Two weeks, two hikes

Hiking has always been one of our favorite family activities, however for the past two years, circumstances have kept us form doing much hiking. It all started with Lillian was too heavy to ride in the backpack but too slow to keep pace on the trail, then Kristen had 9 months of pregnancy and a few months of c-section recovery. Now that Lillian is 5, and can hike for a good 3-5 miles without too much complaints and Nathaniel is at a perfectly portable age we are enjoying hitting the trail agian.

The past two weeks afforded us two great opportunities to get out and enjoy nature. The first was the father's day hike/picnic for dads that our stroller hiking group does every year. The dad's and kids only hike was followed by a pot-luck picnic and wine tasting for the whole family, good fun for all. We had invited some friends along and they had so much fun that the following weekend, when looking for a way to kill a beautiful cool summer afternoon, we decided to invite them to hike again. Lillian was thrilled to have a friend to hike with and we delighted to show our friends some of our favorite local hiking spots.

 

 

 

 

The Transit of Venus

After we had so much fun watching the eclipse, we just had to do something for the Transit of Venus as well.  This event is much more rare, and happened to fall on Eric's "Daddy Day" so we thought it would be a great excuse to pack up Nathaniel and Lillian and take the bus to nearby NASA Ames Research Center.  It was quite the scene, and we were really glad we took the bus, as the traffic was backed up for blocks with people trying to get in.  There was a line of over an hour to get into the visitor's center, but fortunately several amateur astronomy clubs were set up in the parking lot offering a variety of views of the event.   Lillian checked out the images of the spot on the sun, but was way more excited about finding several of her friends there as well.  The bus ride back was quite the party with all the kids goofing around at the back of the bus.

 

 

 

 

Big Thoughts From the Little Dude

Nathaniel says: "Hey there, it's been a while . . .


Have I told you how much I like chicken? I really like chicken! And fish! And sweet potatoes! And apples sauce! I suppose I just like food!

I like getting into stuff too! My toy box is always a favorite.

Sometimes my sister likes to get close . . . too close . . . 

and it makes me mad!

She means well . . . but you know how she is.

 She sure loves me though, and takes good care of me most of the time.


And we're learning to make beautiful music together."