Hawaii Fall 2010 - Climbing the Diamond Head

This time, we have managed to not only sit at the pool, but also go for a super hike up the Diamond Head on Oahu. We hiked 0.8 mile up and down. Lukas managed to go all the way by himself and Matilda climbed on Patrick's arm.



The view is spectacular from the top of the crater!



Yes, we did it!

Hawaii Fall 2010 - fun time

Another trip, another set of memories is collected. We have visited Oahu again and had a great time. While still at the airport on our way back home, the kids asked when we are going to come back. That sums it all up.



Yummy shaved ice on a hot morning.



Us.



The obligatory sunset photo at Waikiki Beach.

No stage fright

At our recent Great America visit we watched Matilda's favorite show with Charlie Brown. She even participated on the stage, playing a music instrument.


Hug!

A day at the beach

My favorite place to be is the beach. Any beach, anywhere. Last weekend we went to the Santa Cruz beach, right behind the Boardwalk. It's a OK beach but we still had a good time. The kids even dipped into the ice cold water.

My handsome husband.



We got the memo to dress in green.



Kids.

Our summer so far

As you might have noticed, I haven't posted any photo since Lukas' graduation two weeks ago. Since he is off school, we have been doing lots of fun trips and excursions. We have visited the San Jose Children's Discovery Museum twice, went to the beach and picked strawberries at an organic farm in Watsonville, went to the Oakland Zoo and newly remodeled Happy Hollow Park in San Jose. Of course we have season passes for Great America and have just met Snoopy and his gang yesterday. Time is flying by so quickly and we love the summer.

What are your plans for this summer?

Here are Lukas and Matilda at Auntie Pauline's recent company festival.

At the beach

Finally, the sun came back and the summer started. Of course, that made us pack up and go to the beach right away. The kids love to play in the sand, drift through the hours without an agenda, just enjoying themselves.

Here is Patrick showing off his Hulk skills and making the boys scream.

We were even lucky enough to see a bunch of dolphins gliding through the water. Amazing how graceful and wonderful they are.

Hawaii Report Part 2

Here are few more photos of us having fun.

With daddy.

At Dole Plantation, being silly after the train ride.

Of course they had to touch the water...

Hawaii Report Part 1

Here are few photos from our trip.

Right after our arrival on Oahu, Matilda is playing in sand.



Lukas and Matilda playing in the suitcase.



Lukas wanted to try out to be covered all in sand.



Kayaking with daddy.



What else to do then playing in sand.

We are back!

Our last trip for the summer 2009 is finally over. We got back home last night, with sand in our hair and sweet memories of the warm ocean and sunny days in Hawaii. Lukas didn't want to leave the beach that we went to before our flight back home. It was that nice.

I will post few more photos soon. Here is one of Matilda in her beautiful Hawaiian dress that Auntie Pauline gave to her.

The photo was taken by Uncle Oai who made her smile every time he pointed the camera at her. Go figure.

The last days of summer

Weather wise it for sure doesn't feel like fall but these are the last good days where we can enjoy the warmth of the sun, long trips to the Zoo in shorts and sandals. Very soon the cold will arrive and rob us of the comfort of the sun. Oh well, nothing we can do about, so I stop complaining.

So today we went to the Oakland Zoo, made sure all our animal friends are still there, met the baboons at their new location and had a picnic while watching other kids play and later the giraffes. Or maybe they were watching us, not sure.

We couldn't miss the obligatory train ride around the Zoo which is always a nice ending to the fun.

Here is us (I was taking the picture so you see rather the kids), enjoying the ride.

Playing in the park

We went to Lake Elizabeth in Fremont this morning to play and have a picnic. Lukas found some kids to play with even though they told him they don't like him. After a while, they all became friendly and had fun. It is hard for one child to connect to a group of children but he did well and didn't give up.

We had a nice picnic in the shade overlooking the lake. But it was so hot, we had to head out early to avoid getting burned. And dehydrated.

Here is Matilda and Lukas enjoying the view and lunch.

Summer break is over

Since I will be leaving on my trip today, summer break came to a stop for Lukas. He started school this morning and our summer trips will have to move to weekends. We have still lots planned for the next few weeks so stay tuned for updates.

