Today we had a surprise luncheon for my friend Kim who celebrated her 30th birthday. We went to a new place in town called The Oregon Street Tea Company. It's a very beautiful place and perfect for a ladies get-together. Their specialty is the Renaissance tray....
It was really fun and I don't think she had any idea the surprise was coming!!
These are totally unretouched photos. And if only I was quicker on the trigger finger there would be even better lightning shots!
Today at Jacob's soccer camp it was Wacky Wednesday. It was wacky all right, it was pouring down rain all morning long! For Redding, that's pretty much unheard of for the middle of July. I worried that the camp would be cancelled but the kids weren't phased by it at all. In fact, I think the coaches felt right at home! We raided the costume box and came up with an eclecticly wacky get-up...Jacob's only request was blue hair. One kid on his team got a mohawk specifically for the event.
Jacob got second place, he lost out to the tutu twins. Funny thing is I actually thought of putting him in one of Ella's dance outfits but didn't want to totally embarrass him. Next year we'll be all about the tutu!
Ella wanted to get into the act of course!
A funny...we've been quizzing Jacob all week on different United Kingdom trivia in honor of his UK Soccer Camp, on Monday we had taught him about Queen Elizabeth the 2nd and that she lives at Buckingham Palace. This evening after dinner we asked him if he remembered where the Queen lived and Ella jumped in and said she lived at, "Bucket Hole."
is a success! Soccer Camp, Baseball, Dance, Bookclub, Dentist Appointments....and it's only Tuesday!! So whatever happened to the lazy days of summer? The wardrobe changes alone are killing me!
Jacob started Soccer Camp this week and I think it's pretty exciting. It's taught by soccer players from England and I am really impressed with it all so far. The coaches are all very enthusiastic and outgoing and they're great with the kids, assertive yet fun. Tomorrow is theme day, Wacky Wednesday, so I'm hoping for some fun pictures!
And just cause I'm still wired from the day....
You know, I'm not loving it. Maybe it'll grow on me but I'm really hoping their other new stuff is MUCH better.
Edited to add: OK, I just listened to the song again and now I'm starting to like it. Hmmm...maybe there is potential. My gosh I just need to go to bed already. :-)
On Thursday we met up with my friend Michelle and her kids at a local park for some fishing and fun.
We made it home from camping just in time for Ella's first dance class and Jacob's first baseball game!
Ella had a try at dancing last summer and it really didn't go over so well. However she's been recently talking about it quite a lot so we thought we'd give it another try. This time we went with a different dance company and it went so much smoother. She jumped right in there and did so well! The classes are an hour long and she seemed to get tired towards the end but still kept a smile on her face.
After a quick dinner in the car, we headed to Jacob's first baseball game as a Junior Giant. He got to play catcher and pitcher! His favorite position was catcher, we think because he got to wear the whole catcher-get up. He looked like a regular pro and really loves playing. The one thing he really needs to work on though is running, he doesn't have a lot of get up and go when it comes to running the bases and there were a couple of close calls when he almost got out. Though it could be he's slow because we had such a long day and he's exhausted!
Saturday we left for four days of camping at our favorite campground on Trinity Lake, Pinewood Cove. It was a lot of fun, though we didn't get any relief from the Redding heat! Thankfully we were close to water and have a A/C in our trailer! We did lots of swimming in the campground pool, lake, and a fun watering hole we found. Aaron and I had more fun in the creek watering hole than the kids...unfortunately we saw 2 snakes and that pretty much ruined their hiking and creek swimming fun...the snakes were swimming in the creek too! The campground has nightly activities which
we participated in as well. The favorite was an ice cream social. We look forward to our next big camping trip next month, we're heading to Yosemite!
Tonight we attended Jacob's Opening Ceremonies for his Junior Giants baseball program. It's a really great program that's sponsored by the San Francisco Giants Community Fund. Jacob has been really excited to be a part of it and can't wait until the games start next week.
