It is nearing the end of a summer and the grapes next to our house have begun to ripen. Lena has looked forward to this time with great enthusiasm (and patience) and we have finally begun to browse.
A pretty spectacular get-up Lena chose the other morning.
A little over a week ago we had a fantastic visit with Vanessa, Leon, and Izze (Paul's sister, brother-in-law, and our niece). It was really great to have them stay with us and the rest of this post is a generous subset of the photos from their visit. The photo above was taken of Lena and Izze a few minutes after they arrived.
A few minutes after their snack the girls were bouncing on the bed wearing dresses that Vanessa made for them (and for their dolls!) that have fantastic fruits on them.
While they were here there were record breaking temperatures in the Bay area. Among other things this resulted in a lot of playing in our backyard in the hose/sprinker/tubs of water.
We took a trip down to the San Jose Chlidren's Museum. It was a lot of fun and here Izze and Lena cruise along in the fire engine.
I would feel more confident in their ability to handle an emergency if they'd look at the road while driving!
Playing with a coin chute.
Riding in a replica of a Vietnamese boat at the museum.
Lena getting a big stack of plates at the playfood pizza making station.
These photos are all slightly out of order but so it goes. The day before our museum trip we went to a nearby playground (Mitchell Park) which we call the cheese playground because of a concrete structure kids can play in that is like swiss cheese. The photo above and the next few below were taken there.
Izze pretending to be a prairie dog.
Hugging while driving the car at the playground (those safe driving skills again).
Back at home and back in the water.
During their visit we also read lots of great stories. Here Leon reads Caramba to the two cousins.
Vanessa led them in a baking project - strawberry shortcake! Here the girls mix up the dough for the biscuit part.
One night we had several family members who live in the Bay area over for dinner. Here the girls set the table with some vases of flowers.
Izze & Lena snarfing pasta.
From left to right: Izze, Lena, Paul, Morgan, Rolf, Jennifer, and Leon.
Lena & Izze playing with flashlights that Sol gave them.
Shining lights on Sol.
A few out of place photos taken in front of the museum in San Jose.
Back at home, beating the heat through aquatic immersion.
Today we spent a fantastic afternoon at Portola Redwoods State Park. The road there is exceedingly windy which Lena was not a fan of but once there we were really really into it all. Here Lena wades into Pescadero Creek and patiently waits to try and catch a fish with her bare hands.
Morgan and Lena surveying the scene.
We spent all our time on the Sequoia Nature Trail along Pescadero Creek and for a little bit walked upstream of the trail junction. It was quiet and great.
Lena and Morgan traversing the rocks heading upstream.
Paul and Lena heading over the sandbar.
Streamwalking.
Huge amounts of fun checking out things (from rocks to plants to homemade fishing rods and magic wands).
Rocks!
One of the animals we saw during the afternoon. Look really closely in the center of the photo. Unfortunately nothing for scale but take our word for it that it was big.
Some eggs on the underside of a rock in the creek (not sure whose eggs though).
A California apple we got at a farm stand in Portola Valley that rocked. I think it may have been called something like Pink Pearl. It was tart, crunchy, and really bizarre looking.
Lena showing me her horsetails.
Walking along the path through the redwoods Lena shows us how tall she is (relative to a Sequoia).
The largest and oldest tree in the park (on the left side of the picture) - the tree was 2000 years old when it was killed in a fire in the late 1980's.
The three of us. While winding our way back through the redwoods we also all saw a small fox walking along the bank on the other side of the creek. Very very cool!
