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As a newly minted 11 year old Boy Scout, Davin headed off for his first overnight camp out this weekend sans parents. His troop went to Camp Herms nearly Berkley and from the report that we had back, he had a great time. I think there was some silliness at bedtime but not too much and apparently they couldn't cook their campfire dinners because fires were not allowed so they ate raw potatoes and buns. Otherwise he came home with the same grin but a lot more dirt.  Ellie and Rowan had to hang with Mom and Dad sans their big brother. Ellie kept saying that she missed her brother Davin. Maybe that inspired this contorted sleeping position that she had after we dropped him off at the church.  We checked out the Danville Farmer's Market where Rowan found this amazing pickle. Afterwards we bought a new washer and dryer, something that was probably more fun for us than the kids. 

While I don't see myself doing home school on a more permanent basis, we've had fun learning together. It's great to be able to set our own schedule and go on a field trip whenever we want to! I have a membership to the science museum in Charlotte and was delighted to learn that it reciprocates to several museums in our new area and we can get into them for free. Yay for free!  Our first field trip was to the Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland. It is close to the Oakland temple so we decided to stop there first to walk the grounds and go to the visitors center. We loved the interactive displays about the gospel, temples, and the Book of Mormon, and the view of Oakland and San Francisco is always a favorite.  At the space center we learned about energy... ...the moon... ...and what it is like to be an astronaut.  We had fun in the scream room and observed the shape of different sounds. Maybe I should have one of these built ...

We have a pool just outside our door at our San Ramon apartment and we have made good use of it. We swim nearly every day; even on cold days earlier in the spring we would go out and sit in the hot tub. The kids are quite the fish, though! They love to swim and it is so fun to watch them improve each day. The boys are particularly excited that they learned how to "dive." I'm glad that we found a house with a pool close by and I'm sure we'll make use of it all summer! 

When I agreed to make the move to California back in November, it was probably a good thing that I didn't know at the time that we wouldn't actually move into our new home until the middle of June. Chris moved to CA in February and rented a one bedroom apartment in San Ramon; at one point we had hoped to move everyone in February as well when we put the house on the market but when we didn't sell right away like we had hoped, we decided to keep the kids in school in Charlotte and not try to move until the summer, thus requiring Chris to set up his bachelor pad in CA so he would have a place to stay. It was a long spring without him. The kids and I were fine but we missed being together and we were ready to make the move. After consulting with the kids' teachers and principal, we decided to withdraw Davin and Rowan from school and move to CA at the beginning of May so that we could all be together. At that point the house was sold and at school the kids would have spent...

Moving to a new area means that there are a host of new adventures and new locations to discover. California is a great agricultural state and I am excited to find new farmers markets and "u-pick" farms. I found a large concentration in Brentwood, on the other side of Mt. Diablo from San Ramon, and cherries are in season this time of year there so we decided to check it out. We started at their farmer's market where we found some lovely flowers...  ... fresh donuts... ... and fresh produce.  After the market we found several orchards loaded with cherries. We stopped at one and found a cherry tree loaded with cherries. The limbs hung low enough that even Ellie could help.  Apparently we did a good job because we ended up with eight pounds! We didn't even make a dent in the tree we were picking!!  We are having fun starting new traditions in our new area as well. San Ramon hosted their annual Art and Wind festival th...

Davin's birthday was a little spastic this year but it only meant that he could stretch the celebration out at least a week. His actual birthday landed in the middle of our scheduled house packing so he had the privilege of spending the day with Grandma and Grandpa Stevenson who took good care of him. They went to the zoo and out to dinner, and finished the day with presents and a cake. After I came back to Utah we celebrated again with a family party that Sunday. The grand finale was when we returned to CA and met Thomas and Jonah at California's Great America for roller coaster fun and pizza afterwards. We love our Davin! Apparently we aren't the only ones either. Davin makes friends easily and it's not a surprise given his generous nature. He can't have a treat without sharing it with someone else. He is excited about life, loves to learn, and has many interests that he is passionate about. He loves sports (playing them, watching them, learning about...

While we were in Charlotte, the kids had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa Stevenson. One evening, they went to the Bountiful Chalk Art Festival and got to do some originals of their own.  They went shopping at Cabela's for fishing poles. Initially they were just looking for poles for Davin and Rowan but Ellie found a princess fishing pole and insisted that she have a "fishing rod" as well. They went fishing with Uncle Jeremy and Uncle Matt and everyone caught a fish-- even Ellie!  Ellie was excited to show me her "tiaras" (lovingly pronounce "chihuahuas" by our dear Ellie) that Grandma spoiled her with while I was gone.  I stayed in SLC with the kids for three more days. We celebrated Davin, Nora, and Cody's birthdays on Sunday afternoon where we feasted on cake and ice cream and had a lovely visit together.  Davin and Wren opened gifts... ... and we were entertained by what will surely b...