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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lillian's Gallery

Lillian has been very busy this summer with family visits, camps and play-dates, but she has also been finding time for her favorite leisure activity, drawing. Here are some of the lovely works of art she has created over the past month of vacation.

 

 

 

 

Bobcats and Cranes

Nathaniel loves Bobcats and Cranes. It has become a favorite outing recently, touring all the neighborhood construction sites to see the machines at work. Last week we happened upon a busy site with two Bobcats hard at work! And they were actually Bobcat brand machines, despite his use of the term for all construction equipment that aren't easily identifiable cranes.

 

Grandma and Grandpa's Visit

Grandma Betty and Grandpa Terry visited last week. It was a whirlwind of activity. These kids like to keep busy and Grandma and Grandpa were treated to many fun outings including a trip to the Children's Discovery Museum, Coyote Point Park and the Monterrey Bay Aquarium. There was also lots of library visits, book reading, backyard swinging, trips to the park and pool. Most of the pictures from this trip were taken by Grandma Betty, who captured some really great moments, such as the mid-air action shot of Lillian.

 

 

 

 

  

Water Play

We had heard a rumor that the sprinklers at the local park turn on sometime after 8:00, but we hadn't ever been at the park at that late hour.  Until the evening of 4th of July that is, when at 8:15 the sprinklers suddenly turned on! Lillian had so much fun frolicking in the sprinklers on that hot sticky evening. The frolicking was followed by a quick shower and a trip to view the fireworks with some friends.  

Nathaniel has been getting his fair share of water play too. The water spigots for the sand box have been turned on at all the parks, and Nathaniel loves the wet sand. Not just playing and building with the wet sand, but rolling around in the muddy sand and smearing it all over his body. This boy loves textures and wet sand is right up his alley. Of course once he is covered with wet sand, he thinks it is yucky and demands to have his soggy clothes removed. After getting his clothes completely covered in wet sand he had to take a mostly naked ride in the bike seat back home from Eagle Park.

 

 

 

Just call me Shirley

When Grammy visited a couple of weeks ago, she bought Lillian her very own set of curlers. Lillian has had great fun experimenting with curly hair. Some say that with curly hair she resembles a young Shirley Temple.

 

 

 

Switcharoo

On a recent trip to the pool we forgot to bring a change of clothes for Lillian to wear after swimming. The solution, wear her brother's 18 month size clothes. His clothes actually fit her quite well despite the fact that she normally wears a size 6. After that realization Lillian was excited to put some of her clothes on her little brother so they could both wear each other's clothes. A size 5 t-shirt and shorts seemed to work OK for the little guy, and he only looked a little bit girly.

 

 

Tiny Fashonistas

Schools out for the summer, it's time for fun with fashion! Today Lillian put on this crazy outfit for swim camp, a pink bathing suit with a pink leopard leotard on top, leopard print knee socks and fancy purple shoes. Why not, it's only summer camp right? Lillian made an art project with hair gel at camp and decided to use some of the gel to give Nathaniel a fauxhawk, you might remember that Lillian herself got a fauxhawk when she was a baby, it seems only appropriate that Nathaniel should get in on the action too. Fauxhawks might be cool, but his primary fashion choice recently is the food all over the face look. Bellow he models his chocolate face look.

 

 

 

 

Lemos Farm

Lemos farm is one of those places we have driven past hundreds of times and never stopped to visit. We joined a friend with a Groupon deal for a bargain, all-inclusive farm visit. The "farm" has pony rides, hungry goats to feed, ducks and chickens, a little train and a hayride. Plenty of attractions to amuse the kids for a couple of hours. Nathaniel loved his pony ride and showed no fear mounting his tiny horse. Unlike his sister, this guy has no fear when it comes to animals!

 

 

 

 

 

Modesto

We spent Memorial Day weekend visiting Kristen's cousin Bruce and his family in  nearby Modesto. Bruce and his wife Ana have two kids, a little girl and a boy each just a little older than Lillian and Nathaniel. The kids had great fun hanging out with their "cousins" all weekend. We kept things low key to accommodate the little ones nap schedules. We did take a little side trip out to Oakdale to visit the Oakdale cheese factory. The factory was closed for the weekend, but the kids enjoyed seeing the goats, chickens and fish while the rest of us enjoyed some fantastic fresh cheese and bread. We also made fancy cupcakes, and were served many of Gallo's finest wines, by the worlds tiniest sommelier. 

 

 

 

 

Lillian's First Lost Tooth

Lillian lost her first tooth today. The tooth has been wiggly for a few weeks and today, on the way back from the park, she was able to wiggle it loose. The tooth is now safely tucked under her pillow so that the Tooth Fairy can pay her a visit while she sleeps.

 

 

 

 

Pool Day!

Summer has arrived early here in northern California, temperatures have been in the 80's, on and off, since mid April. We've been itching to go to the pool ever since the weather warmed up, and now our favorite kid friendly pool is now open for the year. Nathaniel spent most of his time splashing around in knee deep water of the kiddie pool, as he is not confident enough yet to wander into the deeper water. Lillian wanted to try out the 9 feet deep big pool and diving board. She was scared at first, but once she got over her fears she was unstoppable. Kristen tried to show Lillian how to dive, but for now she's more interested in cannon balls and belly flops. Eric got some pretty cool action shots of the diving beauties.

 

 

 

 

 

Everybody Loves a Firetruck

This week Lillian's class took a field trip to the local fire station. Since the field trip was on a Thursday morning, the one morning that Kristen isn't working, and the field trip was scheduled to end before Nathaniel's nap,Kristen and Nathaniel were able to join Lillian's class in the fun at the firehouse. The tour included demonstrations of the firefighters gear and equipment, seeing where the firefighters live while on duty, lessons in fire safety and emergency preparedness, and getting to climb around in a real fire truck.