Summer Update

This is just a little of what we've been up to this summer courtesy of Instagram....

1.  Playing with friends.
2.  Father's Day paper airplane contest.
3.  Daisy Scout Camp at Mt. Charleston
4.  Fun with friends at Lake Meade
5.  Our first Geocache find aka "Treasure Hunt"
6.  Swimming at the MultiGen with cousins & aunts
7.  Abbie's first time on the water slide
8.  Sleeping in and watching cartoons in the morning.


As usual, Tripp has been gone the majority of the summer so every second he is home, we relish.  He is our favorite person and we just soak up his wonderfulness when we get to be around him, even if it's less than 48 hours.  Luckily for some of us, summer doesn't last forever!

San Francisco

Tripp has been on the road since two weeks before the kids got out of school.  He's made it home for most of or at least partial weekends but summer is a travel season for him and luckily we just keep busy enjoying time off and invitations from friends here at home for fun.  Last week, he had meetings in San Francisco for four days and asked if I'd like to meet him the remainder of the weekend.  I heart SF and a few days without the nuts seemed workable.  Our super great friends Josh & Mallory agreed to stay with the girls and Kramer so we were set.  Tripp's group was scheduled to spend the day at the PGA Event on Thursday and since Tripp has been to so many he was able to take a pass and we got to spend an extra day together.

We started the day at one of my favorite places in SF, AT&T Park.  I always wanted to go to Candlestick Park as a kid and never got to.  I had classmates in the stadium when the earthquake hit, which sort of freaked me out hearing about it later, but I've grown to really love this stadium.  This is now my third game, which isn't many by some standards (Legarzas, you can laugh now) but I have been twice with my best friends and now once with just Tripp and each time has been marvelous.  Sadly, the Giants lost.  But we loved every second of the game.  Great weather, relaxing atmosphere.  Baseball is just a wonderful game to watch live.  Can't beat it. (Thanks for the seat suggestions Martin)

After the game we just strolled around the city for awhile, shopped a little and just really kind of walked.  We love walking around SF and just checking it out.  We never really end up far from anything and it always works out.  It was leisurely and nice.  For dinner, we contacted our restaurant go to gal, Katie, who never steers us wrong no matter what part of the city we end up in.  She suggested John's Grill and it was fantastic.

 We were right around the corner from the start point of a cable car run that would take us right back to our hotel so we hoped on.  They are fun to ride at night with the breeze blowing in your face.  All that fresh air made Tripp hungry again and we took a short walk to check out the galleries by Ghirardelli Square then stopped in for some ice cream...Tripp's favorite SF treat.

The next day we walked along the wharf, and all it's terrible tourist shops, for a chance at lunch in the Ferry Building in the Embarcadero.  I love the sailboats on that side of the bay and there was a great view while we waited for our table.  After lunch we poked around for olive oil, macaroons, honey and other wonderful delights.

After making our way back to the hotel I was pooped and cold (the weather had definitely turned).  Tripp got a crazy idea that we needed to rent a Go Car and drive around the city and soak in all the facts we didn't already know about the different areas.  It seemed harmless so I figured why not.  We spent nearly four hours in our Go Car in the wind and cold.  I felt like I was in a sidecar.  But I did hear some interesting facts about the city and got to squeeze in a short visit to the Japanese Tea Garden.  It was quite an experience but I'm opting for biking across the GG Bridge to Sausalito and into the Red Woods next time.

 On our last day we walked to Chrissy Field, one of our absolute favorite places in SF.  It's such an amazing beach.  We've never seen so many kids and families out for a day of sunbathing and water play before.  But there was the usual dog brigade running up and down the beach and jumping into the water to fetch balls and frisbees.  We had to have seen 50+ English Bulldogs that day...must have been some sort of gathering.  It was astounding.  One sweet little white bulldog was the spitting image of our Tilly.  The views of the Golden Gate Bridge are just to fantastic and the beach walk it second to none.  Sadly, we had to catch a plane so with the 8+ mile round trip walk, we didn't have to time hang out in two of our favorite places...The Warming Hut or Sports Basement.  Next time perhaps.

