More pics from Jess and Troy

Jessica and Troy's Pictures

Jess and Troy took pictures well we were in CA, and they have some really great ones! I just received them, so here are some of the best!

Happy Father's Day!

Here is the annual picture from 17th Street Bar and Grill.  I have also included others!  This is our 5th year. 

Saturday Fun!

My mom was in town for a few days and then our great friends Kate and Jeremy and their son Keiran came into as well!  So even though it was a little rainy we all headed out for some time at the Missouri Botanical Gardens.  Then we said good-bye to my mom and met back up with Kate and the gang for fun at City Gardens and then dinner at Schlafly Tap Room.  How sweet is Keiran???  And do you like how the wedding photographer thought it was a good idea to take a picture in the water, the dresses were getting soaked!!!!

The last and best day in Venice!

Today was by far the best weather day of our trip.  So sunny and pretty warm about 70!  We were thinking about going to Disney today, but with bob's back not 100% we went with our back-up plan.  We walked to Santa Monica Pier and rode the rides at their amusement park.  Walt had a blast!  He loved it!  And all of the rides you could see the ocean.  The ferris wheel was increible, it seemed like you were just floating over the ocean.   After we finished the rides, which by the way had no lines!  We indulged in Hot Dog Stick, an old corn dog place,and then headed back to the beach for one last time.  It was so fun, bob was feeling good and the water seemed a little warmer!  Francine giggled when the water touched her toes.  After naps we took Jess and Troy to the Whaler the bar we found and enjoyed a last meal together! 

Bob and I have taken some great trips, but this trip was amazing!  So worth it! 

Another Awesome Drum Circle Video

Now there are probably 200 hundred people or so it a GIANT drum circle behind us, but we liked this small one off to the side!

Monday Monday

Jessica and Troy were back at work, bob was feeling almost worse, so he found a Dr to go visit in Venice while the kids and I made the trek alone to the beach.  I decided to skip the water, so we found a great big space in the sand to play.  We lasted about 1.5 hours and then it was time to get walking home.  Bob was feeling better after seeing the Dr so we decided to venture out as a family after nap.  I wanted to show them the canals in Venice so we headed down the boardwalk in that direction, but it was a long walk and we started to get hungry, we ended up at this great sports bar and grill, that had the hockey game on almost every HUGE TV.  Bob was in heaven.  He definitely started to feel better!

 here is a video of Francine making one of the cutest sounds ever.  (i think that this was on sunday)

And a great family picture on our walk in the afternoon.

Eventful Sunday

We had a full day planned, when while playing with the kids on the couch, bob twisted funny and wrentched his back.  I heard him mention it but then he didn't say anything.  We first ventured to the Santa Monica Famers Market, as you can imagine it is pretty awesome.  We all got some brunch food.  I had an AMAZING omelete, with spinach, sauteed mushrooms and bacon!  Walt had a cupcake (I mean we are on vacation).   While we were on a blanket eating, bob said that he needed to go home, his back was really in bad shape.  We were sad to see him go, but we carried on.  Walt took 2 turns riding the ponies at the market and then we headed to the beach.  It was a day of kite flying, "surfing", and fun.  We all came back home, helped bob as much as we could.  :)  He was a good sport.

Saturday Surf

So my parents and jess got bob a surf lesson for his birthday. It was saturday morning and Jess took the lesson with him. I didn't get to see it because I was at the park with the kids during the lesson, but he was able to get up and really surfed! He said that he really liked it. After surfing we spent some time on the beach with Jessica and Troy. We went to Jessica and Troy's favorite mexican restaurant La Capana! It is just a few blocks from where we were staying. It was awesome. We all took great naps this afternoon. Walt actually napped in between bob and I, man that kid snores. We really need to get a video of that!

First Day at the Beach

Friday we headed to the beach and had a great time. We were worried that Francine would want to eat the sand, but after she tried it once she decided that it was not good! She loved finding little sticks and shells and handing them to us. Walt loved taking his bucket and making sandcastles. He decided on Friday to make 3 houses and we played "The 3 little Pigs". He always comes up with the most creative activities!

Of course.....

Francine is VERY close to walking and so she is standing up and walking around everything she can find. As soon as we got home from the beach she bonked her head on the corner of the TV stand, it immediately bruised but by the next day you could barely see it. It was right above her left eye.

Day one in Venice

Once we got all of our things into our house that we were staying in. Which by the way totally worked out. It is a one bedroom house with a great deck with a big table, bbq, and hot tub. We went straight to the beach, we were all hungry so we stopped in to a boardwalk cafe. These are some pictures from walt's photo shoot

Venice

I will post a lot more pictures after the trip, but tonight we went down to the beach for the drum circles, and walt was invited to play with some of the drummers. I can't wait to share this one! The trip is going great. The kids have been awesome and the visit with Troy and Jess devine!

Our First Airplane Ride

as a family of 4. Here are the kids right before we take off. Notice the milk beard that Francine has....

we arrived

we are in venice, CA for a week visiting Aunt Jessica and Uncle Troy! The plane ride was great and here are walt's couple thoughts from a cafe on the venice boardwalk.