Camping at the Beach

We just got home from our annual beach camping trip. We normally travel with a big group of friends to Dillon's Beach, but this year we had to pick a flatter locale because Jenn was on crutches. We went to Doran's Beach (in Bodega Bay) and had a fabulous time. The ocean was RIGHT THERE and we didn't have to hike over dunes. The weather was beautiful and the company was amazing.

Right across from our campsite was this clearing of trees perfect for children to hide in. It was their secret spot. These four are best friends for life.

Tyler, Lucy, Aria and Matea

When we arrived at the beach the kids were excited to find that someone had dug a huge hole for them to jump into and get completely filthy in. Someone had done a lot of work digging that hole and our kids took full advantage of playing in it. This was probably one of the only times Tyler wasn't running like a banshee on the trip
They had a good time running from the wavesLast time Matea was at the ocean with her family she had a little "incident" with getting taken out by a wave, so this time she just preferred sitting on the beach and playing in the sand. Once or twice she got brave and headed towards the water to run from the waves, but she was never actually that close. Besides, she looks pretty cute right up here anyways. Normally when we camp on the coast we go into town for a day and eat some clam chowder and fish 'n chips. This time we added in a little sightseeing and went to Bodega Head. It had an absolutely gorgeous view. We weren't looking too gorgeous, but the background sure was.
Jenn is crazy...just let that be known. The kids wanted to hike this, so Zach and Jenn took them down there. Crutches?! No worries!

Following tradition we had the fish fry on our last night there. Mat, Sabrina, and Pat caught some fish and crabs and we cooked them up for dinner. We also had some that was purchased at the wharf for backup. Zach had fun deep frying french fries, hot dogs, and fish. The dinner was so yummy!

Even Lucy tried the fish!

You can't end the night without a campfire and s'mores! The kids had a great time and we all really enjoyed ourselves. So much so that we can't wait to go back next year!


And the first thing we did when we got home...BATHE!

Fireworks!

Happy 4th of July!

Every year we watch the Cameron Park Fireworks Spectacular (thier name...not mine) with some friends at their parent's house. It's prime seating and the show is so good! We really enjoy going every year. This would be the first year that Lucy actually stayed awake to see the show, so she was excited! The kids kept running around asking, "How much longer? How much longer?" Zach caught them in a moment of excitement...

And here I think Zach caught of moment of adoration...This is our view of Cameron Park Lake from our cheap seats. Pretty good if you ask me!


Happy Birthday America!
Since Lucy always falls asleep she was pretty impressed by this display. She kept saying over and over again how much she loved these fireworks. And Tyler thought they were in 3-D. Overall, everyone was pretty impressed!

The Annual Laurel Oaks 4th of July Bike Parade

The kids always enjoy decorating their bikes for the annual bike parade. Over the years we've accumulated some pretty cool decorations to use on the bikes. I must admit, though, that my favorite decorations are the hats and the cute kids!They weren't fans of the hats, so they took the requisite picture and then promptly removed them!
We must document the fact that Mom was on crutches this 4th of July.
Everyone ganged up on Mom and forced her to ride on the motorcycle with Zach. He was leading the parade around the neighborhood and now Jenn was too. Crutching around the neighborhood wasn't really an option...so we made the ride festive.

Grandma Karla always attends the annual party with us and this year she chased the kids while we led the parade. She did a pretty good job keeping up with them!
The Laurel Oaks gang of bikers

We really love living in our neighborhood and taking part in these annual traditions.

Tyler Graduates Preschool

On Friday, July 18th Tyler graduated from being a Queen Bee at Busy Bees Preschool. He will move on to kindergarten in August. He's excited and ready to move on to his next adventure, but it was a bit sad at the same time. He's been at the same preschool and had Miss Jacquelyn as a teacher for three years. We're ready for him to move on and to have Lucy become a Honey Bee...but it's sad when you think of your kids growing up so fast.

Tyler receives his "diploma" from Miss B

The Queen Bees Class of 2010 - Sophia, Tyler, Aowyn, Hayden, Addison, Scout, Haley, and Payton
Tyler proudly displaying his diploma
At the "after party" they had a tattoo artist and Tyler got a dragon of some sort on his arm. He was also proudly wearing the tie dyed shirt that they had made in class earlier in the week. Payton, Tyler, and Scout - these three have been together for all three years at Busy BeesLucy finally decided that she wanted her face painted and we had to wait in line a long, long time to have it done. Luckily she was pleased with it when we were done and it stayed on her face for awhile.Tyler had so much fun in preschool. We can only hope that future years in school bring the same joy.

Tumble Time Show

Once a year Tumble Time puts on a show for the parents and kids. In all the years that we've gone to Tumble Time we have never participated in one of these, so we weren't really sure what to expect. And we forgot the camera! We couldn't go on the night that Lucy's normal class performed, so we joined another class and rushed in at the last minute. Lucy was a little nervous at first, but she warmed up and started dancing to the song and practicing her "ta-da!" moves. She was really cute...even if her underwear were hanging out of her leotard. Well, that was cute too. Especially when she reached up to pick them out. It was reminiscent of her mom at the same age...

