Willits

 Jan and Lou were so gracious to allow us to come hang out in Willits the week before Fort Bragg. We had a fun time. My mom came over for a couple of days and then I had Andrew, Braxton and Katelyn with me. The kids and I slept in the trailer which was really nice. It was also nice to have a place to put all our stuff, we had so much stuff.

The Monday that we were there, June 12th, was my grandma Brown's 93rd birthday. It was fun to be around for that. We played lots of games, visited, ate yummy food and had cake. Unfortunately grandma was not feeling 100%, apparently that happens often when you are in your 90's??? It was still a great day. Pete, Virginia, Jan and Lou, my mom, me and the kids were all there to celebrate and it was really nice. The only picture from that day.

Virginia took my mom car shopping and they came home with an awesome new CRV for my mom. Hallelujah!!! It will be a great car for her.

Wednesday my mom headed back to Oroville because my siblings from Utah would start arriving on Thursday.

Let me just ay that my nieces and nephews love games. I love games. But we played so many games In Willits. I was shocked by their game stamina. Turns out they have way more game stamina than me. It was actually awesome because for the most part they got along, are using their brains, and are not on electronics. We played so many games!

Wednesday we took a day off from games and Andrew, Braxton, me and Summit headed to Fort Bragg. I had reserved the group campsite but had never seen it before and so I wanted to get my eyes on it. We biked 12.12 miles. The boys did AMAZING!!! It's the furthest either of them had ever biked. It was awesome. They are both on bikes that are too small but they did great. We grabbed lunch. We played at the beach. On the way out of town we got some delicious ice cream. It was a fun day with those 10 year old nephews of mine. 

The bike trail in Fort Bragg runs 7 miles one way now. It is so awesome. We almost did the entire thing.  The weather was perfect. I had Summit in her basket and the boys were on their bikes. Andrews didn't have very good brakes and Braxton's doesn't change gears so it was an adventure.

They did so great. I told them if they didn't complain they could pick lunch. They did not complain so we had to get a burger for Braxton and pizza for Andrew. 

Then we headed to the beach to play. These boys reminded me so much of me and my siblings at their age. They played in the water the entire time. They were body surfing. They went hard and we stayed as long as they wanted. I enjoyed the warm sand with Summit. It was so fun to just watch them.

Seaside, Sand dollar, or 10 mile beach (whatever you call it) was full of these blue creatures I had never seen before. A quick google search told me they were Velella Velella and had washed up for the first time in this area. They looked so interesting.

I think the boys were in the water for close to two hours. They played so hard. It took them a while to warm up. After we headed to Cowlicks for some ice cream. It was a really fun day. We were all exhausted when we got back to Willits. Katelyn stayed back and hung out with aunt Janice all day. 

Thursday we played more games!!! I tried to sneak in bike rides. I was able to bike with Lou multiple times, that was great. I also biked up his hill 3 times. Biking up Pine Mountain is so hard. I really wanted to do it. I wish I would have done it a couple more times. I dread it when I think about it but when you finish there is a true sense of accomplishment. We walked to the pond many times throughout the week as well. One evening I got some great shots of the sunset.

Katelyn is a dog lover and she was so good with Summit. Summit would let her carry her anywhere and anyway. It was really cute.

Friday I decided we needed a day away from games again and we needed to give Jan and Lou a break! I took the kids to confusion hill and then we found a fun little swimming hole. it was great.

The kids really enjoyed confusion hill.

It's a very weird little place but it was good and something different.

It was soooo hot. I wanted to hike but realized that would not go well and so we found a perfect little swimming hole. The kids had so much fun and played so hard.

When we got back to Willits Andrew and Braxton made us tacos for dinner. They were both very confident that they knew how to make that meal and they did great!

Saturday Lou and I went on a bike ride in the morning. After I needed to go to Costco and shop for the camping trip. Braxton joined me. We took mine and Lou's bikes to the shop and then ran to Costco and Walmart. It was great. It was fun to have some one on one time with him.

Sunday Jan and Lou left really early to go get Autumn from the airport. The kids and I went to church in Willits.

We looked a little rough and tumble. We didn't all have church clothes but it was good to go.

Another super annoying surprise Sunday was the Summit was in heat. What the??????? She had an appointment to get spayed the following Monday once we were back in Utah. How did I find out you ask? Oh she bled all over my bedding. That was a not fun. After church I spent the day doing laundry and cleaning. We all needed clean clothes for camping and then I also had to wash the bedding. I felt bad for Summit. It looks to be just as bad in dogs as humans. I had to keep her crated or on her blanket all day, which was a challenge. I got diapers to put on her at night.

Andrew also spent some time looking through my grandma's photos. Look at this cute one of my grandpa and grandma. I learned a story about my grandparents. My grandma told me she hated clothes shopping. Never ever liked it. Her entire married life my grandpa did all her shopping. She was always pretty much the same size and so he just shopped for her. She said he did a great job and the bonus was he spent more money than she would have. I thought that was so cute.

Andrew loved seeing pictures of his dad. Here he is trying to look like him:)

We had such a nice time at Jan and Lou's. They were so gracious to host us for so long and put up with all shenanigans. I really love and appreciate them.