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The soothing sounds of the water while camping with my adorable Ephraim (and Gabriel was sitting right next to me).

Ephraim was counting for me tonight, so I had to capture his progress.

Gabriel and Ephraim playing in a corner of grandma & grandpa's backyard while mommy is at work.

Camping!

My parents organized a camping trip for our family to Union Valley Reservoir (south of Lake Tahoe). I've really been wanting to take the boys out to a forest with water and just play all day. It didn't go at all as I had hoped. The drive was too long (almost three hours), Gabriel said. I couldn't get them to sleep that night, and I think Gabriel was bored or something because he kept acting up. HOWEVER, there were several very awesome moments during the trip that make me look forward to trying again in a few years. 

We got to go swimming! The boys loved it! They both had life vests and liked exploring their freedom in the water. Here I am giving Gabriel a "motorboat" ride. 

 Gabriel loved eating chicken off the stick. They were so enthusiastic about their dinner.

And even more enthusiastic about dessert--s'mores! Both Gabriel and Ephraim enjoyed roasting marshmellows and eating them.

 Mmmm!

 We had fun going for walks. There were several fallen trees that we could climb and walk on.

 Sleepy mommy the next morning!

Party for Rachel

On Saturday, July 20, I had my closest friends over to my house for food and games. I served fresh lemonade from my lemon tree, fruit salad, a veggie tray, my original corn dog bites, homemade sushi, my chili, and vanilla pudding with bananas and strawberry parfait pie (in cups).

 

My best friends from high school came.

My best friends from San Jose arrived first.

We played games, picked blackberries, ate food that I made from scratch, and chatted. I had a great time! Best birthday in a long time!

Fantastic News!!!

Gabriel had his 6 year check up. He is 48" tall and 48 lbs. I see so much growth in Gabriel since last year. While he still can be extremely pesty, getting in to trouble, etc., I also see him retraining himself a lot more. I am so proud of him for that. Having too much energy is never a problem now at six, he can spend a nice amount of time playing with Legos or drawing. He can be a wonderful older brother when he wants to be. When he is in the mood, he is so nurturing and helpful to Ephraim. He is very interested in learning about the cats, learning how to pet (and scare!) them. His talent for music is still strong. He can pick up a tune after hearing it only once and hum it so you can easily recognize it. He loves to draw and it is amazing to me the details he adds now. No more stick figures at all! I love my Gabriel!!

My fantastic news is that I got offered a full-time job!! I will be a production editor for an education publishing company who makes teacher manuals for grades K-5. I heard about the position at the Developmental Studies Center back before the new year. I knew someone who worked there, but just missed applying in time to get an interview. Then another position there came up a few months ago. I rocked two interviews, and it was between me and one other person, but I didn't get it. I was told to wait until July and they might create another position. I got a call out of the blue on Monday and, to my surprise, was offered the job right out! I start in August. I already picked out a Montessori preschool for Ephraim and I'm working on something for Gabriel. He might be taking Karate after school four days a week, which has an after school program. Otherwise, I will be solely relying on my parents for help. I am very anxious about leaving my kids all day and who will take care of the details, BUT I am extremely thankful for a job that will pay the bills and finally make ends meet. It is in Emeryville, which is about 20 minutes away in no traffic... so maybe 40 minute commute.

6 Years Old!!!

Getting ready for Gabriel's party on Saturday, July 13, we blew up balloons. Gabriel decided to draw on two of them: a cat and a knight (with an awesome helmet and lots of muscles). You can see his new punching bag there in the background, thank you Grandma and Grandpa McMillan. Poor Ephraim tried to imitate his brother and popped two balloons with a pen before giving up.

 Ultimate relaxing!

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Gunn for the blocks that light up. And notice the bug catcher around Ephraim's neck. That's his new thing. He caught a rolly-polly bug and was so happy to have a friend, even when it "fell asleep" the next day.

The Big Day finally arrived. His classmate down the street got the flu so they couldn't make it. But he had Everett and Hailey there to make the day fun. Here is Megahn picking some of our delicious blackberries.

Bounce house!! Gabriel said he really wanted a bounce house this year. Worth every penny!! We got the smallest one (a castle!) and it fit perfectly in our backyard. They delivered it the night before the party so Gabriel and Ephraim spent at least 45 minutes testing it out. "Best Day Ever!!" was frequently spoken by Gabriel.

 Here are Uncle John and Meghan and Everett and Ephraim bouncing together.

Best friend Hailey and Gabriel having some birthday lunch:

 Relaxing with Heather after the party.

Ephraim's side eyes, playing with the new Star Wars tie fighter Lego set.

And life goes on. We played Star Wars in the backyard the other day. Even mom gets to wear funny hats (thank you for making me a storm trooper, Ephraim).

Gabriel asked to draw on the play table, and when I said No, he came up with the idea of taping down pieces of paper. So proud of him for putting his clever brain to good use. There was a river, a road, trees, and a Chinese restaurant (because this was a ninja village, after all).

Independence Day and Birthdays

We went over my parent's house on Sunday to celebrate Gabriel's and my birthday (OK, and the dog Basker's birthday too). 

Role reversal. The boys liked playing in Basker's old crate.

Point Richmond had fireworks on the 3rd, so we went to a friend's BBQ and ran around at the park beforehand. There was a friend's little girl with an adorable red/white/blue sweater on that liked to chase Ephraim around (but only if I went with her). Adorable!

 Waiting for fireworks.

 

My tomatoes are finally turning red!! I ate my first fresh tomatoes on my salad last night for my birthday dinner. They were amazing!

 Tomato plants taller than Ephraim!

Gabriel grabbed the camera and went around taking pictures of everything. I had to delete most of them, but here are two good ones! Funny face, but I love the color of his eyes!

 Monkey up the tree!

Catching Up

I am a little behind posting pictures. I took the kids to see "Monsters University" at the movie theater the other day. They loved it! Both the movie and the movie theater experience. Then we saw a giant poster stand for the "Meatballs" sequel and got excited about that.

 

Two weeks ago we visited our friends in San Jose. Kim took some great pictures of us. Yay for friends!