Grandma Karla, Grandma Barbara, Grandpa Gary, Daddy, Mommy, and Tyler were in attendance at the show. After the kids did a group dance and song they broke up into groups and showed us some floor moves and some trampoline action. It was neat that Lucy could showcase her gymnastic skills. Mommy goes to class with her every week, but everyone else was surprised at her skill. She's going to be a great gymnast for sure!

At the end of the show they gave each kid an award and had them stand on the podium. Zach used his camera phone to take a picture of her on the podium and then we snapped a few pictures of her at home with her award. She's an award winning gymnast!

Lucy's Soccer Clinic

Lucy is SO into doing everything her big brother does, so we decided to sign her up for a soccer clinic for three year olds. Maybe it wasn't the best idea, but she had fun for the most part. Especially since her best friend Matea was there with her.

Here are the two beautiful girls getting ready for some soccer!

Look how cute these two are...
Giving the coaches some high fives
Lucy did so well dribbling the ball...until I told her to use her other foot to guide it back and the coach told her to use just the one foot. She got so nervous and upset and started to cry. It made me feel so bad! It's really hard to see your children have insecurities.

Here she is after being upset. It broke my heart to see her cry.Go team of three year olds! Whoo-hoo!
Lucy did well dribbling, shooting the ball, and then being a goalie. In the future she will do really well at soccer...but maybe in a few years she will enjoy it more and not cry. I've promised to be her coach when she's in pee wee soccer, so hopefully that will help. Or not...

Dough Winnings!

My posts are so out of order and I'm sorry! Lately we have been so disorganized. Zach finally downloaded some pictures from our camera, so I'm going to get everything updated and in control...hopefully.

For t-ball one of the team's fundraisers was to sell Otis Spunkmeyer cookie dough. Tyler was able to sell (or maybe his mom helped him out a bit) 30 tubs of cookie dough. He came in third place overall and was able to snag an $80 prize. Here he is with his winnings...

Since he's a kid and money is burning a hole in his pocket (just like his Dad) he wanted to go buy a Wii game ASAP. He was very excited to get home and play some of this game before his t-ball game. It's been a great bonding experience for Zach and Tyler.

With Love, Barkley

Today, July 9, 2010, was such a sad day for the Guthmiller Family. We lost our beloved dog Barkley. She was such a big part of our family and one of the best dogs we've ever been blessed to own. Zach and I bought Barkley before we were married and she even became part of our wedding ceremony...sort of. I was trying to cry and Zach whispered in my ear that there would be tons of dog poop to clean up when we got home and it made me laugh. Everyone asked us what sweet nothings he was whispering in my ear at the time. If only they knew...

Here is our first Christmas as a family

It's really hard to know if Barkley was pleased when we got her a little sister. She and Belle became fast friends and took over our house! They did end up loving each other. Unfortunately, both of these dogs have gone on to a better place.
Barkley was such a good sport!

Barkley and BB got along fairly well and snuggled quite often as Barkley got older. She was such a cuddler and loved every minute of attention that she could get.
Oh sweet Barkles...how we will miss your kisses, drools, yuck mouth, and the way you would shake your booty when you got excited. We have a huge hole in our heart without you here. Go find Belle in Heaven and finally show her who's boss!

Folsom Zoo Field Trip

We are still playing catch up with the pictures and the blog!

On Friday, May 21 (see...way behind) Tyler's class went to the Folsom Zoo for a field trip. It was nice to be able to spend some time with Tyler and his class. They were given a sheet of paper that had pictures of animals and they needed to find them in the zoo. I don't see how they were able to match the pictures up, though, with them running all over the place and barely looking at the animals. But, it does seem like they had fun.

Here is Tyler stopping for one half second to smile for the camera...

She was so excited to be a part of the Queen Bees field trip. She loves to hang out with the bigger kids.
Who let this bear out of the zoo?! It's a pretty cute cub.
I think this was in front of the bear cages and they were making their growly faces. Or maybe that's just Tyler's regular smile these days. Hard to know.After the jog through the zoo we had a few minutes to ride the steam engine. The kids all piled in the train (in the animal cage at first) and got ready for the train ride! It was probably the only time during the day that they sat still for more than two seconds. This is Tyler and his best friend Payton being silly.

The conductor is notorious for taking a picture of every family (with a camera) and explaining how to set the settings for the optimal picture. Of course his optimal settings didn't get rid of my love handles!
Hmm...I wonder if there's a little love connection here on Lucy's part? Is this something we have to get used to with her older brother bringing cute friends around?
After the train ride we had pizza with the rest of the class and played at the park. It was a really fun day! Field trips are fun for the parents too.

Time to Tumble

Lucy has been going to Tumble Time for gymnastics for 7 months (this go 'round) and she really loves to tumble. We finally took the camera to her class to capture her in action...and her brother. Apparently, he likes to play on the equipment when he thinks nobody is looking.

Here is Lucy bouncing on the big trampoline

Apart...together...apart...together Here is a BIG jump from Lucy
Don't know what happened here. Maybe a seat drop and she didn't get back up. Check out the pouty face...
Swinging into the foam pit
Time to tumble!
She was very determined to knock those blocks over!

Lucy is really doing well at gymnastics. The teacher said she could move up to the class with 4 year olds if we wanted her to. She seems to enjoy the sport...and the leotards that go along with it!