Dreaming of Cali

We had a fantastic time visiting CA this summer. We stayed in San Jose and went to my cousin Beatrice's wedding. The kids were very excited to see the ceremony and then watched Finding Dory during the reception.

Then we went to SF to visit Mark and his family, hanging out with Baby Andrew at his place, playing Monopoly and checking out Dolores Park. We picked up a few pastries at Tartine Bakery and went to the cafe at Chez Panisse for lunch. This checked off one item on my bucket list and we wrote out a few more items.

After this visit, we headed to Yosemite, where we were duly impressed by the majestic views. We saw Lower Yosemite Falls, Half Dome, El Capitan, Bridalveil and Glacier Point. Both kids earned their Junior Ranger badges, when they weren't arguing in the back seat. The highlight was seeing a bear cub cross our path on the way to Mirror Lake. We watched it for awhile and then it bounded across the path we were on. Exciting sighting!

We also got to catch up with friends, The Do Family, in San Jose. The kids played, caught june bugs and Owen even got to ride a hoverboard. A fun time had by all! See the whole set of photos from CA.

Sights at St. Simons

For spring break, we took the kids to St. Simons Island. We had great weather and had fun renting bikes, eating ice cream and going to the beach. The drive is about five hours and we listened to some favorite podcasts like Brains on Science, The Show about Science and Story Pirates.

We visited the Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island and adopted a sea turtle named Nicole. We went to Driftwood Beach, which is picturesque and aptly named.

We also went to Savannah, which had an outdoor children's museum and railroad museum. We rode an old locomotive and got to experience a coal-powered train, soot and all.

The kids even got along relatively well, given an incentive to be nice to each other. And since we got back, we got an update that Nicole the sea turtle is ready to be released back to the ocean!

View the set of photos from the trip.

Spanish Song and Laundry Hijinks

Zoe learns a lot of Spanish songs at school and on occasion, she'll try to teach me, but I'm a slow learner. Here she is singing "Yo Se Puedo," which translates to "I Can Do It!"



Here are the kids having some fun with the laundry baskets:

Owen Turns 7

Owen turned 7 yesterday. He thinks his birthday should be a holiday.

Over the weekend he got to take some of his friends to tour the College Football Hall of Fame. His favorite part was pretending to be announcer on TV.

For dinner, he got to pick the place and chose to go to Chik Fil-a. Luckily this was a good deal with passes we got from the hall of fame.

He was pretty happy with his loot-Pokemon, Star Wars, books and Legos.

Tried to capture him singing the Alabama fight song, but only caught the tail end. http://youtu.be/idGnmEmzE8w

He recently started playing basketball. He is the youngest player on the team but seems to really like it.

Little Miss Personality

Recently Zoe has taken a liking to drawing and she really focuses on her work. She would rather be drawing than putting her clothes on, eating or getting ready for bed.

Over the weekend, she had a play date with three of her favorite friends. The twins left her school in August and she has really missed them.

In this video, Zoe is making up her own story to go with the pictures, pulling from her own imagination about the mom's demands.

Awhile back we got some colas from the Coke museum and Owen has been pestering us to drink them. We finally relented and this was the conversation between the kids.

O: Do you want to try it, Zoe?

Z: That's yuck. It smells yuck.

O: But it's sweet and tastes good.

Z: Ok, yea, I'll try it.

And there you have peer pressure at work. 

Soaking Up the Gulf Coast

For fall break, we rented a place in Sea Grove. This was our first time to this part of Florida called 30A and it was lovely. White sand, bike path, good weather and not crowded.

The kids loved being close to the beach and pool. In fact, the only 'complaint' from Zoe was that Nana and Papa weren't here in this Florida.

Owen did some fishing and biking. He did a 18-mile ride himself and Zoe was so comfortable in the seat on Phil's bike that she dozed off. They also enjoyed digging a hole and covering themselves with sand.

Starting the School Year

Owen started first grade at a new school and has adjusted to the new schedule like a champ. He has a bunch of new friends and enjoys buying lunch for himself at the cafeteria, (where you can can get a hot dog, baked beans, coleslaw watermelon and milk for $2.45).

He has learned how to draw the school's mascot, Chester the Wolf.

Zoe is at the same school as before but has switched to a new classroom. She got to take home the class dog Princessa who went on some adventures with us on the weekend.

Here, he tells me all about his first day of school: