Camping and Beaching

We had a great time this weekend at Camp Lehi and Manresa Beach. Camp Lehi is a complex of 500 acres that you can enjoy camping near Santa Cruz. Only thing is you have to pay dues by serving a few hours the following day to upkeep the grounds. We had fun singing around the campfire, roasting s'mores, and playing with friends. It dropped down to 47 degrees so it was a little cold and we didn't get a lot of sleep, but that's camping, right?
After lunch the Naseath's invited us to check out their favorite beach off the Monterey Bay.
Getting Dirty in PajamasNotice how brave Thomas is in the waves.Sarah eating dirt...

Preparatory Preschool

Katelyn and I started following the Brightly Beaming Preparatory Preschool Curriculum this last week (link on sidebar). This has been a lot of fun for us and sometimes it seems Sarah likes the activities even more. The website by Katrina Lybbert has everything included such as: lesson plans, activities, poems, books, and illustrations. It is a daily program teaching about shapes, letters, numbers, and follows a weekly theme. I didn't feel like getting online everyday to get the layout so I went through my friends at Lulu.com and copy/pasted everything into a nice bound version. We've been having a lot of fun tracing A's in yogurt, singing, and making a cow collage. It's great because I don't have to do this on a set schedule. If Katelyn is in the mood in the morning that's when we do it. If she is more excited in the afternoon, then we wait a little while. I am glad Rachel and Jayne shared their successes with it too. Here are some of our highlights:

My Learning PosterDrawing of a calf (didn't you know)Sarah singing along to Hey Diddle DiddleFinding the Letter A on the Scattegories DieInterpretive Dance: Calf

Nate Moonlighting the Barber Business

So I was totally inspired by Amy Bloom's post a while back about donating hair for Locks of Love. I tried to find a stylist in the area via recommendation but to no avail. I decided it was time Nate had paybacks on all the horrible haircuts he'd received from me. I put my hair into a ponytail while Nate took out the handy dandy scrapbooking scissors. Voila. Who knew his secret talent?? I hope someone will be able to use my 12 inches for a wig.

BEFORE
DURING
AFTER...

I feel like such a dork...Hey look at me, right? Ah well. Now you can see Nate's handiwork.

Monterey Bay For Labor Day

This was one wild weekend! We started things off with a Stanford football game with Nate's co-residents. We next spent some time cooling off in our frog pool at home while Nate caught up on some charting. Then the fun began. We drove to Monterey Bay (it's less than 1 1/2 hrs away) to check things out. We rented these really fun bikes with a trailer for the girls (notice who's pulling the weight) and rode around the coast. We took part of the 17 mile drive to Pebble Beach and loved the ocean views. The bike lanes are so nice out here. At the hotel we took a dip in the freezing pool, but I chickened out and only went ribcage deep. Nate had some great flips with Katelyn and Sarah. We hung out and ate lots of great food. Isn't it so nice to eat and not have to clean the dishes afterward? Anyway then on Monday we spent a day at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and cruised along Cannery Row. The Aquarium has so many fun exhibits for the girls. Katelyn especially loved the glass room where the tide comes over the ceiling like a waterfall. Here are some highlights from our trek:
Go StanfordA Rare Moment of Ponytails with BowsFrog Pool at Home While Nate Has PaperworkKatelyn Discovering the Horn on the Car--(I just love the canopy of flower trees in the background)Nate's LoadTrailer for twoThe girls on break--Katelyn in the sand and Sarah's chillingSquash LunchReflectionsWaterfall TunnelWatching the Fishies
Hanging Out at the Hotel

An impromptu day at the beach

We were deciding how to spend our Saturday and decided to check out Half Moon Bay again, this time with Nate. It's a neat area for beaching along with kite flyers, BBQ grills, and beach volleyball to boot. Katelyn was braver this time and we got soaked. I sort of had to hold her back in order to wait for the smaller waves that came up to her armpits. She was fearless. Then Nate took a turn with her and afterwards they made nice sandpiles. Sarah enjoyed her view from the stroller and eating bananas. We sampled some great nachos and quesadillas at the little Mexican restaurant and they were delicious and cheap.
WetSnuggledBuriedWetSnuggled and Buried

Sarah grew!!!

So some of you may have followed our scares with Sarah's weight(oh and Katelyn's too). At 4 months Sarah was a mere 9lbs 7oz (waaay below the charts)--considering she was a full-term baby and 6lbs 6oz at birth. Happy day today though when she sauntered on the scale. At 6 and a half months she's 14lbs 2oz (10th percentile) and I couldn't be more proud. Way to go little peanut. She's still in the 3-6 month size but at least we were able to stow away the newborn diapers and clothes. I am completely in love with our new pediatrician...okay I mean she's great with Sarah, thanks Heather Y for your recommendation.

Happy day. We wanted to celebrate so when we heard the doot doo doo dooda outside we ran to catch the icecream truck. Sorry I didn't get a photo op but my couch is nice and peachy from the push up popcicle. Ah well that is what childhood is made of. Please excuse me while I run damage control.
Sarah Before-4 MonthsAfter-6 MonthsKatelyn Before 4 MonthsAfter 6 Months

Hiding and Fighting

Where's Sarah?

Sarah is quite the roller these days. I came in the room to check on her during some tummy time and found this.

Oh here she is!

Daddy tickling Sarah

Katelyn defending Sarah

Grrr....

Rarrr...

Hmmm....

This one was taken after Nate and Katelyn's first Daddy Daughter Date. They went for a shopping trip to get Katelyn some new shoes.

(Thanks Aunt Becky for the box of new clothes!!!)

Happy Half Birthday to Sarah...

Sarah's First Meal!


Hmmm...I am not so sure about this.

Ooh this is sweet!

Bring on the next course!

Brownies for Auntie Sarah's Birthday on the 13th as this was a double Sarah birthday.

Half Moon Bay and Sarah Meets Sarah

My awesome friend Sarah had a tiny break before her P.A. clinical rotations started and she decided to spend some time with us out here in Cali (sorry that you were expecting warm, sunny California life...I certainly appreciated this little patch of 70 degree weather). We've been living it up talking, shopping, eating, reading, watching movies, and hanging out at the beach. Auntie Sarah has been heaven sent helping me with the day-to-day things and spoiling our girls rotten.

So Half Moon Bay is only about 30 minutes away and we just decided to drive over to the beach for the afternoon. On the way back we found a fruit stand and fields of flowers. It was really breathtaking. There are lots of camping spots along the drive because there is a Redwood Forrest patch of trees right there. I am amazed at the diversity of activities in this area. It's really so beautiful.


Katelyn getting re-aquainted with the sand.

Awesome waves--we saw some surfers down the beach.

Baby Sarah trying to get out of the breeze while the rest of us watched the kite flyers.

Katelyn wanted me to put my feet in the water and then I would dip her toes in as the wave receded.

Sarah's Namesake-we do actually have a wide variety of clothes for little Sarah but this one just keeps showing up in the photos...