This is our family pumpkin:

This is Dylan’s Pumpkin:

And this is how Aubri’s turned out:

We made this one for the baby before we knew what little Daphni was going to be:

Please click here to view these photos in our gallery.

Live Oak is a Music Festival to benefit Public radio that is put on every Fathers Day Weekend. It’s three days of music, arts, crafts, camping and friends. The music was a great mix of Americana, Roots, Reggae, Rag time and Folk. Every morning at 8 people line up to get into the main stage area so they can lay claim to their place for the day with their low back beach chairs. If you get up to explore the kids area, or the arts for sale, or grab a bite to eat your seats are up for grabs so someone else can enjoy the show. Its an understanding that when you come back they will get up so you can enjoy your seats. Its just a really great friendly vibe from everyone there. There was a lot for the kids to do in the dedicated kids section. Aubri made her own hula hoop and Dylan got to create a rocket. They both made multiple paintings, played some ping pong and tetherball, and ran around with their friends Leo and Ruthie. They also saw a few friends from school that we didn’t even know were going.

On top of the excitement of the festival it was also our first family camping trip. We got to try out our new tent, mattresses, sleeping bags, etc… It all went even better than i expected. With the help of Maurica the tent was up in less than 20 min, and I even got it back in the bag when the trip was over. Tomi didn’t think it was possible. The kids were great. They both loved sleeping out in the tent and slept really well. They got to find firewood and roast marshmallows, which I think was the best part of the trip for them. They didn’t want to leave and I think they would both be very happy living in a tent the rest of their childhood.

Live Oak will definitely become a tradition for us that we go to every year for a very long time. It has also made us realize how fun camping is as a family and it has inspired us to seek out some new camping spots. We already have multiple trips planned for the summer. So stay tuned for more summer camping posts. See all the pics from the weekend here

Dylan loves live Oak this much

Aubri and the Rollie Polie

Aubri's Hula Hoop

This was an intense stare down

He at least looks the part

Getting ready to go

His Birthday was on 01/20 and he decided this year that instead of doing a big party like he has in the past, he wanted to either do Disneyland or Monterey with the Family (looks like we are going to Disneyland later this month), with the one condition that he got to spend his birthday with his friends Nate and Braden. So that night Shelby, Dustin and the boys came over after everyone got home from work. Tomi and I made bean and cheese burritos at Dylans request.

But Dylan, Nate and Braden were so excited to get back to their wii nobody really ate anything. After many sword fights, table tennis battles, and a few frames of bowling we were able to lure them back to the table with an Ice Cream Birthday Cake from Doc Burnstein’s, always delicious. Wii wasn’t enough to pull them away from the table now. With Dylan turning four there was the perfect amount of candles to be licked by the three boys and Aubri. After making sure that every last bit of ice cream was off the candles they finished of the pieces of cake. Dylan has made great friends here and was very happy to share his birthday with them.You can see more pics from the “party” here.