The Golden Gate Bridge

This past week when we were driving around we heard a traffic report talking about the Golden Gate Bridge. Lillian chimed in that she didn't know what the Golden Gate Bridge looked like. I told her that she had been to the bridge a long time ago, but probably didn't remember it. She really wanted to see what it looked like so this Saturday when we found our selves with no prior commitments, we headed up to San Francisco for the day with the goal of getting a good long look at the Golden Gate Bridge. There are lots of ways to see the bridge, but many of them have drawbacks. You can drive across it, but that is kind of boring. You can also walk and bike across it, but that's kind of dangerous. Hiking to it or under it can be an interesting way to view it, but I thought we could really up the fun factor by taking a boat ride across the bay to get a good look at the bridge from the water. We took the Golden Gate Ferry from the historic San Francisco Ferry Building across the bay to the scenic town of Sausalito. While there we spent a few hours browsing around town and enjoyed a little snack, then took the ferry back to San Francisco to have dinner at the Ferry Building's gourmet market before heading back home. It was a fun little adventure for everyone.

Windy ride on the ferry's front deck.

The Golden Gate Bridge in all it's foggy glory.

Enjoying the wind free views from ferry's indoor lounge.

Modeling giant hats at the Ferry Building Market.

Doing a little happy dance in Justin Herman Plaza.

Camping

This weekend it was time once again for the third annual stroller hikes camping trip. The trip has something for everyone: Lillian loves to play in nature and enjoy all the joys of the camping experience; Nash gets to roam free, make new friends and swim; it gives Eric the opportunity to play with fire and axes, display his expertise in roasting marshmallows and make use his boy scout outdoorsman skills; and Kristen enjoys the opportunity to kick back and reconnect with old friends. Everyone always returns from the weekend dirty, exhausted, yet somehow refreshed.

Here are a few pictures from the trip, there are some more pictures from the weekend on Maya's album and at Lisa's blog.

Sand castle building by the creek.

Hanging out by the water.

S'more Smores!

Eric the marshmallow master!

Budding Artist

Lillian has become quite a prolific artist lately. She has always loved to scribble with crayons, but her art as of late has morphed from unrecognizable scrawling to something a bit more recognizable. She has been coming home from school each week with reams of artworks to share with us. Each piece of art always has it's own story to go along with it. I've included a sampling of her work below.

Lillian's artistic pony-tail.

Self portrait, Lillian with a flower.

Swan princess with her prince.

Little princess with a mad mommy.

Sumertime

Summertime is in full swing here in California. This past week Lillian's Auntie Erin came to visit since she is on summer vacation from school for a few weeks. A visit from Lillian's Auntie is always a treat, and when we happened to run into Lillian's friend Ellie and her family on their way to Ricks Ice Cream we all jumped at the chance to enjoy a sweet summer treat with our friends. Of course Lillian choose the same pink and purple cotton candy flavored ice cream that Ellie wanted. Auntie Erin also treated Lillian to pizza, frozen yoghourt and a super-duper bubbly, bubble bath while her mom and dad enjoyed a quiet evening out on the town.

This past week also marked Lillian's first swim lesson. She has been loving spending time at the pool and we decided that she was ready to learn how to swim. She was super excited to go to swim school wearing her all pink swim outfit and learn how to swim like a penguin.

The Land of Lincoln

We spent much of our week long vacation at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Springfield with various family members either sick or recovering. After a couple of visits to the Springfield clinic and a few days on antibiotics everyone finally started to feel better.

After dealing with all the sickness, we had a couple of days where everyone was well enough to get out of the house. After contemplating all the various Lincoln site options scattered around Springfield, we decided to take Lillian to see the historic village of New Salem where Lincoln had lived as a young adult before moving to Springfield to start his law practice and political career. The historic site was full of log cabins, vibrant gardens and costumed docents who told tales of life on the rustic western frontier of the 1830s.

The long trip back from Springfield to St. Louis and then the late evening flight to California meant that Lillian passed out on the flight. After being reluctantly awoken from a deep slumber when the flight arrived at SFO she treated us to all manner of intriguing non-sequesters on the drive home from the airport. She was also excited to see a few 4th of July fireworks going off above us on the highway. But she didn't last long, and thankfully passed out again quickly once we got her home in bed.

Uncle Matt and Aunt Jen's Big Day

Last week was Lillian's Uncle Matt and Aunt Jen's big day. It was also a big day for Lillian who got to be a flower girl in the big wedding. She had been gearing up for the event for weeks and was super excited about wearing a fancy dress, carrying flowers, and marching in with her cousins Lucas and Raquel. Unfortunately, the day before the wedding she was struck down with a nasty stomach flu. With lots of TLC and a little ibuprofen she was able to make it through the big day, although the wedding photographer complained that she couldn't catch a smile.

Despite the bad circumstances, Lillian still had a great time. She even participated in some of the contra dancing featured at the reception.

I've collected a bunch more pictures into a Web Album. Grandma Betty also set up a Web Album with tons of photos. Thanks to Meise Fahsl for sharing even more wonderful pictures of the event. If you want to learn more about the bride and groom they have set up a fabulous wedding website.