Photo of the Week 29

I just finished editing little Maddie's pictures yesterday.  I can't wait to send them off to her mom and dad.  She's such a sweetheart and looking through her pics made me miss her momma.  Hope you guys are doing well, Johnson Family!  We miss and love ya.

My Date with little Will

A few days ago I took my little nephew, Will, out for our special day together.  True, he is only 2 and will not remember our outings, but I couldn't wait to spend a little one on one time with him.  Will holds a very special place in my heart.  I've mentioned before that his birth and subsequent years of cuddling have been extremely therapeutic for me, especially during our miscarriages.  Will's hugs, laughter, and mischievous personality are so addicting and lovable.  You can't help but fall in love with this little guy!

We weren't out all day, just a few hours and we kept our outing local.  I took him to Water World in Concord with a good friend and neighbor of mine, Michelle.  She has an adorable little 6 month old, Brooks, that Will had a lot of fun growling at.  We mostly stayed in the kiddie area of the swim park, but did venture out to the lazy river for a little while.  Will brought his favorite swim toy with him and was literally inseparable from it.  I decided at the last minute to bring along Dallas's old point and shoot camera to capture some of the fun.  It felt so weird to hold such a small camera again!

I had so much fun with my little guy.

I made sure to lather him up with sunscreen, change his swim diaper, feed him snacks, and keep him hydrated...I felt like such a mom!

I love you little Will!

Thanks for letting me shower you with hugs and kisses whenever I see you!

My Date with Rulon

A couple weeks ago I spent the day with my nephew, Rulon.  It feels like only yesterday that I was snuggling with this little guy.  Wow, how the time flies!  Continuing the tradition of taking out my nephews and niece for their own special day, Rulon got to choose anywhere in the Bay area he wanted to go.  He chose the Aquarium of the Bay at Pier 39 in San Francisco.

 We left in the morning and drove into the city, parking across from the pier.  Rulon loved the sky walkway connecting the parking garage to Pier 39.  Outside of the aquarium we found plants that had been shaped into sea animals.  I wish you could have seen his face when he realized the plant was actually an octopus...priceless!

 The Aquarium is located at the entrance of Pier 39.  They give all the children crowns as they enter.  It was pretty cute to see little Rulon have to readjust his crown over and over again to fit on his head.  Rulon is at such a fun age, going into second grade.  He is so curious about everything and wanted to read each sign and display description he could find...of course this is a teacher's dream!

The main portion of the Aquarium is on the basement level.  As you exit the elevator you go through a room filled with all sorts of jelly fish.  Rulon and I both loved watching the moon jelly fish right in the middle of the room.  Another display was dedicated to bring awareness to the pollution problem in the ocean.  I loved Rulon's expression as we passed by...

 The basement level contained two large tanks with flat escalators that tunneled through the center so you could see fish all around.  It was pretty amazing to see the size of all the different fish.  All along the tunnel there were signs with facts about different sea animals to look for.  We spent forever finding each one and naming them silly names.  I also loved the star fish that had settled along the windows of the tunnel.

 The second tank contained all of the sharks and rays...thus the scared crazy face Rulon was showing off.  His favorite were the leopard sharks.

 The second half of the Aquarium takes you back up to the upper level where you have the chance to pet bay rays and explore tide pools.  It's connected with a hands-on exploration for kids where they get the chance to solve different puzzles and learn how to observe animals through a microscope.  Rulon was in heaven with all the different puzzles.  He is such a smart kid and watching his face light up when he learned or discovered something new was incredible!

 The last exhibit showed the drastic need for change with the taking care of our oceans.  Rulon had so many questions and couldn't believe the amount of garbage left behind by people.  It was amazing to see him so concerned and wanting to take care of the world around him.  I even caught him picking up trash along the pier later in the day.  What a great kid!

