Balloon Races

This year, my oldest and dearest friend, Danielle came to Reno with her munchkins for the Balloon Races.  We got up BEFORE the crack of dawn to head out to see the balloons.  We were there early enough to watch the glow show, where a handful of balloons light up (or glow) to the sounds of the music being played over the sound system.  It’s pretty cool and definitely worth getting up that early for.  Unfortunately, of all days, this day ended up being too windy for the balloons to get up in the air- we did get to see a couple of them go up for the test run.  Major bummer!  I have been telling Dani about how cool this event is, and how she should bring the family up for it.   Boo!  The balloons still filled with air, but had to be tethered to the ground for safety reasons.  It was still really neat and the kids loved it.  We will just have to try it again next year.

Back to School

Jack started 2nd grade this year.  He has such an enthusiasm for learning.  It is so much fun to watch him excel in school.  He sure does know how to make us proud!

Ben was also very excited to get back to school.  He is in the Lambs class this year, which is the 4 year old class.  Several of the same kids from his Angels class are together again this year.  He is sad that his little friend, Jenna has gone to another school.  But he has made a new friend, who he refers to as “my bud”.  It took us a few days, and a talk with his teachers to find out that “his bud’ has a name: Kellen.  Love my boy!

Stuto Family BBQ

Every summer, my mom tries to plan a family bbq at the park in her community.  It is so nice to get together and visit with family that we don’t get to see often enough.  This year was extra HOT!  Thank goodness for the water balloons and the biggest kid of them all, my cousin Bill.

Celebrating in Style!

This summer, Ava (Wayne’s mom) took her kids and grandkids to Monterey to celebrate her 70th birthday.  We had so much fun and created some wonderful, lasting memories.  We even got to give an elephant a bath.  That’s something I never imagined I would be able to say.  We hope you had a wonderful birthday.  We love you SO much!  We sure had fun celebrating with you!!

We went to the Monterey Aquarium, which is something I have been wanting to do for a few years.  There were tons of hands-on activities for the kids. 

 

We also got to visit Vision Quest Ranch in Salinas.  We had a private tour, with lunch and several encounters with animals on the ranch.  Pretty cool!