All Dressed Up

The other day Nathaniel got himself all ready to go to the store, he put on mommy's big red boots, grabbed an umbrella and then swiped his sister's wallet from her desk.

 

 

 

Scooting

Since we are going to be traveling for Christmas this year the kids opened some of their Christmas presents early. New helmets for both, and a new scooter for Nathaniel, gifts from Grandma Betty and Grandpa Terry were quickly put to good use gliding around the park!

 

 

 

 

A Foggy Day at the Tide Pools

After our Thanksgiving feast last week, we made a visit to the Tide Pools at Fitzgerald Marine Reserve with Bruce, Ana, Caroline and Robert. Apparently everyone else had the same idea because there were hundreds of other people wandering around in the fog searching for sea-life in the pools. And with good reason, because in addition to the beautiful weather and conveniently timed tides, the harbor seals were out on the rocks nearby putting on a show.

 

 

Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving holiday started with a trip to the Children's Discovery museum with pilgrim Lillian and fire fighter Nathaniel, we then enjoyed Thanksgiving diner with friends, family and the cutest little Christmas tree in town. The kids also enjoyed playing in a giant cardboard box filled with stuffed animals.

 

 

 

 

Fall Color

Even in Northern California we enjoy a bit of fall color every now and then. This scene of the kids playing under the golden trees after-school school as too pretty not to photograph.

 

 

Playdate at the Zoo

Lillian's friend Klara invited her to join them on a trip to the Zoo for Veterans Day. Since Eric and I were both working that day we weren't able to join them, but Klara's mom sent us these wonderful photos. You may recognize some of these photo ops from our trip to the zoo last year.

 

 

 

 

 

Austin and Mayu's Wedding

A few weeks ago Eric and Kristen snuck off to Hawaii for a few days to attend their dear friend Austin's wedding. On their first trip alone together in many years they enjoyed leisurely dinners with many bottles of wine, the company of good friends and many beautiful sunsets. Grammy and Pop-pop held down the fort, managing school schedules and dealing with sick kids. Eric and Kristen are very grateful for the help in making the trip possible!

 

 

 

 

 

Nathaniel's Second Birthday

Nathaniel's second birthday was last week. On Wednesday we celebrated his big day with ice cream and chocolate chip cookies. Later that weekend we had a birthday party for him at the park, complete his favorite foods, friends, an egg hunt for the little ones and Eric's fantastic chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting. Nathaniel received many trucks for his birthday. He proudly shouted "that's mine!" whenever he saw a new truck to be added to his ever growing collection.

 

 

 

 

Halloween 2013

Halloween this year was a whirlwind of fun for the kids, from the costume parade at Lillian's school to trick-or treating in our neighborhood with friends. Nathaniel reluctantly donned his pirate outfit and set out with the big kids for his first trick-or-treating experience. He had no idea what was going on at first, but when we stopped by our neighbor's house and his big-kid-buddy Jack gave him a chocolate bar he was so excited and happily ran from house to house for over an hour collecting candy in his pumpkin bucket.

 

 

 

 

 

Klaus in the House (again)

A few weeks ago our friends Ryan and Joanna came to visit with their kids Klaus and Susana. Lillian and Klaus go way back, from when they were tiny babies, to toddler tea parties and some preschool touring around LA. They always seem to have a great time together. Nathaniel even had a little baby buddy (and rival) in Susana.

 

 

Walkathon Time!

It's walkathon time again! Lillian's school holds this big fundraiser every fall. This year Lillian walked 71 laps (just 4 laps shy of a possible 75), about 7.1 miles to raise over $300 for her school. Nathaniel got to go too, and managed to walk a lap or two himself. Although most of his time was spent playing on the playground, trying to run off, hiding and get himself lost in a crowd. Keeping track of this little guy is a full time job!

 

 

 

 

The Shortest Camping Trip Ever

Some parents from Lillian's elementary school organize a yearly camping outing in over a weekend in September. Last year Eric and Lillian attended while Kristen and then 10 month old Nathaniel stayed home. This year, we were excited that Nathaniel was at a perfect age to go camping with the group too. Our first camping experience as a family of four. Mother Nature had something else in mind. September in California is usually reliably warm and sunny, but this year were were visited by a freak September rain storm. The rain started on Friday night and when we arrived at the campsite on Saturday morning and found the cold soggy campers who had gotten soaked while camping Friday night and were ready to head home. That, combined with even more rain, Saturday afternoon convinced us to turn around and head home as well. We did manage to get in a short hike with the kids in the foggy forest before heading back to our dry warm house.

 

 

Vacation in Paradise

This summer we joined Grammy and Pop-Pop for their annual summer getaway to Kauai. Auntie Erin and Preston also joined us for part of the trip. We spent most days hanging out at the beach, either the beach just across the street from the house or one of many nearby beaches. With the impatient toddler in tow we had to keep our outings short and simple. 

The kids' favorite activity was floating in inner tubes with Grammy at Anini beach near the house we were staying at. By the end of the trip Nathaniel was even joining them for their little float parties with a tiny tube of his own.

Kauai is home to feral chickens, they are everywhere. Nathaniel loved to shout out chicken (or sometimes duckling) every time he saw one. 

We stopped to see the stunning Kilauea lighthouse perched high above a bird sanctuary. Lillian learned a tough lesson when we saw a bird that had fallen out of it's nest. The ranger informed us that nothing could be done for the little bird and that made Lillian a little sad.

Tunnels beach was an early favorite beach, with white sand, clear water and beautiful accessible snorkeling. On our very last day we visited what was probably everyone's favorite beach Ke'e beach, tucked into verdant hills at the start of the Na Pali coast trail. The beach had tons or wild roosters and some nice snorkeling. 

The one downside of life in a tropical paradise is the bugs. Here in California with our dry summers we almost never encounter mosquitoes. Nathaniel didn't seem bothered by the mosquitoes at all, but poor Lillian was covered in welts by the end of the trip. Poor girl seems to be particularly allergic to mosquito bites.

More pictures from our trip can be found in our web album, here.