We can never get enough of San Francisco and can't wait for an opportunity to go back...although the girls have made it very clear they want to be invited next time as well.

Last Day of School

It was the last day of school for these two cute BFFs...now it is on to first grade!  They loved being in the same class this year and having the time after school for playdates and park time.  I know they have different teachers next year (although Abbie doesn't yet so we'll wait for her to find out when the official letters come out at the end of summer...)which makes this year together all the more precious.  They are getting to be such big girls!

Abbie received her Kindergarten certificate and an award for Citizenship.  She told everyone she wants to be a Paleontologist although she sweated over it...she tells me daily that there are too many fun things to do when you are a mom!  They also sang a darling song about moving out of Kindergarten and moving on to first grade that she has been teaching Daisy for the last couple of weeks.

These are a few of her friends...some of the girls and her buddy Boston.  They stood in line next to each other all year.  He has some pretty hilarious sayings for a 6 year old and she likes to come home and test them out on Daisy and me.

This is Mr. Rosensteel, her favorite person next to Daddy.  He has been a fantastic teacher and gave her a ton of confidence and love.  He also noticed that she could work harder than what she was doing in class and challenged her to some extra reading which she loved.  Can't say enough about our second year with Mr. Rosensteel (Kyle's Fourth Grade Teacher).  We hope to see him again in second grade (his new home).

As usual, school was a half day so we headed out to Boulder City for the afternoon.  They have a fantastic park that isn't too crowded and a ton of fun.  Lots of friends joined us for the afternoon.  Big kids, little kids, medium kids, babies...it was a great afternoon.  We came home wiped out, again.  It is our favorite last day of school outing but it leaves us exhausted every year.

And with that, we will wake up tomorrow and start our summer vacation.  Can't wait to sleep in a little and hope the girls feel the same way.  We have a play date with Ruby but otherwise plan to take it easy before we jump into swimming and playing and Wacky Wednesdays, and free movies and all the other summer activities next week!

All in one day....

This cute girl is Leila, one of Daisy's besties...well really the only one that isn't her sister's friend or someone's older sister or a friend that actually lives somewhere else.  They have been in preschool together, enjoyed many a playdate and couldn't dance without each other (as her mom and I found otu the hard way!)  

Sadly, this picture was taken yesterday when Leila dropped by to give Daisy a last hug "Goodbye" before she moves today.  Her dad finished medical school a few weeks ago and off they go to the Midwest and residency.  We really need to stop making friends with these med students...that is two friends in two years for the Doodle.  Leila is telling us about her fire pit and we are suckers for a good fire pit so we may drive out to visit them sometime but until then, we have plans to be really great pen pals.

These darling friends are Emma and Susannah (no specific order).  My girls have been in love with them for years.  I think the twin learned how to babysit by watching my daughters at their house.  Anyway, we found out that they were awarded solos in their spring concert last night (I'm discovering that reading Facebook every few week does have it's advantages) so we made plans to attend.  Abbie, in particular, was so entranced by the entire performance.  She loved it all.  Daisy liked the boys barbershop quartet the best!  Emma and Susannah did such a fantastic job.  We were so proud of them and proud to know them!  The girls picked out flowers to give them after the performance (like their daddy does) and were so excited, and a little shy, to give them the flowers.  I couldn't ask for two better role models for my daughters.

Memorial Day Weekend

We made our annual trip up to Duck Creek over the long weekend.  It's usually a little brisk over the "Opening Weekend" as they call it but this year it was downright freezing.  On Saturday, I ventured out on the mule to visit the horses and wasn't interested in going on a 4-wheeler again the entire weekend.  I got chilled to the bone.  Thank goodness Papa, Lindsay and Tripp were willing to take the kids out for rides so that I could stay inside and wimp out.

Saturday, we made our first visit to the horses.  Nate and Daisy are in love with them.  Daisy walked right up to the coral and one stuck it's head through and she wrapped her arms around it and gave it a huge hug...wish I had a photo.  She loves to hug, pet and feed them and can't wait until July when we will go back up and ride them.

