Back to school!

Yes - back to school for Brenner - he has been asking to go for weeks. It has been a pretty smooth transition. There are still things to learn at home - the big one lately is not lying. Such a hard concept apparently :( This too shall pass! Nola has been little miss chatter box and still clinging to mommy. We ended the weekend with a fish fry at Grammy Vo's house - it was fun - Nola loved the fish!

Brenner gets shirts from preschool open house. This is his third year so he has three. I don't know how big kids are at 4 but I could fit into one of his shirts! Brenner insisted that we all wear them to bed - Nola was very pleased to be a part of it!

Off to preschool with the fake smile Brenner has been favoring lately. BHP loves to dress himself so it is fun to see his "coordination"!

While watering the garden, Nola and Brenner pretended that the mud was peanut butter. Brenner "helped" Nola smear it all over herself - including her hair. What a mess but they had fun. Love her smile on this one!

Notice how clean Brenner is compared to Nola.......our garden was pretty pitiful this year with the drought but we are still getting plenty of tomatoes thanks to watering.

Too kiddos having a fun time!

Nola is being very picky at mealtimes lately. She will push her food away, cross her arms, and lay her head down. No, not yet, sweetie with the attitude!

Nola and Papa taking a little jog! She was just giggling while running.

Nola saying "Time to eat Woody and Jesse!" Looks like they are in a cage.

Nola helping mommy make cut out sugar cookies - she was my big helper by choosing the shapes - butterflies and stars!

Nola and Aunt Susie eating some pink butterfly cookies - yum!

Brenner thought the food was okay but preferred to be fishing. I am guessing this is exactly how his dad was at this age!

Aunt Lynnie, Krystee and Nola hanging out on the swing.

Caleb (Krystee's boyfriend) caught a bullfrog. Brenner was so excited. Nola was not too sure! After chasing it around the yard, Brenner grabbed it, ran onto the dock, and hurled it into the water. Poor bullfrog.

We forgot swimsuits, but who cares?! We are at Grammy's house. Although first BHP said he didn't want to play in his underwear because people would make fun of him. I told him that was nonsense! Love this action photo of sand hurling - perhaps a new olympic sport?

Brenner thinking "You think I am bad now....just wait!" He proceeded to get sand everywhere, and I mean everywhere, which lead to some discomfort later.....

Grammy, Brenner, Nola, and Papa - what a great day! Thanks Grammy and PawPaw Floyd!

A dead willow

A dead willow near the "fort" took up our Friday night and Saturday morning. Rather than waiting for the wind to blow it over, we thought it best to cut it down.

 Brenner and Nola knew to stay back. I love Brenner's improvised chair. Of course, what Brenner does, Nola must mimic!

 Papa with the chainsaw. Brenner was so excited that he kept cheering Matt on......

 The tree was grew so that it wanted to fall onto the fort, so Matt had to make some special cuts. After the chainsaw, he brought out the sledgehammer much to Brenner 's delight. After some chains with the four wheeler, we upgraded to the truck and finally brought the thing down!

 On Saturday monring, Brenner helped Papa stack the wood and put the smaller limbs into the burn pile. He was a great helper!

 Check out that tossing form!

 Well done, Papa and Brenner!

 Nola decided she would snack while the boys worked on the tree. Mama was gone for work most of the week so Nola kept saying "I want you, I want you, I want you!".

 Nola giving me a squeeze! I missed her and Brenner a ton!

 Saturday night we had Uncle Chris and Aunt Lynnie over to BBQ. It was fun - thanks for making the trip!

 Brenner had to show off his bow skills - we at least when Papa wasn't using the bow :)

Ah - love this picture - especially how Nola is resting her head on her big brother. They fight like cats and dogs sometimes but in the next instant they are sweet to one another!

A bit of a cool down

We finally got a break in the weather along with some rain! The kids, momma, and papa are all in a little better mood as a result. Nola is a complete chatter box these days - you can have a conversation with her which is fun yet sad - our little girl is growing too fast! Brenner also had a big accomplishment - he rode his bike for about 25 ft without training wheels. Matt wants him to be riding on his own by the time he is five......I said go ahead but I am devoting my energies elsewhere! Seems like a good dad-son bonding thing to me :)

On Sunday, Nola and Brenner wanted to stand out in the rain. It was refreshing but I don't quite know what they were looking at in the picture!

