Where the Watermelons Grow

Cousin Steph had her nuptials in San Francisco last weekend. I can't tell you how great it was to get out of town for a while and into a real city. We did some touristy stuff, hung out with the Thorson Clan, and watched Steph and Tim tie the knot. Aside from traffic, it was a great time. Daniel was pretty happy hanging out with his grandpa Thorson. 

Sarey met us at Pier 39. Love those sea lions.

 Sam and Addie stole the show.

Awesome bride and groom.

Beautiful Jen

Poking the bear.

The pink binkies were a gift for the baby girl from Sarah, but after hours in the car, they ended up saving the day. This kid hasn't taken a pacifier in at least 6 months, but it did the trick.

Kelly, Jared, Jen and the kids followed us up and crashed at our house. Sweet, funny Addie on the air mattress.

Exhausted, weddinged-out Jen went to bed after 2.

Friendies

We were pretty stoked to be able to visit with Sarah and the Niemans on our way out of town. Sarah met us in downtown Clayton to play in the park. She and Danny were buddies as usual. And you know, we kind of liked seeing her too... Wish this girl lived closer, but we're looking forward to her visit later this month!

Jess and Dave are our friends from the Comic Frenzy days, and I wish we had hung out more when we lived in the same little town. Jessica fed us an amazing dinner. There was a game of pool, a youtube session, a batch of cookies, and a first game of Settlers of Catan. Really, we had so much fun. We ended up spending the night and getting an early(ish) start home the next morning.

Daniel is One!

We had a low-key, grandparents party for Danny Boy's first birthday. He got some sweet gifts and a nice piece of chocolate cake, which he wasn't sure what to do with. In the picture above, you can see Danny's very first portrait. One of those embryos is the big-head boy.

He loved Woody!

He got very excited when everyone started singing to him.

Side note: We were at Ikea in Sacramento, and Aunt Kelly started playing with Daniel and a plush baby (boy) doll she found in a display. He LOVED it. I thought it'd be a good idea to get him a baby to play with to help him understand how to treat his baby sister when she comes. I see nothing wrong with that. Well, Jesse was opposed to a "baby doll," so this is Gonzo, the Great Baby. He was a gift from Grandpa Thorson, and now Danny and I rock him and...honk his nose. Gently.

He figured it out.

Huckleberry Hound

Huckleberry picking is the opposite of peach picking. You drive up a mountain, get lost, keep driving up, and spend 2 hours picking 6 cups of fruit. But you're in the mountains, and it's crisp and cool, and your berries go kuplink, kuplank, kaplunk. Like this:

Daniel got changed on the truck bed. Like a real mountain man.

Peach Picking

Oh, peaches. We love them, and we love picking them. This year, we had an extra pair of hands. I can still feel the juice running down my back...

Visits

Just a few fun visits we had during August:

I got to go to a play with a big TV star. Our long-time (long, long) time friend, Zach, was in town, and he had an extra ticket to OSF's My Fair Lady. Zach and I played Henry and Eliza (respectively) our senior year of high school, so it was an extra-special good time. The show was fantastic, and the company couldn't have been better. No really, you can imdb him here.

We went to dinner at our old friends' house. The Wileys have been like grandparents to Jesse, and they're some of our favorite people. Check out this beautiful high chair that Bro. Wiley restored.

 Grandma Kim came for a visit. Danny was thrilled!