The Eichenmillers: August 2010

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Mud and Quads

We had a great rain, the washes were running. This is the first time the boys rode their quads in the mud. They loved it, all three of them!

Mason is always so serious when he rides.

Jarron waving and of course standing up because he loves to do tricks.

Mason showing me the mud splattered on his legs.

And then there is Eric who stole the quad and had some fun. The boys loved chasing him around to try and get their ride back :)

Giant Desert Centipede

Eric found this centipede at his work the other night and of course brought him home. We now have a new pet (when will it end?).

Jarron started piano lessons at the U of A and loved it! His teacher is a Yale graduate from Bulgaria that is working on her doctorate. I couldn't resist this photo op in the courtyard outside of the Music Hall, it is so beautiful and artsy.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Disneyland 1

In April 2010 we took the boys to Disneyland for the first time. Disneyland is truly the "Happiest Place On Earth". It is where Eric and I went for our honeymoon almost 10 years ago and where we vacationed when we were pregnant with Jarron 6 years ago. I have the fondest memories of my Mother taking me when I was young and a teenager and I couldn't wait to share this magical place with my boys. To make it even more special, our best friends Bobby, Lori, and Robbie met us there. We called ourselves the "Lucky &" because everywhere we went together we had good luck following us.

We spent 2 days at Disneyland and 1 day at California Adventures. I was so proud of my boys, they rode every ride that their height allowed, which was most of them. We even fudged a little for some rides by stuffing their shoes to make them taller. They loved every fast spin, drop, and fall. We rode Space Mountain 3x (my favorite) and some of the other favorites twice. They even rode on the Tower of Terror and loved it. I hated it, they are braver than I am!

This is the countdown we made because we were all sooooooo excited for our adventure.

ToonTown

Jarron and Robbie checking out the map to see where we will go next.

Disneyland 2

California summer 2010

My mom, Lori's mom, my boys, and I drove 2 days to Folsom, California to visit our best friends the Martinez family. We enjoyed the weather and lushness of Northern California. We stayed busy going to Gymnastics and Karate with Robbie, Playing at splash parks, going to the beach and river, and most enjoyable, playing in their backyard. It is beautiful with its numerous trees, hedges, ground covering, flowers, and perfect grass.

Slip and Sliding

Finding slugs, snails, and worms

Oh my

We went on yet another adventure and rode the Light Rail into Sacramento. I don't think Lori will ever recover from that day! We got lost and met some shady characters but we survived :)

On the way home we stopped at a Cheese factory along the 99 that was a quaint little place. It had a small petting zoo, antique signs and furniture, BBQ tri tip sandwiches, ice cream parlor, and this fantastic tree house. You can climb up 6 levels and on each level, the kids can look out the window and honk a horn. Way cool!

Pacifica Beach

We cannot step foot in California without going to the beach. It is by far our favorite thing to do. This is our first experience in Northern California though and we were not prepared. It was 55 degrees and My Mom and I were the only people wearing bathing suits and flip flops. Thank goodness we brought warm clothes for the boys, just in case.

The cold did not hinder our need for adventure though and we hiked it to some tide pools and explored.

We found jelly fish

Star fish

Sea anenomes, snails, crabs, hermit crabs, sand shrimp, limpits, and more. I even went swimming (to save my flip flop). We had a great day!

American River

We went to the American River in Folsom, Ca. and hiked down river to explore some great rock formations. The water was so clear and there wasn't any litter floating around. I can't wait to go back and kayak down that river!