Christmas 2009

Morgan got a new bike from Santa. Her knees kept hitting the handlebars on her kid's bike. She can ride much easier now.

Patiently waiting to open presents.

Halloween

It was a pirate / skeleton themed Halloween this year.

I still have not figured out how to take a good picture of a Jack-o-lantern. Will someone let me in on the secret.

Santa Cruz

We finally made it to the lighthouse only to discover that it was the wrong lighthouse. We needed to head up the coast about 5 miles.

The girls enjoyed the beach even though we were in the wrong spot.

Natural Bridges State Park

Monarch Butterflies

More butterflies. It was such a beautiful sight.

This one was ready for his close-up.

The Mystery Spot

It's a good thing I have a van that seats eight. Here we are crammed in like sardines.

Back Row: Morgan, Aunt Christine, Madison. Middle row: Grandma, Grandpa and Michaela. Front Row: Laurie and Dale.

It is still a mystery.

Madison was chosen to help out for the ball rolling uphill trick

Morgan climbing up the wall.

Dale hanging from the door frame.

Morgan's 10th Birthday (almost)

Since my family was here, we celebrated Morgan's birthday a week early. She didn't seem to mind. With all of our traveling, I told Morgan that I did not have the time to make her a fancy cake. She said it was OK and asked if she could have an ice cream cake.

I keep forgetting to buy birthday candles. I found a package of candles that spelled "congratulations!" Morgan was determined to make them say something else. This is what she came up with. And yes, all the candles were used. Pretty clever!
Opening the mass of presents.

Someone needs to buy that girl some jeans!


This is what happens when someone decides to buy something that is not on the list. You get three of them.

Apple Hill

Enjoying carmel apples at Apple Hill.

Lost in a corn maze at Kids Inc.

Michaela finally gets her pony ride. She was asking all day to ride a pony.

Morgan, Aunt Christine and Madison enjoy a bus ride at Abel's Acres. (Just about the only thing there that did not have a long line.)

Math Contest

We were a bit surprised when Morgan came home from school and said "Guess what mom. Mr. Taylor (the school principal) came into my class and asked me and 3 other kids to come out into the hall with him." She then explained that they were chosen to participate in the SACMath Elementary school math contest. Dale and I were a bit surprised because math is not her best subject.

There were about 20 kids from their school. 3 fourth grade teams and 2 fifth grade teams. The tests were very challenging. At the end there was an awards ceremony. One of the fourth grade teams did very well. But that was about it for the school. They gave the kids their tests back along with the answers. Morgan did not win any ribbons but she did not come in last either. We were very proud of her efforts and believe it or not she even said that she had a good time.

Pumpkin Patch

I survived another year at the pumpkin patch with the preschoolers. We were there from 8:30am to about 1:00pm. After lugging the two pumpkins for what seemed like a mile I told Michaela that I was tired. She offered to drive us home. I was very tempted to take her up on her offer. It was a good thing I didn't because she fell asleep on the way home.

Sea Lions and More

Our hike at Rodeo Beach.

Sea Lions at Point Bonita.

I was playing around with my camera to see how far I could zoom in and still get a good picture. I discovered that the pictures come out a lot better when you have it on the "action" setting
when you are trying to zoom in to something that is really far away.

Michaela only lasted about 10 minutes in the car before she fell asleep. How can she sleep like that? The other two followed shortly after. It was a nice quite trip back home.

Point Bonita Lighthouse

This is part of the trek down to the lighthouse. It is a good 15-20 minute walk. It is not bad going down, it is the going back up that kills you! You can barely make out the tunnel at the end of the trail. You go through it to get to the lighthouse.

After you pass through the tunnel, you follow the trail to an old, narrow bridge. Only 2 people are allowed at a time. There is someone at each end to direct traffic. The line you see are the people waiting to go back across to the other side.


We finally made it to the lighthouse. We were not sure that we would make it. It was closing right when we got there, but the nice bridge man let us and a couple other folks go on to the other side before they closed it off. Thanks nice bridge man!
I don't know who Dale is looking at.

Dale and Morgan going across the wobbly bridge.

A view of the lighthouse from the trail. You were supposed to see the Golden Gate Bridge from the lighthouse, but as you can see it was way too foggy.

Rodeo Beach

We took a short trip to the Bay area and visited a couple of beaches. They were not too busy, but it was very foggy. The description of this beach said that you could see the Golden Gate Bridge. You couldn't see it today.

Enjoying our lunch on the beach.

The girls on the beach. Michaela and Madison got disoriented with the waves, and we almost lost them at sea. (Not really, but they were pretty freaked out about it)



We took a short hike up the mountain side. It was a pretty view. Foggy, but pretty.

Jog-a-thon

The Track

The 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th graders had to jog / walk for 30 minutes. And yes, that is AstroTurf. It is a very nice track.

Here is Morgan jogging, but it does not last very long. She was able to complete 5 laps. One kid in her class did 11 laps, that is almost 3 miles!

Morgan's class celebrating their hard work.

Madison's class getting ready to start.

Madison on her 5th and final lap.

Pears!!!

1 Asian Pear tree + 1 Asian Pear tree =
23 quarts of pears
24 pints of 'pear'sauce
6 dozen pear muffins
2 pear pies
and lots of yummy fresh pears to eat!!

The First Day School

The first day of school. I wonder how long those white shirts will stay white!!
Morgan starts 5th grade and Madison starts 2nd grade at their new shcool. They are both a bit excited and nervous about going to their new shcool. It is huge!! 750+ students. But they are excited about wearing their school uniforms.

Michaela's first haircut

Michaela has been dying to get her hair cut. I usually wait until they start kindergarten to chop all of their hair off. Michaela's hair was just so thick and heavy, that none of the styles that I did for her would stay very long. So she got her hair cut a year early. The next step is to mail that braid off to Locks of Love. Michaela is very proud of her donation.

Oh Figs!

Ok, so I was not paying much attention to my fig tree. When I finally decided to take a look I had tons of ripe figs on the tree, half of which were eaten by the birds. After eating a few I decided I better can some fig jam. It turned out very yummy!!

Laurie's Birthday

It was my turn to go to Disneyland for my birthday. Madison was my traveling buddy. (I chose her because she will go on Indiana Jones with me, Morgan is too scared.) We had a great time and the lines were not that bad for a saturday in June.

The Circus

We were mailed a bunch of free tickets to the Circus here in Sacramento. It was not bad, but I am glad that I did not have to pay any money to see the performance. They had some of the circus animals out front for the kids to ride (for quite a hefty price). I did not bring enough money for everyone to ride the elephant, so Morgan volunteered to ride the camel. (He was a couple of dollars cheaper than the elephant.) The girls had a great time.