Southern California Calls...

The girls request for the summer was the beach! Malina wanted to go boogie boarding, Sophia wanted to play with sand crabs and Eme didn't have a clue. Banks was suppose to join us the whole time but ended up having a business trip on the front end. I took the kiddos to Vegas ("Castle" Hotel, Excalibur) one night and stayed in Ocean Beach (San Diego) for three days.

Ocean Beach was the ultimate beach experience. The hotel was very primitive although across the street from the beach and the downtown area was next to our hotel. We visited Banks' second cousin who works at the San Diego Zoo. His home had African Tortoises in the backyard which was a big experience for the kids. Then, we went to the Wild Animal Park. It was a brutally hot day but I pushed through the experience. Eme was so excited on the tram tour around the park, even though he screamed when we got on. Sea World was on the pit stop too. The kids loved feeding the dolphins, Eme hated when the girls fed the VERY LOUD seals and the kids soaked in their glory at the Elmo Play Area with rides. We tidepooled at Cabrillo National Park, spotting a sea hare (first time for us, pictured in Sophia's hand above), 2 1/2" dead bonnethead shark and lots of crabs.

Banks flew into LA and met us at our hotel in Anaheim. Banks didn't want the kids to go to Disneyland without him. We told them we had to get on the shuttle to get to the beach. We got off at the park and they didn't have a clue. Sophia and Malina kept looking around and were out of their minds when they realized where we were. We got a "behind the scenes" visit with Snow While and Aurora before a show and Sophia was so star struck that she looked like she was going to cry. It couldn't have been a better star sighting for her. Our big moment is when the girls went on Thunder Mountain Railroad with us! They loved it and we went back for more. Malina got her hair done in the Princess Pavilion and Eme couldn't get enough of the cars. A fantastically tiring day!

The rest of the trip consisted of visits to Manhattan Beach, visiting our friends Marika and James from grad school and Sharaf and Aseel from undergrad. We drove home in a day and our beginning our day-to-day lives with school starting tomorrow. :-(

Eme's Turns TWO!

Eme had two little parties this year. We had a family party with a visit to the Golden Gate Canyon Firehouse. Eme had the opportunity to ride in the fire trucks but didn't want anything to do with it. The girls rode with Grandma and Papa instead. The second party was at the pool for anyone that happened to be there that day. However, it ended up raining and everyone came to our house afterwards.

The boy loves his "equipment!" On our Northwest trip, I would stop at the gas station and get him the tractor and commercial equipment trade magazines to keep him entertained. For awhile, all big trucks were fire trucks. He received quite a few fire trucks, a Thomas the Train Set and we got him an obnoxiously big car pinata. He was ecstatic to be the center of attention. Happy Birthday my sweet boy!

On the road again...

My dear friend Ann and I headed out on the road again. We drove the beautiful northwest through Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Washington. The drive from Missoula to Coeur D'Alene was simply breathtaking. The kids enjoyed seeing bald eagles, antelope and wildflowers along the way. We visited Darawan and Steve in Seattle and stopped to visit Lissie and Nate on the way back. Lissie and Nate don't know that we are going to be setting up tents next year at the cattle ranch in Mattawa, Washington. :-)

KID FAVORITES

Malina: Swinging in Dar & Steves picturesque yard, swimming in Pine Lake, hanging out with Alec, Cole and Jada and riding her bike with Ellie on the cattle ranch, riding on the motorcycle with Nate

Sophia: SWINGING!, finding a snake, playing with Jada, tidepooling at Alki Beach, jumping on the trampoline with Wells, finding geysers at Yellowstone, riding on the motorcycle with Nate

Eme: running after Cole, Alec and Jada, chasing ducks at Pine Lake, getting a tour in an ambulance at Jazz Night at Pine Lake, seeing cows at the ranch, eating in a kaboose in Bozeman, buffalo in Yellowstone

Fourth of July

What a holiday! As a child, I loved Fourth of July. It seems all my favorite attributes have been recreated for our children: swimming, playing games and fireworks. Banks said the day at the pool on Fourth of July is his favorite day all summer. Again, we had a memorable day. Happy Birthday, America!