school is on!

school started for mahala on monday and now the town has lots of life around 8:00am. lots of bikes and walkers in this hippie town! noble still occasionally rides his balance bike while mahala and I walk. noble still only goes to school two days a week and is now entering the official pre-k program there. we celebrated mahala's first day with grilled bananas and ice cream which made her (and noble) pretty happy!

birthday with the grandparents

grandma and papa came to celebrate noble's birthday this past weekend. besides presents for noble, they also brought grandma georgia's grill. what a great addition to our home! we grilled for lunch and then put candles in some wheat-free funnel cake and had it with ice cream :)

the boys get a shave

noble's fabulous 4th birthday

another year has passed and our boy is 4! this year noble wanted a jumpy party so we decided to have a party in our yard, it worked out so well - BUT the party migrated everywhere - front yard, back yard, every room in our house, the art house, every toy taken out and played with. the jumpy was fun but not as fun as the kids just running everywhere! we had make-your-own ice cream sundaes for the treat out on the back deck too!

dance fever

these videos were actually much longer but here are some highlights from 'wii just dance'. hey kids, don't worry...your uncle doug won't ever use these against you!

kiddie ride!

water skiing

david, deena, gil, kendall, spencer, kayla and david show us their stuff!

lake sonoma

all of the cousins - except for tanner who couldn't join us this time!

lip synching duet

i never heard this song before but now i will never forget it!

fun at the sonoma county fair

i was so excited that the kids wanted to try this inflatable bubble ride. they looked like they were having so much fun trying to run to each other! also a hit was the petting zoo and the pony ride and kept them entertained while the adults were at the horse races and the teens were on the big kid rides.

raging waters waterpark

noble and mahala went on their first water ride at this park. noble liked it so much, he went twice (in the photo, noble is sitting against kayla). mahala - not so much - although she did manage to try it with me! everyone enjoyed the lazy river and the wave pool too.

our hosts

thanks to karen and david, the frank family vacation was on this year! day one at raging waters, day two and four at lake sonoma, day three at the sonoma county fair and day five in wine country while the kids stayed home!

the hoglunds visit

all the way in from thailand~