March / April Happenings (2009)

Well, our family has had a lot going on lately and I have not had enough time to get it all compiled yet for blogging. So I am going to give a little recap.

Alicia brought home a new puppy to keep Maggie & Shelby company. His name is Tucker. He is a salt and peppered mini-schnauzer. He is 8 Months old and full of energy. The boys love him and he is a good fit for the family. Shelby (our German Shepherd) is about 12 yrs old and is getting very weary, but she has been a wonderful dog.



We were able to enjoy some time in the evenings to ride bicycles and hang out around Rio Linda due to the pleasant weather.







Brennan and I took a 4-day trip with his school to Westminster Woods over on the coast and had a blast. We hiked through the forest, studied stream ecology, and examined the marine life at the tidepools. It was a fun trip.











Lots more to come this summer. The boys are anxious for our trip at the end of May to LEGOLAND. Then we have the district convention and our camping trip to Ft. Bragg. We'll keep you posted.

Boys & Bicycles - Feb 2009

Walking back from the bike trail yesterday Brennan made me promise him that
we would go to the BMX track today as it had been over a year since I took
him there. As soon as we got home from the ministry today Owen said he
wanted to try his bike without the training wheels, so I took them off and
we headed down to Westside School for some empty parking lot to practice.
Well, after a couple of pushes he got it just like that. Brennan was very
similar 6 years ago, I wonder who they get it from. Anyway after that
we made an afternoon trip to the BMX track just down the road. The boys
loved it. Brennan said it was his best day and Owen did not want to leave
although he just went over the speed bumps in the parking lot.

Owen Giving thumbs up before we took the training wheels off.

At Westside School getting some coaching from Dad.

Looking confident after some initial cruising.

At the BMX parking lot ready to ride.

Brennan and Owen Having Fun.

I was trying something here by Zooming in and out while depressing the shutter. It is like implying motion as everything but the center looks slightly blurry. I did this on one sunset picture yesterday also. Does it work? You tell me.

Sunset bike-trail walk with the boys. Feb 2009

I have been wanting to take some sunset pictures lately with all the clouds
from various storm systems that have been coming and going, so the boys and
I packed up after I got home from work tonight and headed out to the bike
trail. We made it down to the first bridge and saw numerous birds and Brennan even spotted a
black widow under the bridge. It was a quick trip but at the right time of
day. I thanked the boys for being patient with me.

Great Backyard Birdcount - February 2009

This past weekend was to be Brennan's time to complete an assignment
counting Birds around the area. Unfortunately it was a wet and rainy
weekend. We did however squeak out a few cold minutes to accomplish this
task on Sat. and Sun.. In all we saw some herons, (2) least bitterns, some
killdeer and some coots, but stomping in mud puddles was much more fun as I
soon found out. At least we were able to get them out of the house a
little. No picture of the birds, just the boys.

Family Walerga Park - Feb 2009

Few weeks back we took the family and called some cousins (Aiden, Cameron,
Corrin, and Gabe) to come play with us at a nearby park. The park had been
remade and it was quite a bit neater than we remembered it. Brennan had a
lot of fun with his boomerang and Corrina got to give it a hurl as well.
Everybody came back exhausted and tired, especially after playing with the
Giant Soccer Ball that Alicia had found for cheap. The little kids loved
it.





Owen on the Spider Net.

Jackie and Corrina Helton

Owen on the slide. This was a steep slide too.

Brennan having fun on the rope.

Corrina on the smaller slide.

Aiden and Cameron Posing for pictures (kind of).

Owen and Corrina huggin.

Group shot of the cousins.

Boomerangs are for Boys!

And Girls.

She has a pretty good arm to boot.

Bodega Bay Camping trip - November 2008

Well, with the mild weather that we have been having this Fall / Winter we
decided to take another trip over to the ocean and enjoy the cool air. We
did not anticipate the holiday week to be as busy as it was but we were able
to stay at the Bodega dunes campground for 3 nights. We enjoyed having the
sand dunes in our campsite for the boys to play on. Another highlight was grabbing some Crab and Clam Chowder for lunch as well. We also came across a most unusual spider with a big orange abdomen. The boys liked playing with this fellow. Alicia, not so much. We ended the trip with some sledding down the dunes with Grandpa Curt. Another fun trip, not too cold either.