a life beyond running shoes.

we were supposed to go to yosemite this past weekend but apparently there was a governmental shut down and we had to come up with plan B. hendy woods state park.....north of sonoma county in mendocino county.  daddy and little bit eating breakfast  a fort right by our tent made for hours of unstructured play    fisher girl who was much braver at picking up bull frog tadpoles than her oldest brother  steel head trout. apparently rare in these neck of the woods a redwood root system. this was about eight trees that were growing together  apple farm where you cannot pick the apples and they do not have apple cider donuts.   so we played apple baseball with the ones that had fallen on the ground. we make our own fun!!!

So here are some moments on (and off) the soccer field: little bit is quick footed... but at his age they still resemble a bee hive buzzing around the field :) (love his expression) here are two sisters of soccer players. they make great cheerleaders! peanut is growing as a player. he likes playing mid-fielder and is getting more aggressive for the ball. he has a great team of boys that work well together. and might i say, peanut has a great coach (a bit silly, but that is WAY better than a yeller!) more soccer sisters just waiting for next year to show their stuff!! great throw-in, peanut!! and that is what we do on saturdays!

visiting the academy of science in golden gate park griffith observatory with mimi and mr. denny (the hollywood sign is in the background) santa barbara with g'pa adams sweetpea's cousin's first bday our time in tennessee with family we had lots of other adventures including golfing, more cousins in palm springs, a road trip via I-40 to tennessee, signal mountain with friends, monterey aquarium with more friends, and more exploring "the city" . and hello september.

we had a great thanksgiving with my mother-in-law in town.  we visited "the city" on the best weather day of  her visit.  we feasted with friends and had my new niece come visit.  we took her to a local brewery. i also trained and ran my first half marathon on this coast.  i got  my personal best time!!! 2:10 guess all that backyard circuit training we are doing really might be making a me a stronger runner.  and of course threw in some advent wreath making!!  merry christmas!!!

(by the way those are two ninjas and one rapunzel) the day was full, full, full. each boy had a party in his classroom - which sweet pea and i attended both.  then had a parade at school. than trick-or-treating.... that ended in rain.  phew.  and now the battle over candy.  yipee!!!

we went into the mission district for a sabbath outing.  we played on a playground, kicked the soccer ball, saw a tightrope walker, ate vietnamese food, had great company, and saw a naked man (peanut asked if it was because he was poor....nope, just san francisco)..... all in a day's adventure out of marin. 

i have to admit.... i didn't think it would be the oakland a's. but the kids had a ball!!! peanut was upset when we left for an inning to go buy hats!  and it was a crazy game.... 22 runs. it will be a shame when they go to another game and there aren't as many hits! showing off our new hats!!!

i am working backwards.... we got to leave town for a few days before school started just the five of us.  this does not happen often since we live far from family, we usually take our vacation time to travel to them.  we always love it but don't often get time as a family of five. we got to head north to the coast. mendocino. hiking, walking, eating, bike riding, beach exploring, tide pools, tadpoles, baby frogs, wine, and reading.  wonderful...... and delightful.  we are so thankful that we are loved so generously.  we are thankful to have enjoyed our children.

yup....summer is over. school has started.  i have two in school....one at home. and in case you can't tell, that happens to be one red buccaneers backpack and one blue & orange gator backpack. you can take the dad out of florida but you can't seem to keep him from making his kids florida fans.  sigh. also, note the sweatshirts. it was 55 degrees when we left for school.  again....sigh. it does warm up but it is strange for august....at least for me it is.

camping at camp fresno. no....not in fresno... thank you, dear lord. not tent camping....but not much higher up on the luxury spectrum. kids welcome to the sierras. dinky creek....not so dinky. smores. redwoods. creek swimming. fishing. climbing. hiking. family. and lots and lots of dirt.  what a great week! i might just need a whole year to gear up for it again!