Watch us grow!
Auntie Amy brought over the girls one last time this afternoon. They also brought us fancy cookies!
The kids enjoyed playing together before saying their goodbyes. They will be driving down to Southern California tomorrow to visit Toni and Thomas.
It’s so much fun having family over!
Today, we went to the California Academy of Sciences. We got a family membership so we could get Amelia and family in too. Amelia brought her backpack today since Janie had hers yesterday. So cute.
Janie also brought her camera and took lots of photos of the creatures. Peanut used his toy phone to copy her.
Peanut enjoyed seeing all the fish. He was barely able walk the last time he visited the museum.
I can still remember when it was SO hard to convince Janie to touch the creatures in the tide pool back she was Peanut’s age but now it’s no big deal.
It’s also fun to see how different Peanut is since it took him absolutely no convincing.
Before heading back to the East Bay, we all stopped for soft serve at the truck outside the museum.
For dinner, we took Auntie Amy for some tasty crab at Hang Ten Boiler.
At the end of the day, Peanut and Ellie gave each other hugs. They had a fun time together these past two days.
Our family from Vancouver is in town this weekend! Yay!
We met up with Auntie Amy, Uncle Jay, Amelia, and Ellie at the ferry and rode over to SF together!
For lunch, we went to Hog Island Oyster Co. It was super hot outside today.
The dads enjoyed some local beer in the shade while the kids ran around for a bit.
We went inside the Ferry Plaza to cool off and get some ice cream!!
The girls enjoyed chatting and exploring together. Love how it took them no time to warm up to each other. It was like we just saw them yesterday even though it was December when we last saw them in Hong Kong.
We tried to go to the playground but it was way too hot. So we spent some time in the shade at Justin Herman Plaza.
Next was a ride on Muni over to the mall. It was nice to be inside where it was a lot cooler.
Peanut loved the train ride.
At the mall, the kids played at the Lego store.
Then they took a bunch of rides up and down the spiral escalators with Dada.
For dinner, we walked to R&G Lounge so Auntie Amy could get some salt and pepper crab.
After dinner, we walked back to the ferry terminal and had a short ride back to Alameda. Peanut and Ellie shared some Cheetos while Amelia and Janie had some “alone time” at a separate table by the window.
What a fun day in San Francisco!!
Today is the Summer Solstice and start of summer. To start the season off right, we took the minivan to the carwash and the kids really got a kick out of watching it go through the wash.
Then we stopped for smoothies before heading out to the Main Ferry Terminal to pick up Dada.
It’s Thursday so Janie had a special bagel breakfast with Mama before Tennis Camp this morning.
She looks like such a big girl with backpack and tennis racket sticking out.
We went out for dinner this evening. The kids did a great job staying busy while we waited for the food to arrive.
While Dada was paying the bill, Peanut went outside with Mama.
Then we walked across the street to Tucker’s for an ice cream treat.
This is how our little monster likes to eat his ice cream…he starts from the bottom of the cone.
On our second full day, we took the shutter bus to the Giant Forest Museum.
We learned the life cycle of a tree and then went for a walk to the meadow nearby.
It was lined with giant sequoias and there were little streams here and there.
Here is Peanut at the base of a fallen tree. It’s so big!!
After lunch, Janie turned her book into the Park Ranger, took an oath, and then received her Junior Park Ranger badge!
We also purchased a National Park passport and went around collecting a few stamps to commemorate our visit.
Back at the campground, Peanut took a nap and Janie hung out in the hammock with Dada.
Later it was snack time and then the kids went exploring. It’s great to watch them find new things to play and do.
The kids tried to make a teeter-totter. It was fun until Peanut got catapulted off. It looks worse than it actually was. He was just fine when it happened and got back on.
Peanut also found a stump that made a perfect drum.
They also had fun playing in the tent. The flashlights were a big hit.
After dinner, we had another round of s’mores.
This was an extra gooey one but so yummy!
Turns out it gets REALLY cold at night in Sequoia. Everyone slept with their heads covered and it was very painful getting up to go pee in the morning.
Mama and Janie were up first so we got a little snuggle time in before Peanut popped his head out and eventually woke up.
It was still pretty cold during breakfast. Peanut and Mama had their matching puffy jackets on today.
Janie convinced Dada to build a fire to help her warm her hands so the kids sat by the smokey fire sharing blueberries while the bacon and eggs were cooking.
After breakfast, we headed out to one of the Visitor Centers (Lodgepole) for a look around. We learned about all the different creatures that live in this National Park and watched a short video about bears and safety.
We also picked up a Junior Park Ranger workbook for Janie. It included a bunch of activities that she is supposed to complete and return later in order to become a Junior Park Ranger.
What’s great about this park is that there’s a bus that goes around to the different sites. So, we hopped on and got dropped off at Giant Forest where we walked down almost a mile to the main attraction.
The kids did great on the walk down and we stopped for a few photos on the way down.
Here is the General Sherman Tree, which is the world’s largest tree.
At the next bus stop, there was a fallen tree with a tunnel carved out.
For lunch, we ate our packed picnic back at Lodgepole.
Then on the way back to the campsite, both kids fell asleep and finished their naps in the minivan once we arrived.
For dinner, we picked up a pizza at Stony Creek Lodge and brought it back to the campsite.
The kids had a blast being silly with each other, which is an endearing thing to watch as they giggled together.
Of course, the evening ended with more s’mores and the kids were really getting the hang of it.
Once little brother went to sleep in the tent, Janie had a few giggles with Dada too.
We headed out to Sequoia National Park this morning with a minivan full of gear and food.
It took about 4 hours to get there and the kids did great.
At the bottom of the mountain, we stopped at a local fruit stand to buy peaches, cherries, and dried apricots.
When we arrived at our campsite (Stony Creek Campground), we had plenty of daylight left and got started with setting up our home for the next 3 nights. Dada pitched the tent while Peanut got started with playing with his trucks.
He also took a snack break while he supervised Dada’s work.
We visited the General Store to pick up firewood and other supplies. The kids both scored ice cream for being so good on the drive up.
For dinner, Dada cooked up some hamburgers on our new camping stove.
The kids seemed to enjoy their first evening in the forest.
Before bed, we roasted marshmallows by the fire. We were lucky to have no casualties this evening with the exception for a few burnt marshmallows.
It was expected to be pretty cold at night so we made sure everyone was bundled up.
Janie had swim this morning so Peanut went to Target with Mama and had a Z-bar for breakfast.