Not much will change for Matilda who will stay with me at home. Maybe after her 2nd birthday in January we will sign her up for preschool. We will see.

Here is us last Friday at Oakland Zoo enjoying the always exciting train ride.

Green Thumb Camp

Last week, Lukas has attended a Green Thumb Camp. For the very first time he has gone to a weeklong camp and I think he liked it a lot. Probably for many reasons:

1) he was bored sitting at home
2) they talked about weather and bugs and trees and many other subjects that we didn't cover lately at home
3) he misses school

Every day I tried to extract any kind of information out of him what he has done that day, what they talked about, etc. but he kept it all in. But often later in the day he was telling me all the cool things he has heard about and spelled words to me that we for sure didn't learn to spell. So overall I would say it was a big success to enroll him in this camp and I think he had more fun then he was showing me. He is a real guy after all.

Here is my favorite drawing of the daily weather drawing. It was Tuesday and it was overcasted that day:

Another trip to the Children's Museum

It never gets boring for us to go to the Children's Museum in San Jose. We love that place. So many exciting things to see and to touch and to explore. Today we met Cel, Evan and Jenae there and had picnic afterwards at the park right next to the museum. Us Mom's even got a Starbucks for good behavior, you choose who's behavior was rewarded.

These days, Matilda likes to play with the sand that you can measure, scoop up in cups and just let it all go back to the play box.



Picnic for four.

Super Star / Part 2

Lukas loves to sing. He has few favorite songs at the moment and here he is performing "Boom Boom Pow" from the Black Eyed Peas in duet with his cousin Kyle (not in the picture) while driving to Great America for a day of fun. Enjoy.

Park

Each day, after picking up Lukas from the Green Thumb Camp, we visit the park. The kids are usually hungry but nothing can stop them from playing around. The park is small and equipped only with two small swings and a playground.

Here is Lukas helping Mommy making Matilda giggle while swinging.



Let's slide together!

Trip to the Oakland Zoo

Today we went to the Oakland Zoo for a walk and lunch. It was pretty hot so we tried to stay in the shade as much as possible. I changed the route a little to avoid the hot spots. We started with the elephants and ended with the bears which we usually visit the other way around. This caused some distraction with Lukas but he still enjoyed the walk.

I took some cool pictures for my photo blog so please make sure to check it out next week.

You can touch the goats if you like. But my kids don't like it.

You can climb on the huge frogs.

Matilda reading the map in case we get lost.

Snack time.

Trip to Great America

I wanted to wait with this post til tomorrow but my fingers are itching to post the cool pictures that we took at Great America today. What a fun day it was!

After arriving at the park, Lukas and Patrick went on the Merry Go Around (sp?) twice. After checking out many other rides, Lukas found his favorite: rollercoaster!! He went on the water coaster twice (I could handle it only once), 3 times on a fast rollercoaster with Patrick, and twice more on a smaller one. I was sick just looking at him but he kept saying "one more time". He has no fear.

Matilda went on a ride too!

The water park was the next favorite attraction and we spent few hours there. Matilda walked through the shallow water admiring Lukas' swimming skills.

Overall, we had a great time. And we drove only 10 minutes to get to that place. Nothing can beat that. Lukas didn't even had a chance to ask "Are we there yet?". Mission accomplished.

Visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium

Yesterday we went on a trip again. This time we drove south to Monterey where the beautiful Monterey Bay Aquarium is located. We became members at the aquarium and can now enjoy the visits even more.

Lukas is familiar with the aquarium so he was anxious to see the big shark in the big tank and the penguins. The water play area is also very popular and the lunch at the cafeteria.

The three of us. Patrick was taking the picture.

Matilda couldn't get enough of watching the sting rays gliding through the water.

Afterwards we stopped at the beach and played in the sand. What else can you wish for?

Hot weekend

Last weekend (Saturday and Sunday) we had scorching heat so where is the best place to cool down? The pool! We went to Auntie Pauline's pool for two straight days and stayed for hours in the water. It was nice to keep cool that way and the kids enjoyed it. Matilda liked her little boat and Lukas must have jumped 177 times into the water. Well, what else to do when it's hot.