Blueberry Picking!

This morning we headed to the Underwood Family Farm in Somis (about 30 minutes away from our house) to pick some blueberries!  Having wanted to take the kids to do this for a few years now, I was excited to actually be on our way!  Shane went last year while I was in Michigan and Faith was sick. 

Faith went all out even dressing for the occasion!  In the corner you can see the stroller!  Olivia went along for the adventure too, but she wasn't much help!

 

I was pleasantly surprised how well Faith and Shane did picking berries.  We were able to fill three containers in about 40 minutes!  Although once Shane remembered he could eat a few as he picked, there was more eating occurring than anything else!

 

After we were finished picking for the morning, the kids fed carrots to the goats!  They had a great time, as did I!  We look forward to going again soon as some of our friends want to join us next time! 

Six Months Old!

Yes, it's true, the baby is already six months old!  While I am amazed at each month that goes by and how fast it is all going, six months is one of those milestone months!  Olivia started trying some real food!  While my intention was to wait until the six month birthday (Monday), Saturday night while making some homemade guacamole for the fam I figured why not give her a bit of avocado?!  And she liked it!  She has had more avocado, some oatmeal, and even a little bit of sweet potatoes!  She is getting the hang of what to do with the food on her tongue, but she's not actually eating too much yet!  We look forward to all the rapid changes that will also happen in the next six months!  The first year is full of so many amazing changes and developments! 

 

While we didn't do much over the holiday weekend, we had a great time being home, getting some things done around the house, using the BBQ and eating meals outside, and of course for the kids playing!

 

Sunday evening we went to Padaro for dinner!  It was such a gorgeous night!  The kids played in the sand while Steve and I enjoyed watching them and just talking and relaxing!

 

One final note, the kids and I had been talking about earthquakes in the past week.  They had never felt one before as usually they are at night or just small.  Well, this morning we had one they could feel!  It's origin was off the coast of Santa Barbara, and it was a 4.6, which is considered small, but it was big enough to feel here!

Legoland!!

On Monday we spent our first ever day at Legoland in Carlsbad, CA.  It ended up being a great day and a great trip!  We left Sunday after church, and stopped by to see Steve's Aunt Joan and Uncle Roger in Laguna Woods on the way.  The kids were so excited to see where Aunt Joan lives!!  After a very nice visit, we drove the rest of the way to Carlsbad, checked into our hotel, and the kids went for an evening swim!

The hotel had a great pool, and the kids enjoyed swimming in it (and jumping into it!) both evenings we were there!

 

Upon arriving on Sunday evening, I realized that we forgot shoes for Faith!  She had her church shoes that she wore down to Legoland, but those would not work for walking around the park all day Monday!  Thankfully, some of our friends who were going with us to Legoland had an extra pair that fit Faith perfectly!  And they looked cute too!

 

At the park on Monday the kids enjoyed many rides.  They also enjoyed some of the Lego play areas that were scattered throughout the park.  Here the kids are playing with some of their friends and Pastor Koch.  We had a group of 17 that went into the park together!  The kids loved having many of their friends with us! 

 

Thankfully it was a gorgeous, warm (but not too hot!) day as those who went on this Pirate ride ended up getting very wet!!  They all loved the ride though as they shot giant water guns at other boats as well as people outside of the ride just watching!!

 

Faith received her driver's licence after driving her Lego car around the streets of this ride!  She was proud of herself that she pressed the brakes and stopped at the stop signs!  This was the point at which Shane ran out of gas!  He was tired, and asked to go back to the hotel to rest!  Thankfully, that was easy to do as the hotel was next to the park! 

 

On the bouncy ride with friends!  It was so nice that most of the kids enjoyed going on the rides as much as Faith did! 

 

The final ride of the day!  We were at the park from when it opened until they closed! 

 

I love this picture!  It captures the day - tons of fun with friends!!  We had a blast at Legoland and are already looking forward to our next trip back there!  Hopefully this fall we will make it there again!