 I try to get something small for each of the nephews and nieces on our outings, so they have a momento of our trip together.  Rulon spent a half hour in the gift shop trying to decide.  While rummaging at the bottom of a big container of stuffed animals, I heard him squeal as he pulled out a fluffy penguin.  I'm not quite sure what was so special about this penguin, especially since it looked like so many of the others he had sifted through, but he immediately fell in love and named it Oreo.  We also ended up getting him a sweatshirt since the wind picked up and made it a little chilly along the waterfront.  Of course he picked out a shark sweatshirt!

 Next we decided to explore the pier.  There is ALWAYS something fun going on at Pier 39, whether it's magic shows, crazy street performers, or watching the sea lions, there is always something to do.  We ended up making our way to the carousel where Rulon chose his favorite sea dragon to ride on.  I opted out, due to the excuse of needing to vomit afterwards...carousels do not agree with me!

 While exploring the pier I made the silly mistake of telling Rulon he could choose anywhere to eat for lunch.  I gave him lots of different options: Bubba Gumps, Wipe Out Grill, Hard Rock Cafe, etc...he chose the local hot dog stand.  Anyone who knows me knows that I HATE hot dogs...unless severely charred over the fire while camping, so you know how much I must love this boy!  I even let him pour the condiments on.  He was one happy boy and couldn't believe that he got to make all the decisions.

I sure do love my little Rulon.  To say that I am blessed to be his aunt would be an understatement.  I am so grateful that I get to live near him and his family and spend so much time with them.  I absolutely LOVE this tradition of having one on one dates with each of them and am already looking forward to our next outing.

I love you, Rulon!

Thanks for being willing to hang out with your crazy aunt Kirsten!

Photo of the Week 28

Nothing I love more than a future rock star!

July 4th in San Francsico

July 4th turned out to be quite the crazy day.
Dallas and I were on the road for the first part of the day, driving back from Washington and all our family reunions.  We couldn't just chill at home for the 4th of July festivities, though!  One of my cousins, Greg, and his wife, Heidi also live in the Bay area and were more than willing to brave the craziness of San Francisco to join us for fireworks at Ghirardelli Square.

We began our adventure by meeting up at Jack London Square in Oakland to ride the ferry across to Pier 39.  I love riding the ferry across the bay.  I swear I could live on the water!  It's funny the temperature change from our place in Pleasant Hill to San Francisco.  Even though it's only 20 miles away, it drops about 20 degrees.  The Embarcadero was closed down to traffic since the crowds were so large and everyone was walking in the streets.  This allowed for all the "crazies" to emerge, which is always the most fun to experience.  I especially loved the old dancing man in the pin striped white suit...priceless!

For dinner we decided to eat at Boudin, famous for it's sour dough bread.  Surprisingly the wait wasn't too long and the food was perfect.  Nothing like fresh clam chowder and warm bread bowls.

After dinner we walked along the Embarcadero and explored the patriotic displays.  There was a military submarine and battle ship allowing tourists to board.  Of course we found this to be a great opportunity to take some pictures!

 

We slowly made our way through the shops down to Ghirardelli Square.  San Francisco is such a unique city.  I love the drastic rolling streets, the fun-loving spirit of the many diverse people, and I swear no matter how many times I have visited the city I ALWAYS see something new.

Ghirardelli Square is right on the beach.  The city had a pretty great set up with lots of vendors and a live cover band playing until sunset.  Their outfits were absolutely amazing and Dallas got some great shots of them in action.  I especially love the picture of the guitarist with the foggy Golden Gate in the background.

For the fireworks display we designed a back rest in the sand for the four of us to lay on.  It was a perfect way to enjoy the half hour show.  The fireworks were set to several different songs; I was very tempted to sing along, but figured I would give Dallas a break from my singing, considering we had just finished a long road trip with me yelling along everything on the radio. 

The fireworks finished around 9:30pm and we slowly made our way back through the crowds to Pier 39 where we were to catch our ferry home.  Unfortunately someone passed out drunk on the ferry and the crew couldn't legally move him until EMTs arrived.  We ended up waiting on the pier for almost 2 hours waiting to load the boat.  I felt bad for Dallas, Greg, and Heidi who all had to be at either work or school the next morning, but I have to admit, I had a lot of fun with them and watching all the crazy crowds get worked up. 

