August 13th - 17th - San Francisco

We decided to take a road trip to San Francisco to visit my brother Nathan and his wife Shannon, and spend our 13 year anniversary in our previous stomping grounds; to eat at our favorite places and visit the city and beach we love so much.

We stayed at the Hotel Gaia just outside of Lake Shasta it is good half way point. It was a "green" hotel and actually pretty nice, we would stay there again.

Cameron and Sofia looking at the Koi fish

Playing on the playground by my parents old house in Martinez.

Paris texting

We stayed with Nathan and Shannon while we were there, here is Cameron asleep

Driving up California Street

Nathan and Shannon

Sofia and I on the blanket, snapping pictures. We had a wonderful day at Baker Beach, the weather was absolutely perfect !

Sand on Sofia's toes - she loved it

It was nice to be there with Shannon who loves to take as many pictures as I do, so she snapped a bunch with me in them

Our family - with the wind in our hair, or at least mine

Cameron and Sofia loved searching for rocks, sea glass, and shells

We love you San Francisco

The city from the Bay bridge

Passing the hospital Paris used to work at

Going through the toll booth to get on the Bay bridge, when we first moved there in 1997 it was $1, then went to $2 and we thought that was pricey... now it is $4

Coit tower with fog in the background. All of the red brick buildings at the bottom of the photo make up Levi's plaza - the HQ of Levi Strauss & Co. where I used to worked, I loved it - but I love being a stay at home mom MORE!

Hunan's, one of our favorite chinese restaurants. I am drooling right now just thinking of their chicken chow mein...

Beechwood Drive - our old streetOur home (Cameron's first home) - it is sad to see the new people do not take care of the lawn, and hello it is so small it's not that difficult.

At Cameron's in Half Moon Bay, another of our favorite places.
They have the BEST fish and chips!
This is where Cameron got his name

Paris and I with Cameron, the owner

Our Cameron was being shy (and a bit stubborn) and did not want his picture taken, he even offered his some gum, but no way was that going to persuade him.

Nathan and Cameron playing some laser tag, it is a toss up on who enjoyed it more :)

Had to stop at IN-N-OUT before crossing the California border, Oh those cheeseburgers, fries, and a strawberry shakes...

mmmm just can't get enough :)

July 23 - Soccer

   Okay, so I have been behind at updating our blog the past couple months, so now I have a bunch to post... here goes, it may take a day or two.

Cameron has been dying to play soccer, so we signed him up at this great indoor facility right near our house.
 

He absolutely LOVED it!

Unwanted visitors...

When you have to call Pete's Pest Control, there is a problem.

Then when we has to use this special hat - and dress in full beekeeper clothing you know it is not so good.

It all started about a month ago when we heard this little scratching/tapping noise on the ceiling in our bedroom, at first we thought it was the insulation rubbing on the vent when the AC was on. Then quickly realized it wasn't. Then thought could it be mice, but when we tapped on the ceiling we heard no scampering, then we thought termites, Ants who knows. Then we looked outside and up to find a lovely stream of yellowjackets just zipping in and out of a little hole - actually space in the joint where two moulding should have been sealed off. That's when we looked on the internet and read about horror stories of bees burrowing in the walls and ceilings of homes and the nest getting huge and breaking through and bees coming into the house, etc.... so we were freaked out. I found Pete's Pest control online and gave him a call.
He climbed up his ladder to the outside bay window under the eaves to spray at the nasty yellow jackets. Then came inside and crawled into the attic to try and find the nest, of which he estimated would be about the size of a football or a little bigger- yikes! He couldn't get to the nest because it is lodged in between the wall and ceiling area of the bay - not so lucky. He said about 1 in 10 customers have this situation. Darn it, we really wanted him to drag that nest out (and me being the photo lover that I am really wanted a picture of it). But he said instead he would kill all of the bees and the nest would just dry up and not be a problem.

He used this pump to spray a pesticide into the 1/8" holes that he drilled into the ceiling

We were really excited for the death of those annoying little yellowjackets.

Then he came back to the arsenol in his truck and grabbed a long pole and went around the house to knock any other nests down from under the eaves of the house - that was nice because it wasn't part of what we paid for, then on top of that he got out another pumper and sprayed all around the house for Carpenter ants, again above and beyond what was expected.

We were supposed to give it a few days to let all of the bees die off....

Well, we are so grateful that his service is guaranteed for one year and that he was so kind, because those nasty, determined yellow jackets did not die. After 5 days we still heard the scratching/tapping noise as we lay in bed trying to sleep and then watched as the bees found another space to zoom in and out of from outside by the eaves of the roof. So, I called Pete again and he was very apologetic and came right back the next day. He suited up again and climbed up the ladder, sprayed an even more deadly concoction and came inside and drilled about 20 more holes in the ceiling and wall to get those dirty little buggers. This time - they are all DEAD!!! Thanks Pete, we highly recommend him for any of your pest needs.

Just the boys

Paris and Cameron flew to Utah 3 weeks ago (July 30 - Aug. 2) for some camping and fishing with Grandpa Duane. Sofia and I stayed home, since she doesn't do so good on the boat fishing and keeping her life jacket on. Plus it was a great opportunity for some boys only time! They camped and fished at Schofield and had a wonderful time. Cameron really loved sleeping and hanging out in the camper playing Sorry.

Having pancakes for breakfast

Fisherman Cameron

Reeling one in

Look what I caught

Lounging with Grandpa Duane

Hanging from the tree with Daddy's help

Grandpa caught this awesome Tiger trout!

Having Icecream cones on the steps with 2 of Teresa's children. He had a lot of fun playing with them and was happy they were there to visit also.

Out by the Provo river in Grandpa's backyard - one of his favorite places, he could throw 1000 rocks into the river and still want to throw more. He is a little pale because he got sick the last day of camping/fishing - he even threw up on the boat (sorry grandpa), poor thing. He slept the whole way home from Schofield, then threw up again on the hardwood floor in the kitchen as soon as they walked in the door(sorry grandma) and then lay on the couch for a few more hours, then was finally okay.

He can't wait to come fishing and camping again!