Relay for Life

On Saturday the kids and I joined the team "Waves of Grace" from our church to participate in the Relay for Life at Ventura Beach State Park.  We were all excited to participate in this great even to raise money for cancer research. 

While the main point of the event was to walk laps, there was quite a bit of fun to be had along the way!  Having the kids there meant that we focused on the fun!  During one of our laps, Faith wanted to stop at the booth to dress up like a firefighter!  She looked great!  We sent the picture to Steve, who was at work, as Faith was very excited to think she might be wearing the same thing he was at that time!

 

The kids thought they should walk a lap and then have a snack of some sort!  There was food at our team's headquarters as well as food for purchase along the walking path!  One of our food breaks included some shaved ice!

 

Faith made sure she looked the part for the "Flower Power" themed hour!  Over the course of the three hours that we spent at the Relay for Life, the kids each walked eight laps which equaled two miles!  They did a great job, had fun, and want to do it again next year!  Our team raised $4000 for cancer research!  Way to go team Waves of Grace!

Preschool Program and more

Wednesday night was Shane's preschool program and art show.  Yes, two programs in two nights!  We enjoyed hearing Shane and his classmates sing two songs, and it was fun to see many pictures he painted hanging in his classroom.  The picture quality is not great, but that is Shane far right of the first row. 

 

While Olivia is not on the move yet, she is definitely not a still newborn anymore that will stay in exactly the same spot when left alone.  I started her in the middle of this playmate, and when I came back a few minutes later she had squirmed her way almost entirely off of it!

 

She has also been enjoying the swing!  I love this picture as it shows those incredibly chubby cheeks!  And she was comfortable like this!  I tried to move her back thinking it wasn't too comfy and she cried!  It's hard to believe she will be six months old in 10 days!!  We bought some baby food today at the store in preparation of starting some food when she does turn six months!

Awand Awards Ceremony

Tuesday night marked the end of another year of Awana!  Once again, this was the weekly activity that both Faith and Shane looked forward to the most!  The kids each received awards for the completion of their books for the year, as well as an attendance award. 

 

Shane also received a special award for his fire truck that we made for the Drive-In movie night!  Steve and I were both shocked about that one! 

 

This picture is of all the Sparks group (Faith's group) singing a song for all the parents.  Faith is somewhere in the middle!  Next year both kids will be in Sparks! 

Olivia's first lake trip

We spent four days last week out at Lake Havasu.  It was a fun, relaxing trip, and it happened to be Olivia's first trip out there!  At five months of age, that was actually the oldest any of our three kids had been on their first trip to the lake!  She did very well, which was a huge relief!

 

 

 We actually did something totally new in Havasu this trip.  We made a visit to the city's indoor water park!  The pool and lake water were a little chilly for the kids, so we thought that it would be a perfect time to try out this place.  It turned out to be very fun for the kids as there was a water slide, wave pool, outdoor area with giant sprinklers and water guns, in addition to some smaller pools indoors.  We all had a great time, and it was fun to be able to sit in a wadding pool with Olivia!  Shane went on the water slide many, many times!!

Here is Faith exiting the slide.  She enjoyed the slide too, but also would run to the wave pool any time the waves started up!

 

This picture of the two boys was taken yesterday at Grandma Poelstra's house as we were there to celebrate her birthday and Mother's Day!  Aren't they cute?!?

Family Gathering

Last Saturday many of the Southern California Roeda family members gathered together to see each other in addition to Uncle Jack, visiting from Grand Rapids!  It was a fun afternoon and evening, highlighted of course by the two baby cousins!  Since Uncle Jack's grand kids were not there, he pulled out his lap top to show us how big they are all growing!

 

Hudson and Olivia were more aware of each other than their previous meeting a few months ago! 

 

As always Faith was excited to see Aunt Joan!

 

Faith also received some birthday gifts from Uncle John and Aunt Sue!  She had grand plans of squirting Shane with her new water gun!

 

One last one of the babies!  They were both so good and so sweet!

 

This picture is not from the family party, but it was too cute not to post!  Faith wanted to read her school book to Shane!  They can be so sweet sometimes!