Nannie and Grandpa

One of the great downsides to living away from family is the fact that Brig is lucky if he gets a visit a year from the grandparents. Luckily, Nannie and Grandpa were able to make that visit in July. I had a fully planned weekend of do/or do not's and Brig even got an overnighter with just the Nannie and Grandpa.

Asher came over for one of the evenings so we could all go see Harry Potter together (i rudely missed the opening night viewing i promised him cause of the weekend at the lake) If you know the Miranda and Asher Williams' of the world, you know they are Uno sharks. Nannie was beaten by Asher while I fixed up some dinner. 

Oh... and Brig was lobbying for diet coke.

My dad is a hard man to please and any of my siblings would concur that it is very hit or miss if he is going to have a good time where ever he is at. Well, I had a few tricks up my sleeve this visit. 

Chloe's.

I introduced him to maybe the best sandwich ever. 

And he partook of it twice on his 5 day visit.

This was trick #2 for my dadday.

Guerneville.

When we all started moving to Sonoma County my dad kept on going on and on about Guerneville.

And, and is turns out, it is where he vacationed with his family in the 60's.

Right here to be exact.

Now known as the Guerneville Lodge, but used to be the residence of Howard a very good family friend.

I think it was quite the walk down memory lane.

It was so fun to see the place through his eyes

Imagine a teenage Mikey romping through Guerneville.

Or "Guerny" as I think he used to call it..

He claims not much has changed the yard opens up to the river and this big open grass area is for flooding.

So glad we found it.

I mean, it really wasn't hard to find being right of the main road, but glad.

The lodge was merely a detour for our final destination at Johnson Beach.

Beach is used lightly here. It is a rock beach along the Russian River.

But so charming with a ma & pa snack shack, canoe rentals and well, rocks.

Brig l-o-v-e-d the rocks.

And Nannie was nice enough to splash around with him.

They had a great shallow area that was perrrfect for a Briggy

Like I said... he loved the rocks.

He would have stayed there throwing them all day me thinks.

No Nate this day but Bryce and Lisa joined us.

This cute boy likes the river almost as much as Briggers

And of course he was doing disgusting boy things like pretend puking into the tube....

This poor girl is allergic to benadryl and unbeknownst to her she was overdosed the night Nannie arrived. It took her a good 3 days to get back on her feet. So she laid in the shade while Bryce, Lisa, and Grandpa canoed the Russian River and the rest of us enjoyed cheeseburgers on the rocky beach.

Nannie and Grandpas kept Brig that night so Nate and I could go for a work dinner/overnighter in the city. It was nice to see the city again and sleep in but we hurried on back to Windsor the next day.

That night Nannie and I and Bryce and Lisa attended "Shakespeare on the Green"

They do it every July in Windsor. Nannie just happened to be here at the right time. Of course grandpa and Nate thought this sounded horrendous and were graciously excused. It was "The complete works of William Shakespeare" which consisted of a comic condensing of the complete works. The actors were great, we laughed and laughed and I am still imitating the dying/puking sound it was so funny. Brig came to the pre-show which he enjoyed and he also helped eat our picnic. 

We played, and visited, and it was a very nice visit indeed.

Until next year Mom and Dad!

5 Years

Oh Natey.

5 years is so long but so short.

I love what we've done in 5 years.

I love who we are in 5 years.

I read this fantastic book recently that really should have had nothing to do with love.

But then there was this line...

 "We love what we love. Reason does not enter into it. In many ways, unwise love is the truest love. Anyone can love a thing because. That's as easy as putting a penny in your pocket. But to love something despite. To know the flaws and love them too. That is rare and pure and perfect."

I love you because and despite and I'm sure that is even more rare, more pure, and more perfect.

Happy Anniversary

Weekend at the lake

Carie, Cass and I had the fantastic idea of spending a weekend with just girls and kids up at Carie's lake house.

We have fantastic ideas like this all the time. They usually never happen.

Well believe it or not we did it!

I adore this beautiful lady.

And it is thanks to her this all came into fruition.

There are two different beaches at the lake.

We bounced back and forth from both.

The first evening we went to the smaller one just for some sand playing and fishing.

We were all loving Brig sitting on those cute knees.

Jayden fished his heart out....

this particular evening he caught 25 fish.

Oh and when he wasn't fishing he was building his magnificent tree house.

Safe to say we didn't see much of Jayden :(

Their property is perfect.

A perfect mountain/lake mix with room to roam but still a part of the world.

This boy is hysterical and loves the babes. 

He and Cleo  have the funniest giggle fits together.

And his voice? Every 4 year old should have it.

Before Carie kills me for posting pictures of her, cause I know she has a strict run-it-by-me policy,

I shall preface all the pictures with that fact that part of the weekend instructions was to bring sweats and swimming suits. 

No getting ready allowed.

Oh it was glorious.

We all looked beautiful, special but we didn't care. We stroller walked by morning, lazed at the beach by day, napped, and ate to our hearts desire. We laughed over everything, we searched out their beautiful highscool b/f's then became hysterical at mine. By the time Greg and Jon arrived "Costco outfits""sister showers" "true love" and the like were only humorous to the 3 of us.

The only damper of the trip?

Brig decided to pop both his bottom molars in the 3 days we were there.

It was a nightmare.

I've never seen him so hysterical. Nothing I did appeased him, ibuprofen barely touched them, sleep was elusive. So I wound up holding him and apologizing for his fussing the majority of the trip.

My poor baby boy... his gums were raw and looked like they were bleeding :(

It's really to bad cause I think he would have really enjoyed everything otherwise.

He did tromp around in the sand long enough for me to get a few cute shots.

This girl is 100% original.

I love her to pieces, and as you can see she likes me too :)

Her kisses are delicious.

Oh it was fun and I hope we do it again next year!

Thank you Carie!

a first on a lake

Our very nice friends the Ambridge's invited us out on their boat.

  (I did have a picture of them but Amy was in her swimming suit and Nate said I couldn't post it and after the pictures my brother has tagged me in on facebook I must oblige)

They had all the gear, all we had to provide was lunch for our family. Who can turn that down?

The best part? Um lake Sonoma is 30 minutes away. 

We had no idea such a thing existed so close to us.

It was beauitful. Brig hated the lifejacket, loved the steering wheel, and overall had a lovely time. 

Nate and I decided a boat is in our future.

Our friends talked about how they chose a boat because they wanted boating to be what they did as a family.

I like that.

Oh and this majestic view?

Again, 30 minutes from our house!

cousin love

I shall now attempt to document the remainder of our summer...

I don't want to forget these moments so I must post even though they are over due.

So back to July....

I have already been worried about Brig's place in the Clark family.

Premature? yes.

But real? yes.

See he arrived in the year of 6 babies on the Clark side

He was the last and the other boys of the 6 were the first.

So his closest boy cousin is a year older or a year younger.

I remember having frustrations over this same type of situation growing up.

Not that is was really that life changing but it did make family reunions a little frustrating and as a Clark we do a lot of family reunion-ing. 

Anyway... fear appeased

Brig is a hit with the 4 year old boy crowd. 

Particularly this little cous' Ace.

It is the most adorable thing.

He literally follows Brig around with his hand on his back as "protector & guide"

Everywhere.

At the park, at the pool, at the house. No distraction is more interesting to little Ace-man than Brig.

And really, I'm pretty sure Brig is the most boring cousin. He was such a "parents boy" on our trip to Boise, he hardly lets anyone touch him, and I've said it before... his tricks are limited at the moment.

But having said all that...

He has made it into the "boys club" and I'm one happy momma about that :)

and we sure love having so many cousins.