Like A Fat Kid Loves Cake

Reynolds Family Visit

I know I've written numerous times about how much I've loved living in our dingy apartments, obviously not for the apartments themselves, but for the amazing group of people that live there. Throughout our 5 years of living on that one street, we've been blessed with some of the most incredible friends we could have ever asked for. So it is no surprise that when those great friends who've moved away come back to visit for the day, I get super excited!

Sarah emailed me a few months back letting me know that she and her adorable family would be in town for a quick visit, so I quickly added her to our "Fun" calendar and began counting down the days til I got to give her and her adorable little ones big hugs. Tragically the morning that they were to arrive, I woke with the worst pain in my throat. I ended up heading straight to the walk-in clinic where I was promptly diagnosed with strep throat. Dallas witnessed quite the breakdown when I got home and let him know that I would be contagious for the next 48 hours. I was so sad that I wouldn't be able to hang out with the Reynolds Family. I guess the one good thing about the day was that I got to stand on the balcony and at least watch them interact. It was fun to see Daxton and Leah play together again and to hear about how the family is doing in Texas. We had a few "Romeo and Juliet" moments as I tried to call down from the balcony window. I sure do love them and wish I could have snuggled with her little kiddos! I guess this just means we need to meet up on the east coast this time!

My point of view while Dallas took pictures of the Reynolds Family.

I got to peer through the railings of the stairwell once the party was moved inside. Such a sweet little boy!

Here are some of the pictures Dallas took of their afternoon catching up.

Happy Reynolds family

So in love with Leah's hair!

Dallas couldn't get Daxton or Leah to sit still long enough for a picture so this was the best he got of the two of them together again. So fun to see them playing again!

We love the Reynolds family and are so grateful for their friendship. We definitely miss them, but are excited about our future adventures together! Thanks for the great visit, guys. Sorry I was too sick to really interact much, but we loved getting to see you all!

Rattlesnakes and Tin Foil Dinners

Towards the end of July we were invited to do tin foil dinners at Brionnes Park with our good friends, the Toblers and Dimonds. As we were walking along the path towards the campfire grills, Dallas and I were startled by the sudden sound of a rattlesnake hiding along the hillside. I couldn't help but feel so relieved that Daxton was safely strapped into his stroller instead of walking along the path with us! Snakes are my biggest fear by far!

Thus the weird fascination and need to step a few inches closer to get this picture...it was ready to strike!

After spending a few minutes trying to calm down from our snake sighting, I allowed Daxton to get out of his stroller to explore. He immediately had a blast teasing sweet Jane with his spoon. He loves his buddies!

So we may have staged an opportunity for Daxton to put his arm around sweet Janie...future wife potential!

Enjoying our yummy dinners...

Liz and Devon

Annie, Matt, and Jane

Dallas, Daxton, and I

We finished off the evening by roasting marshmallows and making yummy smores. Daxton was a huge fan of the marshmallows!

An afterthought shot of the boys...

Matt, Devon, and Dallas

Ending the evening with one last shot of us girls!

Annie, Me, and Liz

Love these girls to death!

Last Visit to Daddy's Work

It's been so much fun, over the past few years, to ride BART into San Francisco whenever we wanted to meet up with Dallas while he was at work. This past year, we've been able to take several trips with our good friends Annie and Jane into the city. Both of our husbands work in the financial district, so we would ride the train in and meet up with them for lunch. Our last couple weeks before the move, Daxton and I wanted to visit daddy and his coworkers one last time to say goodbye. Annie and Jane joined us on our adventure.

We all rode BART into the city and then split up to meet our husbands. Jane and Daxton were quite unimpressed with BART.

When Daxton and I got to Dallas' office, we were quickly enveloped by everyone wanting to see Daxton's new walking skills. He was quite the hit and entertained everyone for awhile. He soon become familiar and confident with his surroundings and had a blast exploring all the different cubicles and offices. He was especially a hit with the ladies!

Daddy loved showing Daxton his work space with the most incredible views of the city, but Daxton was most excited about the calculator...like father, like son!

Future accountant

The view of Dallas' building from the Embarcadero.

As excited as Dallas is about this new adventure he is taking, he is going to greatly miss all the friends he has made in the San Francisco PWC office. He's loved his time there. It's a good thing this is a job transfer and he will still be able to work with a few of his coworkers, even if it is at a distance. PWC has been so extremely generous to our family and we've felt so much love being a part of Dallas' extended work family.

After Annie and I visited our husbands for lunch, we met back up at the ferry building. Since both of our little ones had fallen asleep, we decided to enjoy some yummy gelato before heading back to the east bay. It's always a fun time with Annie! What a great friend she's been this past year!

Heather Farms

Another one of our play dates in July was with our close friends Lisa and Maddie. Lisa and I thought it would be fun to meet up at Heather Farms in Walnut Creek for a picnic. It was a gorgeously warm day and we had a blast watching the hundreds of birds throughout the park.

Now that Daxton started walking, the age gap between he and Maddie seemed to lessen greatly. All of a sudden Daxton was chasing after Maddie and vice versa. It was pretty fun to watch them explore the park together. I just wish we could have know what they were thinking!

Daxton loves pushing the stroller around, even if he can't see anywhere he's going.

Maddie is such a girl, carrying her lunchboxes as purses.

We also spent awhile pushing them in their swings. It was pretty cute to watch them keep their eyes on each other the entire time!

The highlight of the day was Maddie saying goodbye to Daxton. I LOVE how much she loves him! Daxton and I are both going to miss Maddie and her sweet personality so much.

Absolutely adore these two together!

Tilden Park Steam Trains and Petting Zoo

Most of June and July were dedicated to making and creating as many fun memories with family and friends as possible before we left the bay area. One of these fun adventures included riding the steamtrains and feeding the animals at Tilden Park in Berkeley. There were six of us girls whom all brought our kids for a fun afternoon together.

The whole group waiting for the steamtrain to come.
L to R: Hadley, Michelle, Brooks, Aubrey, Bryson, Greg, Me, Daxton, Annie, Jane, Jules, Kaiden, Jessica (not pictured because they were sleeping in their stroller, Kostya and Val)

Daxton had just learned to walk and it was all I could do to keep up with this little man! It's been so much fun to see him grow and become more and more confident with exploring the world around him.

Annie and Jane looking as cute as always, even if she is still in her PJs.

Classic DeMary pose!

Michelle trying to get Brooks to look at the camera while Hadley smiles in the background.

Jules and Kaiden, Aubrey, Bryson and Greg, and Jessica rocking Val while Kostya slept in the stroller.

Loading the train!

Brooks didn't know what to think about the fact that Daxton refused to sit on the benches and only wanted to sit or stand on the ground.

Daxton showed his true stubborn form by not allowing me to touch him while on the train ride. He didn't want to be held and would only smile if he was standing next to the edge with his face turned towards the wind. He is becoming quite independent lately and I'm not too happy about that!

Not happy mom was trying to hold him!

Jules and Kaiden enjoying the ride.

The DeMary family having a blast on the train.

Aubrey, Greg, and Bryson loved the train ride as well.

Annie and Jane, and Jessica, Val, and Kostya

Our whole crazy group in front of the steam train.

After the train ride, we drove over to the petting zoo area and had a picnic before seeing the animals.

Kaiden was trying to crawl off into the wilderness.

Mr. Grouchy pants after only getting a half hour nap...

The petting zoo (Little Farm) had all kinds of different farm animals and equipment for kids to explore. The boys thought the tractor was pretty cool!