Apple Picking

I am so in love with fruit picking! This was one of the best spots we've been to yet, because it was tucked away in the hills off the coast and completely silent. I don't remember the last time I've been somewhere so quiet and peaceful. (At least, it was quiet until our family arrived!)

The apple orchard (Swanton Pacific Ranch) is owned by Cal Poly and nestled near Davenport, a little town just north of Santa Cruz. It was unmanned, but they have a fruit scale and a box for you to put your money in when you're finished picking. So charming. Afterward we drove the last handful of miles down Highway 1 to Santa Cruz, where we walked the quaint downtown and ate pizza by the Slice at Pizza My Heart. A pretty ideal family outing in my book. 

And this is what we made off with! Go big or go home, right? It's looking like applesauce and apple pie at the Nielsen house this week! Come on over! 

Fire Station Tour

My friend Desirae organized a fire station tour for us this week in lieu of our usual Park Day. Boy heaven times ten! I especially loved Chase's reaction to the whole experience. He was kind of timid, borderline nervous, but if you looked closely, you could tell he was spellbound. The picture below illustrates it so well! Pure magic!

Grandparents in Town!

My parents are here right now, Thursday to Saturday. It's wonderful to have them. As a mother, it is so refreshing to have grandparents in town to share the kids with!

We drove through the fog to take the boys to this pumpkin patch in Half Moon Bay. This place gets nuts in the afternoons, especially as Halloween approaches, but we had it all to ourselves first thing this morning!

Other highlights:

Chase running out to my perhaps sleeping parents at 6:30am, practically yelling, "Hi Grandpa! I'm all done with my nap!" (The kid has only one volume, and it always seems extra loud when he switches it on before 7am!) Then I got to listen to him giggling away with Grandpa out front while I lounged in bed for an extra twenty minutes. Thanks, Dad!

Trenton's utter enthusiasm at helping my dad with fix-it projects around the house! Big bonus: We now have a working DVD player, properly flushing toilet, and smoothly sliding closet doors!

TWO ipads in this house! At least for the few days my parents were here. The boys were big fans. :)

Chase saying a second prayer at every meal because he really seemed to like having everyone in rapt attention.

Thanks for coming, Mom and Dad!

I Imagine . . .

. . . that it doesn't get much better than a two-year-old wearing goggles in the tub. 

Fleet Week

On Friday Ryan took off from work early so that we could all drive into the city to see Fleet Week's practice run. Traffic was terrible, but once we got out of the car, it was exciting to see (and hear!) the Blue Angels fly over us and the Golden Gate Bridge. 

Love this one!

Demonstrating something very important. I think it was one of the jets. Very typical of Chase. 

The crazy smile was the best I could get, but he's sill the cutest! 

After we walked up to "touch" the bridge (No way was I walking it with these crazy boys! Heart attack waiting to happen!), we met up with our friends the Bartons at the beach by Crissy Field. The boys played their hearts out making a sand castle. 

My best girl, Desirae, and her cutie daughter, Natasha, looking like she's trying to give me a kiss! 

It was a packed afternoon, and the boys were out like a light as soon as we tucked them in bed! 

Happy Fourth Birthday, T!

It's hard to believe we could possibly have a four-year-old!

Trenton turned four on Monday. Birthday celebrations started out with a trip to the San Francisco Zoo on Saturday, conveniently paid for by E&Y!

Notice our SF summer attire—full-on jackets and fleece! haha 

The bear feeding, which Chase is watching in the photo below, is a must-see at the SF Zoo!

Here's the bear right before it catches a fish with its teeth and proceeds to eat every bit of it within 60 seconds. (Or so it seemed.) So exciting for little boys! Last year they put peanut butter right up on the window frames, so the two bears would stand up and lick right in front of you. This year, the bears were on a diet, though, so no peanut butter for them! 

We sang happy birthday to him on Sunday night. Don't look too closely at his glamourous cake! (Complete with Chase-sized finger prints all over!)

T was so sweet about his presents. I love how easy to please they are at age four. For days before, he was telling everyone, "I have TWO presents!!" One was a transformer, and the other was a package of flushable wipes, since he's learning to wipe his bum now that he's a big four-year-old. A couple days before his birthday he decided to give his little present (the wipes) to Chase. I thought it was so sweet of him to want to share like that! Obviously, neither of them were too enthralled with the wipes, but the transformer was a hit. (Ryan even took it to work one day this week to get his co-workers to figure out how to make it transform! What a great dad Trenton has!)

On his birthday morning, I climbed into his bed with our previous blog books, to show him pictures of his birth and the last four years. Then we opened presents, said goodbye to Ryan, and walked over to Piazza's for a free birthday balloon and a donut.

That afternoon we shared some Texas sheetcake with friends at the park and had a ball playing with sand and water-shooting crayons.

We love our Trenton and are hopeful and excited to see what age four has in store for us!

Summer Utah Trip

We enjoyed a 12-day trip to Utah at the end of June. Highlights included meeting Baby Sierra and being there for her baby blessing, a fun trip to Lagoon in the rented 15-passenger van, playing with a parachute on the front lawn, and some great evening chats with my siblings. It is so fun that my parents' house can fit all four siblings and their families! (Rachel & Chad - you in for next year? :) Of course, Mom and Dad were amazing hosts. I can only imagine how much work it is to care for all of us for a week! Thank you!!

The Nielsens hosted us for part two, but we will have to remember to let them have us first next year so we can put our best foot forward. :) They were so sweet to watch the boys overnight while Ryan and I stayed in Park City! We also did the Alpine Slide with the boys, which they absolutely loved. 

A big thank you to both of our families! We love and miss you!