Happy 36 to me

This year we celebrated my birthday with lots of family time!  It was a great birthday: easy, relaxed and very special.  The day before, while out running errands, the boys fell asleep in the car.  In a moment of spontaneity, we decided to take advantage of car naps and run up to the city to have an early dinner.  We rolled onto the Embarcadero right as they woke up; perfect "planning".  We walked around to stretch our legs and then headed for margaritas and guacamole, a perfect pre-birthday dinner.  This meal was especially notable because Brady inhaled all the food we put in front of him.  I'm thinking maybe that was my birthday present from him- one meal that I did not have to coax every morsel of food into his mouth!  Seriously, he ate the entire bowl of guacamole and almost the entire quesadilla.  I was very impressed.

After dinner we walked along the water soaking in the beautiful evening weather and taking some pictures.  The next day we did some of my favorite things (farmer's market breakfast, shopping, sunglass buying) and in the evening we met Kathy and Sam in Palo Alto for a great birthday dinner.  I can't think of a better way to ring in 36!  I look forward to seeing what this year has in store!

Hiking like big boys

To date, the boys have been on several hikes in their fancy backpacks, but this summer marks the first time that they have hiked all by themselves!  A few weeks ago, we  attempted to go on a family hike with the dogs and both kids, planning all the while to let the boys walk as much as they wanted!  It worked out great, better than I could have hoped actually!  Look at the smiles in the picture above; they pretty much sum it all up!  Both boys were so excited to be walking in the woods and the dogs were elated to be out with their pack!  Brady and Brody loved pointing out things, asking questions, and they took great joy in watching the dogs prance along the trail.  The icing on the cake was that we picked a trail that actually had a small stream so Rocco and Adriane could cool off in some fresh water when they needed it (finding running water is a real challenge here given our drought.).

I expected the boys to be kind of fearless but about 25 minutes in, Brody spotted a 2 inch lizard and that was the end of walking for him!  He decided he did not want walk anywhere where there were lizards (such a funny sentiment for my typically fearless boy).  Each boys spent some time in the packs but they walked a long way up a very steep hill.  We were so impressed that we decided to go on another hike the next weekend.  It was just as fun and just as satisfying.  I am so glad that the boys like doing something that is so family friendly.  There is something so centering about seeing such little boys walking amongst such big trees.  It makes you appreciate nature and all it various wonders. Here's to many more family hikes!

Midwest Vacation 2014

Wayyyyyyyy back in July, we took a 10 day trip to Michigan and Ohio to see family and spend some quality time together.  Even though the memories are still forefront on my mind, I have somehow managed to avoid sitting down to document our great trip!  So, here I am, several weeks late, ready to show off our pictures and tell our tales (how can it feel like we just got home from this trip and yet it has been 6 weeks already?!) .

Overall the trip was great.  It was long but eventful!  We took two long plane flights and did 4 separate three hour car trips.  Would you believe that we did not stop once on any of the car trips?!  The boys were amazing travelers and really rolled with whatever we threw at them.

We started our trip with a long flight form SFO to Detroit.  The flight was pretty uneventful and the boys did great.  Before this trip, we hide the ipads for two weeks and limited TV so that any and all electronics would be novel.  This worked beautifully.  They boys were excited to have the ipads and spent a long time occupying themselves.  Much to Chris's and my surprise, we even got to do some work and read about 60 pages of a book (respectively).  We were kind of shocked but very happy!

We spent the first full day at the McLean's, playing and spending time with Granny and Papa.  Mary and Oscar were nice enough to host a family dinner that night so we got to see lots of family and catch up with everyone who was able to come.  The boys were exhilarated by the attention and the number of kids to play with.  It was a great party and a fantastic way to catch up with everyone nearby.

The next day we headed to Traverse City for a little mini vacation within our big vacation.  Traverse is a three hour drive and they boys did great in the car!  They slept a bit and played with ipads and before we knew it, we were rolling right onto Lake Michigan.  We stayed in a great place with a perfect beach, crystal clear water, and a short walk to downtown.  We spent a lot of time on the beach despite the weather being unseasonably cold.  Since cold does not really stop kids (or Chris for that matter), there was plenty of splashing and playing in the water.  Nana and Papa came too, so we were able to spend some quality time with them and sneak out for a night on the town.