Heading out onto the field....
Presentation of Colors... 
Jacob checking the stands for us...
Running the bases after being introduced...
We had a pretty low-key 4th of July today, but still had a fun time. Aaron had to work today so the kids and I spent the day indoors doing various projects. It was 114 degrees today! Then this evening Grandma, Uncle Jeff and the Nostrand's came over for a BBQ and some swimming. When it started to get dark, we headed to a prime spot to watch the fireworks. Redding always does a great job with their firework display and there was lots of oohs and ahhs.
Affectionately said of course! I'm sure I've said it before but, Jacob for quite some time now has loved all things Star Wars. One of his favorite Playstation video games of all time is Lego Star Wars. He's been really wanting one of the Lego Star Wars kits but I thought maybe they were a little too advanced for him. We were shopping this afternoon and I saw a set rated for ages 6-12 and thought it would be a good thing to do indoors since we're now in the 105+ degree temps here in Redding. He was so excited! The kit had about 120 pieces and a set of picture instructions. He put the whole thing together himself with very little coaching from us!
Almost from birth, Ella has needed her hippo and blankie when she goes to sleep or gets upset. The blankie I knit when I was pregnant with her and the hippo was a gift from Aaron's Uncle John and Aunt Pat. For the first 2+ years of her life she HAD to have them and I can honestly say we never forgot them when traveling. I can't imagine what a horror that would be if we had! But lately it can go days when she doesn't miss them at all. Kinda sad in a way. But it does makes me smile when I still see her bundled up with them.
Start saving for the concert fund Aaron!
matchbox twenty Breaks From 'Exile' With New Tunes
June 29, 2007, 4:05 PM ET
Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.
After a long hiatus to allow frontman Rob Thomas to release his first solo album, "Something To Be," the members of matchbox twenty have completed a month's worth of sessions in Los Angeles to record new songs for an upcoming retrospective.
Thomas tells Billboard.com that "Exile on Mainstream," due Oct. 2 via Atlantic, could include as many as six new cuts produced by Steve Lillywhite, plus 11 prior hits. Among the new tunes are the upbeat first single "How Far We've Come," "I'll Believe You When..." ("It's like our Pretenders song," he says of the latter), the '50s-leaning "Can't Let You Go" and "These Hard Times."
"This is different than any record we've made, and different than my solo record," says Thomas, who had never collaborated on the songwriting with his bandmates. "We got together for a week at my house and we all had song ideas, but they didn't sound like what we wanted to play together. Between that vibe and working with Steve, it's a much more raw, energetic, live-sounding record than we've done in the past."
In another twist, Paul Doucette, who had previously been the band's drummer, is now playing rhythm guitar as a replacement for Adam Gaynor, who left matchbox in 2005. "Over the last two or three years, he started playing more guitar and keyboard," Thomas says. "One day, he just said, listen, I'd rather not play drums anymore. He's actually a better guitar player than our old guitar player was."
Thomas, who just launched a new record label with Epic and released a documentary about the experience of recording solo, says matchbox twenty will return to the road beginning in January. "We'll do some one-offs before then, like TV shows," he reports. "We're also playing an Andre Agassi charity event in Las Vegas."
Next summer, Thomas will begin work on his second solo disc, and says he hopes matchbox will be back in the studio in 2009 to record a new album.
Today we made the hour and half or so drive north up to Mt. Shasta Lavender Farms. It is so beautiful and peaceful up there...just the buzzing of all the bees. We went up with our friends the Nostrands and the two McClung families. We had quite a gang of kids (9 in all) with us but they all did pretty good for probably being pretty bored! You won't see a happier bunch of kids, just check out the photos here!
Saturday evening, Aaron and I went to our friend's, the Saracinos, for their First Annual Summer Solstice Party and Pig Roast. It was a lot of fun, maybe TOO much fun! Click for SOME of the pics...others will be forever hidden!
