Summer Vacation - California and Lake Tahoe

Well, you know the summer has ended when I start writing about vacation...

We had a number of fantastic trips this summer! One of them was when we saw Grandma and Grandpa (and Auntie Karen and Uncle Jake and Uncle Bruce) in California, and took a side trip to Lake Tahoe.

Our first trip was to the California State Fair, the absolutely best fair we've ever been too. The activities there are too numerous to go through entirely, but one of our favorites is of course the petting zoo:



We left for Lake Tahoe the next day, and went to a house we had rented out on the side of a mountain with a fantastic view. Our first outing was to King's beach, one of the most popular beaches on Lake Tahoe. Uncle Bruce rented one of those standing kayaks, and he was pretty good at this!

Mommy tried it for 10 minutes and quickly decided she was better at other things...

 But Daddy and Cecilia were pretty good!

 

Cecilia and Phillip got so good at it they started kayaking all by themselves!



Just kidding.... if you look closely, you can see Daddy's hand pulling them in the corner and then it becomes obvious:

Grandma and Grandpa took a well-deserved rest.

Another highlight of the Lake Tahoe trip was taking a sky tram to the top of Squaw Valley!

Phillip could not get enough of the rocks! He probably could have stayed there all day just picking up, sifting, and throwing the rocks.

Cecilia had a great time exploring with Uncle Jake:

Auntie Karen also had a good time with Uncle Jake:

At some point, Uncle Jake decides to climb a tree:

Not to be outdone, then Daddy decides to climb a tree:

Phillip even got to join Daddy in the tree:

I thought Uncle Bruce would be beyond all this nonsense, but then HE had to climb a tree too. :)

Grandma wisely decided to watch all this nonsense from the shade of the tree.

We even found a disc golf course at the top of the mountain!




We also went to a few other beaches that trip and took a night to go to Reno, where the kids had a blast at Circus Circus!


Here are some other great pics of the family, but the full set can be found here.

July 4th with friends

The Big E

Today we found an awesome fair that is almost as good as the California State Fair, called "The Big E" in Springfield, Massachusetts. It takes an hour and a half to get out there, but it was definitely worth it!

The kids enjoyed the rides of course, but we also saw a pig race, a full-hour circus act, horses, cows, chicken, a petting zoo, and a big fat mama pig with greedy little piglets. Here are a few photos:

Can you believe someone actually carved this picture into a pumpkin?

Here's a small video montage:



It's hard to see, and I couldn't get a great shot, but the pure joy on Phillip's face while he was on the alligator roller coaster is awesome. He probably doesn't remember ever having been on a roller coaster before, and going with his big sister is a huge bonus. As soon as he got off, he says "Let's do it again!!"

Phillip in a Crate

First Day of First Grade

A little late posting this, but here is a picture of Cecilia on our way to first grade. We have been biking to school a lot, which she absolutely loves.

Phillip's Soccer

Phillip started soccer class a few weeks ago. I took him last weekend and brought Cecilia along to give mommy a break and had a really special time. It was a beautiful Fall morning and the park they play is really nice. Most of the parents had to spend a lot of energy with their kids getting them to listen and follow the instructions of the coach, but I sent Cecilia to do the job for me. Of course once she got involved Phillip did whatever she said, so I was able to just relax and watch them and take some pictures. It was about as good as 45 minutes can get.

Morse School Playground

Most school days when the weather is decent, I hang out with the kids in the playground at Morse with all of Cecilia's after school friends. It was really great to start this up again, see everyone, and enjoy the perfect late Summer weather. Cecilia is always so thoughtful of her brother and includes him in everything, here is a video of one of their silly games.

Reading to Little Brother

Nice Picture

Took this after a great day at the Blue Hills reservation and Houghton Pond.

Big Swing

See Saw

Good times at the Cambridge Commons with Grandam.

Cape Cod Crab Hunt

I had an amazing afternoon with Cecilia and her friend Nicholas in the tide pools of a beach in Chatham. The highlight was definitely discovering that the crabs dig little holes to hide in late in the day.
Here is Cecilia with one of her trophies on her arm.

Just as Good as a Car Seat

I got a bike in May and Phillip keeps falling asleep in his seat!

Fort Phillip

Sand "castles" were big this summer.

Lollipop Trouble

Cambridge Commons Playground

Cecilia's Karate Workshop

Sprinklers

We have been having fun in the sprinklers at Dana Park since it was so hot and humid last week, here is a nice video.

Mommy and Cecilia's special day together

Yesterday, mommy and Cecilia had a special day together, just the two of us. I asked Cecilia what she wanted to do and gave her lots of choices and of all the options, she wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese! so we spent three hours there and got a plastic gumball machine and a tiny pack of nerds for $30.

Totally worth it. :)

Gardening

Look what we grew!

T-Ball

None of us really like T-Ball, but at least we got this cute picture out of it.

Piano Recital

So proud of her!

Jack be Nimble

A little silliness after a day at a farm in the country.

First Beach Day

We kept our tradition of going to the beach on the first reasonably decent day of the year going...

Feeding the Ducks

We spent a nice few hours yesterday around the river and Artesani playground. Cecilia, Phillip and I "rode" our bikes on a path along the water for a while and did some exploring, which was especially fun. Here's a nice video and a couple of pictures of Cecilia feeding some ducks and a goose, it's still something she really enjoys.

Zumba Dance Recital

Cecilia performs "Zumba Dance" in the Morse auditorium at the Spring After School show. The teacher is her favorite at after school, Miss Turquoise.

Dolphin Book

Cecilia has been writing tons of books lately, and it's so much fun to read them now! Most of the time I can figure out what she's trying to spell. One she did about a month ago is below - it's about swimming with the dolphins, which she did with Uncle Ben and her cousins Aaron and Jacob when we were on our Mexico vacation a couple of months ago. The pages are below. She did this one at kindergarten and her teacher, Mr. Klinman, wrote down the words at the bottom of each page. The pictures are fantastic.

She tells me "well, it wasn't really me kissing or holding the dolphin, it was Aaron and Jacob, but I accidentally wrote 'I' ". :)