The boys loved staying in the hotel. We ended up renting a nice suit with a king bed and a jacuzzi tub.  Unbeknownst to us though, the tub was located in the middle of the room making it kind of funny and awkward to use.  Since the boys were asleep pretty early and the TV and kitchenette were in the main part of the hotel, we let the boys sleep in the king bed.  They looked so cute in that huge bed!  Also, they loved seeing real telephones in the room.  They phoned Granny several times to tell her to come to our room.  I think using the phone may have been the highlight of their trip!

While we were up north, we stopped in at the King family orchards (run by cousins of Chris's mom). Chris has been telling me about this place (and fantasizing about getting his hands on some of the cherries) since we met so it was awesome to finally be able to visit.  We got to pick cherries right off the tree, see how cherries are harvested, and feast on the awesome fruit.  It was a fun outing and even more special to finally be able to see what Chris has been talking about all of these years.

On another afternoon, we took the boys to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park.  While there, we picked up a passport book so the boys can begin collecting stamps at all the National Parks they will visit.  I was wracking my brain trying to decide if Sleeping Bear Dunes is their first National Park, but I don't  think it is.  I think Muir Woods is actually their first official National Park visit.  Oh well, this was still very special and we will have to back stamp their books!  The dunes are very impressive and the late evening light made everything a perfect golden color.  We bought the boys some bears that were quickly showered with love and affection.  Much to my pleasure, when we handed the bears to the boys, Brady immediately called it an 'oso' (the Spanish word for bear).  Looks like they are actually learning something in our classes!  The dunes sit 300+ feet above Lake Michigan giving sweeping views off into the distance.  Despite having lots of fun, the boys are hardly smiling in any of the pictures.  They were pretty beat by this point in the trip.

After three days in Traverse, we headed back to Granny and Papa's house for one more night.  The next day we drove to my grandparents house to spend the weekend.  It was impossible to drive past Ann Arbor without stopping for lunch at Zingerman's so we made the requisite pit stop.  Turns out they have changed their outdoor seating area and made a little play area for kids.  Talk about an amazing surprise!  We were able to let the kids play while we ate and it gave us about 30 minutes of much needed breathing time.

The visit in Ohio was great.  We got to spend quality time with lots of cousins, aunts, uncles, and my grandma and grandpa.  The boys felt immediately comfortable digging into the toy bin at Grandma Great's house and pulling out toys.  Some of the toys have been around since I was little! I love having a picture of the boys playing with this little music set.  I know there are pictures of me at my grandmas playing with this exact toy!  

The boys learned some really fun (and fundamental things) from their cousins.  They learned how to play tag, what base is, and they learned about fire flies and how to catch them (can you believe we have no fireflies in CA?  I can hardly believe it myself after seeing them in OH and realizing how normal it felt to see them.).  Cousins Kyle and Chloe were amazing at teaching them how to play games at their house and Uncle Tim, Hailey and Jenna were especially great at showing them how to capture bugs.  Chris told me that he was amazed by Jenna and Hailey because he witnessed them handily disarm Brody seconds after he picked up a rock.  Apparently he did not even notice that they took it from him while they pointed him in a different direction and distracted him with a new plaything.  Those little girls have some skills; neither Chris nor I have even been able to disarm him that quickly or easily!

I really love this picture because while the adults are busy trying to get the kids together for a picture, Brady picks up the knife and starts licking the icing off.  Brody and Chloe, however, are totally onto him.  That boys loves cake!

On our last day, we all hung out at Grandma Great's house again and soaked up the remaining family time.  It was such a wonderful visit and we got to see SO much family!  The boys are still talking about everyone and everything that they did.  I am so glad we took the time to get to the Midwest for some quality family time!

To end, I need to post some random traveling pictures because these boys were amazing travelers and I want to remember this the next time we think about going anywhere!