Sophia swims!

One goal for our time in Seattle was to get Sophia into swim lessons, which we did when we signed her up at Day Camp - an hour a day for 5 days, and boy did she learn! By the time we got her back in the pool in California, she was jumping off the side and swimming - some crawl, some breast stroke, and some doggie paddle - all the way across & back again. Over & Over. It was wonderful, and amazing. All of a sudden swimming was fun!

The Pleasant Hill Water Park

We really wanted to get together with Troy’s cousin Sandy & her family, as well as Troy’s brother, but having all the kids at a restaurant is not a situation where you can actually have a conversation about, well, anything really.  So Sandy found a water park in the East Bay that looked like it would work out well for us.  It was perfect, the closest thing to a German water park I have seen in the US, apart from the fact that they made a couple of bad design decisions.**

Anyway, we had a great time.  The kids just RAN & jumped into the water.  Sophia was jumping off the edge of the pool & swimming underwater to the ladder – thank you swim lessons!  Alexandra was really happy to toddle around in the sprays.  For Sophia it was especially fun because her cousin Amarah is 6 months older than her, and it is always more fun to have a friend when playing.

Marty & his new wife Monica came as well, and Marty chased down the ice cream man & bought treats for everyone.  The best way to make an impression as a fun uncle for our kids.

It was great to be watch the kids play & have fun & we managed to actually have a few conversations on the side.  It was a hot day, and the water was the best place to be.

(**The water spray area has a cement floor, so the kids can’t run thru any of the fountains or sprays…  What’s with that?  The life guards spend most of the time yelling at kids to stop running!  Where is the fun there?  And it puts the life guards in a terrible position – how do you allow the kids the be kids when they can’t run & play?)

Dinner with the Godfather

We had dinner with Ron & Carol tonight (Mexican – whoohoo!!), and then the girls were able to play with Tyler when Jen & Justin came by as well.  Sophia was immediately comfortable with Ron & Carol, even riding in their car back from dinner, and both girls played so hard, they were asleep before we left the driveway on the way back to the city.

The mustang was a huge hit.  I think Alexandra spent hours going in & out of it.

No photos of the baseball that was being played, I was laughing too hard.  Tyler & Alexandra kept running into each other as they were making their was around the “bases,”  with Alexandra being on the ground after impact most of the time.  Tyler is a little bigger than her.

Garden Photos

After the aquarium, we walked over to the conservatory to take some photos – we are the kodak moment family – and to let the girls run around a bit.  The Museum was quite crowded, and it was a relief to be in the fresh air for a while…

Plus we needed some updated photos of the girls with their Nounas.

  

(Sophia running down the hill reminded me so much of Little House on the Prairie, I kept waiting for the tumble.)

Thanks Cynthia & Mary for a great day!!

A day with the fish

We spent the morning at the Steinhart Aquarium with Mary & Cynthia & the girls absolutely loved it.  One of Alexandra’s new words is Fish, and she was going crazy while we were there saying “fish, fish, FISH” over & over again.  She could never imagine so many fish in one place.

I think the title of Aquarium really limits what you would think of the building.  There was a rain forest (lots of humidity & big hair) with tons of butterflies, an African Hall with lots of stuffed animals & some live Penguins, an underwater tunnel, the touch tank, the Planetarium, and a roof Observation Deck with great views of Golden Gate park.  Somehow we missed the swamp with the Albino Aligator…  Next time.

Dinner

We had dinner tonight in celebration of Cynthia’s name day, and the restaurant they chose could not have been better named for us.

Seriously – we get called this all the time…

Good food,  And happy hour with $5 metzes from 6-8pm.

Playtime with little cousins

We love going to Pacifica & getting together with Pete & Sharon, and today they brought their 2 grandchildren with them, which is only fun for our kids.  After brunch at the golf course, we headed back to their house for some play time.

More & more at the beach

It was just such a fun day, that the photos kept on coming…

 

Sisters in the sand

One of the most fun things on the beach was seeing the playfulness & joy come out between the girls.  Sophia just loves being a big sister to Alexandra, and Alexandra just adores Sophia in return.  Although it gets a bit wild at times, the giggling seems non-stop in our house right now.

 

More Sun on the Beach at Crissy Field

Today was our day to go to the Exploratorium, and then to the beach afterwards if we had time, but when we drove into the parking lot at the Palace of Fine Arts, the line for the museum was around the corner & the lot was packed!  We didn’t feel like waiting an hour to get into the museum, so we changed plans & headed to Crissy Field for some beach play. 

And what a day we had.  It turned out that it was the national Kite Boarding Championships were taking place later that day, and the wind was just perfect for flying our own kites (thank you Mary for thinking ahead!!).

Alexandra kept trying to get into kite flying as well, but mostly like chasing the tails.

The entertainment was non-stop; Kite Boarders, Groups of Parachutes with colored smoke, a fly-bye from the Blue Angels, Sun, Wind…  It was heaven. and everyone in constant motion…