On the road again

We went to Sacramento yet again for a couple of days while Uncle Matt & Auntie Jess were in town. Wayne was busy working overtime, so I packed up the boys and drove down. It went much better than I thought it would. Ben only wimpered a little bit because of the pressure in his ears as we went over the summit. He slept for the majority of the trip and only cried when we got off the freeway. Did I mention that Ben does not enjoy the car? Poor baby screams his head off almost every time we go anywhere in the car. Then he stops and is his normal happy self as soon as we take him out of the car. We hope this is only a phase and will soon pass. We don't have our hopes too high though, because it is probably not a phase - he has been this way from the very beginning.

We took the boys to the new park by Jim & Jen's house. The boys got along wonderfully and were just too cute together. They played in the fort that Auntie Jen built for them, they looked at Cooper's fish, had smoothies and acted like little wild men. We even had a slumber party with Uncle Matt and Auntie Jess at Na and Pa's house.

When we got back home, Jack woke up in the car and had an instant cold. So we have been dealing with that the past few days. We tried our best to keep Ben from getting the cold, but failed. Jack just loves his baby brother so much that he can't keep his hands off of him and he gets right in his face all of the time. So now Ben is recovering from his very first cold.

Our trip to Mammoth

We spent the week in Mammoth and had a wonderful time. We went to the 4th of July parade and the Paranick's for the fireworks party. We got to visit with lots of Wayne's friends. There were a ton of little ones who are all right around the same age.

We got to spend some time with Doug and Tina and their kids Austin & Aliyah. Jack and Austin were like two peas in a pod, just like their daddys. Jack was even calling Aliyah 'Sissy' by the time we left town. We went with them to Law's Museum where the boys had a blast playing on the old trains. Jack also got to experience the joy of being a little boy - he peed on a tree for the first time in his life. He also got to feed the horses that live right behind Doug & Tina's house. And the highlight of the trip for both Wayne & Jack was mowing Doug's lawn on his riding lawn mower. A dream come true for both of them :)

We got up early one morning and did a little bit of hiking. All 4 of us were dressed, ready to go and in the car by 6:45 am (by far the earliest that has ever happened). We hiked to Rainbow Falls - Wayne carried Jack in the back carrier and I carried Ben in the front carrier. Both of the boys just loved it and so did we. It was absolutely beautiful and what made it even better is that we were the only people there. We also hiked to the Devil's Postpile, which was a pretty amazing sight. The pictures do not do it justice.

The boys did great and had a good time. Jack had lots of fun playing with Grandpa Butch's construction trucks. He even started to cry when we got home because he wanted to go back. And to think that we were worried about how he would do being away from home for a week. HaHaHa!

4th of July in Mammoth

Almost time for the fireworks. This is the amazing view we had from Dan & Mindy Paranick's house. We had a great time!

Our little firecracker celebrating his first holiday. He slept through the fireworks, but was a big hit at the parade. Especially with Alisa (better watch out Moosh).

Jack was so excited to pick up candy that was thrown in the street during the parade.
Alisa and Ben
Sheriff Dan hides golf balls out in the field behind his house and all of the kids go hunting for golf balls. Each ball has a dollar amount written on it, and the kids can turn in the golf balls for money when it is all over. Daddy helped Jack find a golf ball.

Sweet Boys

Jack playing in the sand at the Marina today.

Tummy time.

Playing on the train at the Farmer's Market.

Then we went to visit Daddy at work. Jack loves to 'drive' the fire engines. He was looking for the garage door opener so that he could take the engine out for a spin.


Swinging at the park today with his friend Peyton.