We finally got home well passed midnight after a chilly ferry ride and a memorable evening with cousins.  We love you, Greg and Heidi, and had so much fun with you guys!  Can't wait til we can get together again!

Photo of the Week 27

I'm on "mom" duty this week and get to look at this beautiful face.  I am watching my four nephews and niece while my sister-in-law is at Girls camp for the next few days.  I'm exhausted, my back hurts, and I'm only on day two, but you can't beat the cuteness of these kids!

Facial Hair and Camping

On our last night in Ephrata, our family decided to throw simultaneous boys' and girls' nights out.  All the boys decided to grow out their facial hair for a few days and then shave them into mustaches for their camping trip.  My brothers dug a big pit out in the orchards and set up several tents for the night's festivities.  Then they took literally almost all the food from the kitchen and tried different ways cooking it over the fire...their most proud finding: tin foil tater tots.  Little Rulon was planning on sharing a tent with uncle Dallas until his father, Erik, explained what 'snoring' was.  Rulon then decided that he didn't want to sleep with a 'growling tiger.'  The boys had a lot of fun, but grandpa returned home in the middle of the night to use an actual bathroom and didn't quite make it back to the chilly tent.  He's a true camper!

 The men are quite proud of their nasty mustaches!  Needless to say, Dallas was not allowed to keep it (and kiss me) for more than 24 hours.

 The boys were very proud to show off their sleeping arrangements, especially Stuart who made a make-shift lean to with a tarp, tree, and some rope.  Oh how I love the creativity of boy scouts!

Us girls, on the other hand, enjoyed an evening full of coloring large princess posters, watching Tangled, having a dance party, painting toe nails, and eating yummy popcorn and icecream...all while staying nice, warm and COMFY in our PJs and soft beds.

I feel so blessed to have such an amazing family.

I wish we lived closer to be able to see everyone more often.  

Dallas and I had so much fun and can't wait for our next gathering!

Love you guys!

Picture Scavenger Hunt

Mom, Leisha, and I created a picture scavenger hunt for the family.  We thought it would be a fun way to get everyone together and cause some needed embarrassment.  We broke the family up into two teams by pulling people's names out of a hat.  We had two designated drivers and photographers (I was one of the photographers which is why you won't see me in any of these pictures...the curse of always being behind the lens.) 

Here are the two teams...

 

Each team was given a list of tasks that they had to complete while making sure to capture each activity for evidence.  It was quite the adventure and we definitely had some fun sending everyone all over the farm.  I have to let you all know that I am NOT posting everything that happened...some images are just too graphic for certain eyes!  Just know that we all had a very memorable experience.

Task:  Each team member had to successfully make a basket

Task: Write a creative message to BJ

(Bradley is our youngest brother serving a 2yr mission in Brazil.)

Task: Climb the boxes and take a group picture with at least 7 members of the team inside the boxes.

Task: Build a human pyramid next to row 21 in the Cherry Orchards.  Make sure to have the row number visible in the picture.

Task:  Find the metal bridge and take a group picture; see how many team members you can fit on the bridge.

Task: Most creative team photo in one of the outhouses

(Don't worry they were recently cleaned.)

Task: Trampoline Jumping Picture at the Bair's House

Task: Reenact a proposal in the orchards.

(My older brother, Bryan, and my younger brother, Richard, both proposed to their wives in the orchards.)

Task: Jump off the sawdust pile; most creative photo at the sawdust pile.

Task: Swing on the Tire Swing at Uncle Ken's house

Task: In front of one of the Willow Drive signs, the team needs to do the "Roger Dance"

(Dad is famous for his dancing skills, often done in his sweats hiked up to his chest and his t-shirt tucked in...it is quite the sight and the grand kids LOVE to copy him!)

Task:  Most creative "scary" picture in the warehouse sheds.

Erik was a little too creative with this one!

Task: Our last task was in honor of daddy as well.

Car wash, make sure to clean all the windows!