Posting a BLOG happens when you do it, not just think about it. :)

Like most families, we've been busy and only are getting busier.  We've done a lot, and have been desiring to do a few different posts.  However, as life happens, the actual posting never did.

Well, this is a little post in an effort to catch up some.  We've had an eventful summer!  From our annual trip to Monterrey with friends, to heading over to Yosemite and then across to Utah for a family reunion, life just hasn't slowed down much.

Connor and Ella are doing great!  And getting bigger by the moment!  Ella is finally sleeping through the night regularly!  Connor loves being a little Picasso (we'll post some photos below). Ella and Connor both find themselves at Disneyland with one or both of us fairly often.  DL works wonderfully to exhaust the kids.

There are photos below of Ella's FIRST time of eating rice cereal!  Connor wanted to help.  We'll keep the post short and fun.  Even though there is so much more that we could be posting.  Hopefully, over time, we'll step back and add some additional photos from the summer.

Kickin' it at Disneyland.

"Ride the train!" Connor saw this train at the Irvine mall and ran after it calling out, "Ride the TRAIN! Ride the TRAIN!"  It was so cute... we just had to let him.

Waiting for Connor and Momma to get back from their little train ride.

You could say he is getting in the Halloween Spirit a little early! Using Jannene's MAC makeup - eyeliner.

It was on there so thick!  haha!  Yeah... getting this off his face was loads of fun!

Sleeping at the reunion.

Hi!

Ahh... real food!

Wait!  Seriously!??  I thought it'd be better than this!

It tastes better coming from BIG Brother!

See Ella! Wasn't that FUN!

It has been a few days. This post comes from one of our droids.

We took a quick trip to Park City Utah. Luckily we arrived right as their blizzard of the decade showed up. We saw a couple of friends but for the most part we were bogged down as we did not know what to expect from the blizzard. Here are some photos from our trip. The very last photo of Connor was taken in a restaurant in Park City. We cannot get over how old he looks in the picture.

At this time we would also like to announce that the sex of baby number is going to be a GIRL! When Jannene Heard this from the doctor she bawled... As she was extremely happy!


We have not selected a name yet...














Eating an apple at John and Brook's place. Connor couldn't get enough of them! Seriously. They had a bowl of apples and he wanted one in his mouth, and one for each hand. We finally just gave him one, and put the rest up high so he couldn't reach them. After that, he walked around the house eating (actually chopping up and spitting out) the entire apple. We got the luxury of following him and cleaning up shredded apple pieces. Luckily, John and Brook (and John's mom) were okay with it.
This post, and all of the text that you have read was written automatically as we spoke to our phones. All of the photos were uploaded entirely by one of our droids as well. More and more, phones are becoming computers that can make a phone call.

After looking at the blog... we realized that a photo we wanted wasn't taken on the Droid, it came from the camera. We just had to have this picture on there. We made this photo into a stamp. Connor is only 17 months... but this picture makes him look so much older. He's turning into such a little man.

The month of July... WoW!

We started the month with going to the Corona fireworks show with Tom and Sunny and their family. And ended the month with a reunion in Livermore California. This post is full of photos from our vacation. Enjoy!

Connor and Porter all dressed up for Independence Day!

We flew out from LAX on our way to Texas at six am on the 5th of July. We hit up Six Flags while we were there.








We took a VIP tour of the Cowboys Stadium!




















We had dinner at a few local restaurants. This one in particular was all decked out, Texas Style!
We stopped at a mall close to the airport for a while.

Cow Day! A family tradition... even on vacation!

We attended the Hyde Family Reunion in Northern Utah.

After the reunion we tried to see as many friends as we possibly could. A few things, mainly time held us back from seeing everyone. If we missed you this trip, hopefully we will see you next time we are there!










After Utah we went home... for a day and a half. Then, we were gone again!
This time, a road trip was in order. We took off with some great friends: Tom and Sunny and their son Porter. Along with Cam and Angie... and their lil' girl in the oven. We embarked on a trip that took us from Corona to Solvang, CA. Then from there to Hearst Castle, a beach house in Moss Landing, and finally the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Why so...

serious?