Nola loves to imitate Brenner :)

Nola loving on her kitty - such a sweet girl!

Brenner wanted to lay on Nola in the stroller. It looked uncomfortable, Nola demanded that he lay back down!

A trip to Grammy's house

Last week we got spoiled by Grammy Vo and PawPaw Floyd who shared their delicious peaches with us. So on Friday we headed back to their house to pick some more. You see, they were out of town and we hated to see the peaches go to waste.....plus we took the opportunity to see Aunt Janet and Tom so it was a wonderful night.

Brenner was very excited for the trip because he knew that he would get to fish in the lake. His Spiderman pole was good luck - he caught a "huge bluegill and a bass". The weather was perfect out on the dock.

Nola and mommy on the dock. At first, Nola didn't want to step on the wooden planks...that didn't last long!

Now for the peaches - Brenner ate more than he put in the bag!

Nola, Mommy, Brenner, Aunt Janet and Emi. We like to call this one "Aunt Janet caught in the act!"

Just to be clear - we aren't freeloaders or peach thieves....we made the kids work for the peaches :) Brenner, Nola, and Aunt Janet filling the water bucket.

Brenner doing an excellent job of watering Grammy's flowers. Nola is supervising!

With work done, it was time for more fishing. Matt beams when he is showing the kids how to fish. Nola did a great job as did Brenner. But if you go fishing with BHP, make sure to leave plenty of room for his cast!

Sunset on the dock - Brenner, Papa, Tom, Nola, and Aunt Janet. Everyone has great smiles!

The next day was a different story.....we headed to Grandma Vals for a brief stop. Nola is still on "Grandparent Detox" from our Napa vacation. (Sorry mom, I love you but it is true!) Nola is a real mommy's girl and lets you know when she doesn't get her way. She has even mastered "The Look" at 22 months old....that is even faster than Brenner acquired it! Some things you wish your children didn't learn from you :(

Brenner the hambone. This is his carrot face! BHP had his annual visit with Dr. Swofford. He was quite concerned the night before asking "Is she going to look down there?" "Yes" I said. "Why?" he questioned. "To make sure everything is normal" I responded. Long pause then "Well, she's only going to get to look one time!". Brenner weighted 37.9 lbs and is 41.5 inches tall - big guy! He even outgrew one of his car seats so it is time to buy a booster for the car! Nola is also growing fast - one inch in the last month!!!!

Ahhhhh....Napa...........

The blog update is a little late because we were in Napa! A simply wonderful, relaxing trip. A big thanks to Grandma Val for keeping Brenner and Nola (and Aunt Lynnie, Uncle Chris, Krystee, and Colten for helping entertain the kids)!!! We spent four days in Napa, meeting up with our Michigan friends Jenny and Steve, before heading to San Francisco. We hit 17 wineries...we paced ourselves! And you will have to bear with me as we took pictures at every one but highlight our favorites below!

 A view of the vineyards! Nice cool weather - such a nice break from MO!

 We stayed at the Napa Inn B&B - "The most romantic B&B in Napa".....not sure about the claim but it was clean and the staff was friendly!

 Steve, Jenny, Matt, and me  - what a gorgeous view!

Fog over vineyards in Sonoma outside of Kenwood.

 St. Clement Winery - small boutique winery with some bold varietals!

 Kunde Winery - Matt loved their cuvee (similar to port)

 Stags Leap Wine Cellar had some fabulous cabs!

Raymond Burr Winery in Dry Creek. Yes - those are Emmys we are holding for his work on Perry Mason. This was a nice quiet stop with an entertaining host.

 Groth Winery - their chardonnay was great!

We left Napa to go see the redwoods in Muir Woods - they are amazing!

Getting ready for our 5 mile hike!

Me inside one of the redwoods!

Look at the size of the tree behind Jenny and me - crazy!

We then headed to San Francisco to hit all the highlight touristy things......Matt at Alcatraz.

Cable car ride. The driver was so rude - felt like we were in NYC :)

Matt basking in front of the painted ladies at Alamo Park...note the guy behind him with just shorts on - it was 65 and breezy!

I love this picture - we are obviously in front of the Golden Gate Bridge. We had to wait until 4 pm for the fog to lift!