just told us to keep it clean and let it heal on it's own. Every time Colby gets hurt now he tells me that he needs to go to the doctor. I think it's so cute that he thinks all injuries now need to be treated by a doctor. In the pictures below it's hard to see his injury because it was in the crease of his eye, but I thought it was pretty funny how excited he looks to go to the ER.