Just have fun!

Future astronauts.

Hot Chocolate, the beach, my boy, ahhhh...

Watching Sea Otters.

After saying goodbye to our friends, they headed back to Corona and we headed North to Alaska! Well, not really Alaska, but North nonetheless.
Mexican Restaurant South of San Fran.

We swung in and visited some of Johnathan's old friends from when he used to live in Washington. Visiting Kathleen and her family at their home South of San Francisco was fun. They have a cute little family.

After leaving we headed to Six Flags in Vallejo. We met up with more of Johnathan's friends. This time, Alicia, Michael, their kids and Michael's sister and her son. We spent the day having a blast... Pardon us, We spent the day having more FUN at Six Flags! More Flags! More Fun!





This is Connor's hand on an elephant's trunk.


After Six Flags we headed further North to visit some of Jannene's friends. We saw Corinne, Brandon and their son Lincoln.

We also saw a few other friends: Rebecca, Walter and their kids.

After enjoying a nice treat at the yogurt shop, we headed to see Crystal and Chris. After meeting up, we headed into Spenger's restaurant. A Seafood Grotto that has been in business for over 100 years!



Shell Fish from around North America!Clockwise from top left:Cherrystone Clam, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Tomales Bay Oyster, Tomales Bay, California, Blue Point Oyster, Long Island, New York, Buckley Bay Oyster, Baynes Sound, British Columbia
Connor wasn't the only one wearing a bib for this meal!
After leaving Spenger's Grotto we headed to an Oakland A's game! We scored some GREAT SEATS! The Chicago White Sox punished the A's. Regardless... from our seats, the game was awesome. We're not A's fans, but we were fans of these seats!

The view from our seats.

Gio Gonzalez, a pitcher for the Oakland A's signed this ticket.
The next day, we hooked back up with some friends that invited us to join them as they, and 500+ other people got together to break the World Record for the most people dancing the Virginia Reel Swing Dance! Before the dance started, Connor rode his first pony and Jannene threw her first set of horse shoes. While Johnathan learned that Connor REALLY prefers to hold and eat watermelon by himself...

Please Dad, let me do it.

After being taught how to do this swing dance, the celebrity judges got in place, over 500 people signed in and the music started. The "caller" got us all going and we danced the night away! Well, at least for 9 minutes and 32 seconds! We needed to dance for 5 minutes, we did that and more. Now, it is up to Guinesses Book of World Records. If we did it, you can find us and our friends, Rebecca, Walter and their daughter in next year's edition!
After having a blast in Napa, Oakland, Santa Rosa, and Rohnert Park we headed towards another reunion... with a slight detour. With Johnathan at the wheel we found ourselves heading to...









While driving around we came across this cool looking building. Just our luck, there is a pretty cool Italian Restaurant located on the bottom floor.

Hmmmm. Choices, choice... what to order.

Jannene and Connor asleep at the Loveland Reunion.
The Loveland reunion was great! From Volleyball, to swimming, to Ladder Ball and even Spades, amongst other things. The reunion was packed full of fun times, good S'mores and great conversations. It was great to see old faces and to meet new ones too.

After the reunion we headed home... "I wanna go home!" Started to be sung in the car... Yes, it was time.
On our way home we slipped into Anderson's. A restaurant that boasts about their amazing Split Pea Soup. In all honesty, the soup was just soup. Nothing flashy. Good, but nothing to write home to Mom about. However, the atmosphere, decorations and the people were fun! Fun enough that we marked it on the GPS and plan on stopping there again next time we are in the area. They do have other things on their menu. Including Caesar Salad. Which they make table side with fresh anchovies... yes.




Wrap up: Four Flights, two car rentals and 1500+ miles driven in the Hybrid and we are home. Connor did exceptionally well while on this vacation! We had a blast and yes... it is good to be home again.