Next up, a trip fishing.  We went to Papa's magic fishing pond where everyone always catches at least one fish.  They each caught two (Abbie is happy to tell anyone who will listen that she caught the only boy) and Papa even caught a huge one while fly fishing (a first I believe).

The kids did a lot of walking in the woods with Grandma or Papa, looking for treasure and deer.  I was in charge of crafts this trip which were all inside and I was good with that job.  The cabin has a new fuss ball table which was quite a hit and provided endless hours of entertainment.  We attended the annual Memorial Weekend Dance in town and the kids (except really Abbie...her weird I am embarrassed even though I dance at home every chance I get routine) danced up a storm to the live band.  All in all, it was a great weekend.  I did a horrible job taking photos.  I forgot a normal camera and didn't bring my phone anywhere as I didn't plan on calling anyone so there went my secondary camera.  If you want a more detailed pictorial summary, check out Lindsay's blog.  You'll have a chance to see me wearing one killer hat.

Disneyland

Lindsay, Sam and I took the kids (minus poor little Ryan) on our second annual Aunts/Cousins trip to Disneyland.  Lindsay wanted to go for two days this year and explore both Disneyland and California Adventure and I certainly had no objection.  Sam already bought a season pass so we were all on board.  We took the kids mid-week during the first part of May again which is truly a marvelous time...barely a line to be had and great weather.

The highlight for my kids, in particular, this trip was meeting so many characters.  We really took the time to stop and meet as many people as we could both days.  I don't even have all the photos of everyone we spent time with...these are just some of the wonderful Disney folk that spent time hugging, kissing, laughing with and signing our kids' darling autograph books (thanks Aunt Sam!!!!).

Of course we all like a little love from the mouse in particular so he granted us a family shot on our second day.

 

But our trip was about way more than meeting all the fun characters....we started the trip off Monday night in Downtown Disney.  The Lego Store there is so much fun.  All of the Disney characters they have built out of Legos are fantastic.  They also had an area where kids could build their own race cars and race them down a track...quite a hit with our little crowd.  We might have to try LegoLand after the rest of the family's Disney season passes expire.

We went on rides, rides and more rides.  The usuals were a hit...tea cups, Peter Pan, Storybook Ride, Small World, Winnie the Pooh, Buzz Lightyear, etc.  Nate and Abbie weren't too thrilled with the Haunted Mansion or Pirates of the Caribbean.  We totally avoided Thunder Mountain this round.  A Bugs Life in CA was a hit as was Soaring Over California.  Sadly, the Ferris Wheel was not.  I laughed so hard I could have peed my pants but Nate was one unhappy camper during that ride.  Abbie started out scared but turned into fits of laughter after I started busting up.

I got both my girls on Splash Mountain.  It was the only really big girl ride I made Abbie ride.  She wasn't a fan, although she really didn't seem that scared at all.  Daisy didn't care for it because it made her wet...otherwise, she was good to go.  Nate, on the other hand, loves it.

 The 3-D glasses and carnival style games on Toy Story were a hit for everyone.  Fun, fun ride.  I enjoyed finally being able to wear 3-D glasses without having to take a pair of glasses off and not see or to put them on over my glasses and have that arrangement not really work.  Having the LASIK before this trip was a dream.

Even the time-wasters at Disneyland were fun.  The girls had a ball well, playing with this ball.  Kyle used to really love it too.  I used to let Abbie play with it when we would wait for Tripp and Kyle to get off Space Mountain...she doesn't remember it but she loved it all the same.  Simple pleasures.

I think the very best part of the trip was just hanging out for 2 1/2 days with each other.  We never spend time just aunts and cousins (all of us at the same time) together hanging out for this long...just us. It is really, really fun.  I get a chance to see my sisters, which you would think would happen daily since one lives directly behind me and the other in the neighborhood next door...but it doesn't, and the girls get to hang out with their aunts.  The cousins actually see each other more regularly but it's not usually at a place that is so much fun.  I'm not sure we will be able to continue this forever so I hope while we do, the kids cherish these memories as much as I do.