1st Day of School 2009!

Today was Brad's first day of 2nd grade and Kaya's first day of Kindergarten. Here they are!




And this is Ashlyn after we dropped Kaya off at school. Although, she was consoled by the fact that she can now trash her siblings' rooms while they are gone every day...

We Camped...

So, the Jones family has now been camping. We decided to end the summer with a bang and take the kids on a good old fashioned camping trip. I'll be the first to admit, I'm not much of a camper. I don't like being cold, and I don't like sleeping outside. But we were all good sports and we had a good time. We went with the Harman family which made the trip lots of fun - especially for the kids who loved being with their friends. Here are some of the highlights from our adventure.

Brenden borrowed a tent from a co-worker. I was impressed that he put it up quickly, with no instructions, and it stayed up all night! There were only 2 problems...the tent was on a bit of an incline, and we may have forgotten to clear the rocks underneath. An air mattress would have helped, but we didn't have a pump so it wasn't the most comfortable sleeping arrangement, but we survived.

Ta Da!


A camping trip would be incomplete without roasting hotdogs and marshmellows around the campfire.





After a terrible night sleep, the kids had fun making "deer bobbles" to wear on our hike...





...and then we spent the morning hiking (my favorite activity of the trip). The Harmans took us to the "ruins" of an old estate that was built over a century ago. The kids had a great time climbing around on the rocks and playing with sticks.




And here is a banana slug. We had never seen one before and the kids thought it was cool.



All in all, it was a good time. We might even try it again next summer...

So Sad!

Yesterday Kaylee and Kyle left. They stayed with us for about 6 weeks this summer and we had such a good time with them. Ashlyn packed a backpack with blocks, some pennies, her blankie and a sippy cup and she told me that she was going on the hairplane with Kaylee. She was sad when I told her that she had to stay and be my girl. Today the house is so empty! --I guess it's time to think about going back to school and get back to real life. It was a special summer that we will always remember.

Santa Cruz

We went to Santa Cruz while our company was here. It was a perfect day with beautiful weather and the kids got to go on some rides at the Boardwalk. I was greatful that Kaylee and Mark took the kids on rides and I got to watch...

Can you feel the excitement?





All in all, we had a really fun week. It was busy, but we had such a great time seeing our family.

Muir Woods

Last week Mom and Mark were visiting, so we decided to make a trip up to San Francisco and across the bridge to Muir Woods for some hiking. With a little help from Kaylee's navigation device we were able to successfully travel though the city with no problem - a huge accomplishment for us Simpson ladies who have no sense of direction.


The kids were excited to see the Golden Gate Bridge. This was the first time that Brad and Kaya remember seeing it. Of course it was cold and windy, but we had to get out and take pictures.


Finally we made it to Muir Woods, which was beautiful and peaceful. We spent the afternoon walking around the nice trails and we even saw some deer. It was a great day.

4th of July 2009

We had a great 4th of July this summer. We got to celebrate 2 days in a row because Brenden had Friday off of work and then the 4th was on Saturday. On Friday we went on a day-trip to Monterey. We had a picnic at the park, went on a great bike ride, and played on the beach. Kyle, Kaylee, and Kyle's brother, Tres came with us and it was a lot of fun to have everyone along.

On Saturday we went for an early swim at the Aquatics Center and then we had a nice BBQ in the evening. Matt and Corynne came down that day and I loved having a house full of people. That evening we all went to see fireworks. Ashlyn still asks when we are going to see fireworks again. It was such a fun time to be all together as a family and relax. Ahhh, I love summer!

Home Improvement

Since finishing the CFA exam, Brenden has been busy with home improvement projects again. I am especially proud of his recent accomplishment...installing ceiling lights in our bedrooms. There were no lights at all in the ceilings and we had been using lamps. He was able to figure out the electrical wiring and here are the results. Now if our house burns down, you will all know why...just kidding honey.



Next it was on to the master bathroom. It was exciting to tear out that ugly green countertop.





There is still a lot of work to do...but this is a step in the right direction...