Best Vacation

This last weekend we headed up to Angels Camp with our good friends Adam and Selena Herrin and their girls Audra and Nora.  We arrived Thursday and spent the day setting up camp.  

Friday we towed the boat out to New Melones lake and that's when all the fun and surprises began.

This was the boys first time going out on the lake in the boat and tubing.  They were so excited and talked about it for days.  

Here they are out on the tube with their dad.  Can you tell who wanted to go right back out and who wanted to stay in the boat with me?  If you know Layton and Colton it is not who you expect it to be....

 Latyon was a tubing maniac!  I can't tell you how shocked we were.  Our ever cautious, non-risk taking Layton had all our mouths hanging open.  After his first ride he only wanted to go out by himself or with Caleb because none of the other kids (or me) wanted to go fast.

While Layton and Caleb were out speeding around on the lake, Colton preferred to sit on my lap in the boat.  Surprise, surprise!  Our daredevil Colton who climbs the highest tree, races his bike over jumps and down hills was happy to stay in the boat.  

Caleb got some wake boarding in....

 I even got in some tubing, but like Colton I'm happy sitting in the boat watching everyone else.

Colton going for a nice smooth and easy ride with Caleb.  

We couldn't have picked a better time to be out on the lake.  We saw maybe 4 other boats out that day.  It was perfect.  You can see in this picture that there were parts of the lake that were smooth as glass.

Here he goes, giving us the thumbs up sign that he wants to go faster....

He had this tube flying over the wake and then swinging out to the side at speeds probably close to 35 mph.  I kept anticipating for him to start crying and say that he was done but he had a non-stop huge grin.

Whatever turned Layton into a daring speed demon on that lake still has us shocked.  

Meanwhile back on the boat Colton found his excitement driving.

On Saturday we decided to take a break from the lake and drove to Murphys.  We started the morning off going to the Mercer Caverns.  We took a tour that took us down 16 stories underground.  It was amazing to see all the unusual natural crystalline formations and to hear the story of how it was discovered.  Again we were a little surprised to see how much the boys actually listened to the tour guide because once we got back to the truck they had many questions about what she had said.

After seeing the caverns we headed to downtown Murphys to let the kids play in the park and in the little river that ran through it.  On our way back to the truck Caleb and I spotted an olive oil tasting bar.  We have gone to a few olive oil tastings before but it was nothing like this store.  Not only was there different flavors of olive oil but also balsamic vinegar.  There were lists of different combinations of the two that you could pair together and sip.   It was a tough decision but we left with our favorite combo, dark chocolate balsamic with chipotle olive oil.  If you ever happen to pass through Murphys you have to stop by Marisolio  tasting bar.

Our next stop of the day was Columbia.  This was extra special for me.  I have many fond memories of going there as a child on family vacations.  We rode the stage coach, panned for gold (a favorite for the boys) and went to the candy shop.

That night there was a Cajun blues festival so we finished our evening in Columbia dancing in the streets under white lights.  Here the boys are dancing with Audra and Nora. (bummed about the spots on the picture.  My camera got water spots from the lake the day before)  Before long Caleb and I joined the kids.  It was a perfect ending to a great day.
Incase you didn't notice this great day was all done in hunting boots.

Sunday we went back out on the lake for a few short hours before packing up and heading home.
Our vacation was all I hoped it would be, amazing memories being made and family traditions being carried on.

Happy Birthday Layton and Colton

Six years ago today our wildest dream came true.  After many years of trying to have a baby, our prayers were answered and our twin boys were born.   With each passing day my love for Layton and Colton has grown more intense.  They make me laugh, they make me cry, sometimes both emotions all in the span of a minute.

This is the father of my babies.  I can't imagine taking this journey of parenthood with no one else but him.  He also makes me laugh, he also makes me cry, sometimes both in less than a minute.

Six years old!  Can't believe it!  We were out by the pool today and Colton stopped and looked at me and said, "Mom, you haven't cried today."  I asked him why.  His reply "because it's our birthday and I thought you would cry."  My son knows me too well.  

We had a super fun filled day.  Their Nana (Caleb's mom) came the day before so she was here to spend their birthday with us.

To make their birthday extra special I let them pick what they wanted to eat.  For breakfast Colton wanted crepes and Layton wanted zeppole.  For the record I am super mom and made them both crepes AND zeppole AND had both items on the table at the same time!  (feel free to shout out woo hoo!)
Thank the dear Lord they both wanted the same thing for dinner which was salad and pizza.
They also wanted a cowboy themed birthday so a good friend of mine made the cutest cupcakes with cowboy hats on them made out of pringle chips and gumdrops.

The birthday parents....
I love this man, he makes me feel loved, he makes me feel safe....
Did I mention I had babies with him?
Our boys are by far one of our proudest accomplishments in life.

Another year.....
I eventually did cry tonight (after they went to bed).  My babies really are not babies anymore.  Of course in my heart they always will be no matter how old they are.

I know this picture isn't perfect and yes there were one, maybe two more that were better but I like this one the most.  It captures us how we are now during this phase of life.  We are a tight family but at the same time the boys are in their own little world, sometime fighting, most times laughing.
Despite all the ups and downs we have in life we are fortunate to have and love each other.

A little pig hunting and Half Marathon all in one day.

I did it!  I ran in the Salinas Valley Half Marathon today. (13.1 miles)  I finished in 2 hrs and 10 min. exactly.  
I got up early today to leave for the marathon and as I was driving out, there he was (now officially Mr. Oink), up at the front of the property.  I drove back to the house and woke Caleb up and grabbed the gun.  He jumped in the truck and I slowly drove back up front.  He got one shot off and hit him close to the head (last time it was in the hind end)  but there skin is so tough that nothing happened but a squeal.  We thing that Mr Oink was probably domesticated at one time and has now become wild because he didn't even look up when we pulled up in the diesel truck.  All the same still makes us a little nervous having him around.

After a little morning excitement I was off to run the half marathon.

Caleb, the boys and my parents were at the end cheering for me.  Having them all there was the best part. They mean the world to me and I couldn't have done this without them.  They all supported me and encouraged me over the last few months of training.  My dad said that he'd pay me a quarter for every 5 minute mile I ran (BTW you still owe Colton 2 quarters). I didn't manage to do quite that but I am happy that I finished.