Weekend 10

Last weekend Josh with mountain bike riding with some guys from church.  Meanwhile, the girls and I went for a hike on the same trail.  I took my camera with me.  I was struggling finding the balance between mom on a hike and photographer in nature.  Consequently, my photos were not technically the best.  BUT ... they documented our fun outing together, so it's still a win!

Audrey at the plaque that sits at the trailhead

Audrey and the valley below

Josh and buddies starting their ride

"Look mom ... the number 8"

These wildflowers were so pretty.  Unfortunately I couldn't get a good photo of one.  Guess I'll have to go back and try again.

The valley below.  You can see probably 20 miles east.

Pretty field at the top of the hike, where our trail met with several others.  This is where we chose to turn around.

I loved how the purple flowers and yellow flowers looked together on the side of the trail.  But again, just couldn't get them in focus. 

The girls were ecstatic to see a lizard on the trail.  He skittered away as soon as I tried to get closer to get a better photo.

Both girls together at the plaque at the trailhead. 

Photo Fail with a random photo bomb......

A couple weeks ago Josh had band practice at the house.  So we made plans to go to the city and look at the giant Christmas Tree in Union Square and check out some of the stores and get some hot chocolate.

While in front on the Christmas Tree, Audrey wanted to get a picture.  Annie, however, wasn't too interested.

This little boy, however, was more than willing to get his photo taken.

Oh well.  We'll take what we can get.  

Annual Pumpkin Patch

A couple weeks ago we did our annual visit to the pumpkin patch.  Like always, it was hot and not fall-like as one would appreciate for an October visit.  Annie was in a grumpy mood and just didn't seem to embrace the fun as the rest of us did.

We managed to get a few photos and have some fun.  Annie eventually cheered up when it was time to go on the tractor-train ride.  

They really enjoyed the teeter-totter.  Although neither one was really heavy enough to get much action out of it.

Audrey enjoyed feeding the goats

Cliche photo walking across the bridge.  Small miracle that I was able to do this with no photo-bombs

Tractor-Train ride thing

Her only smile of the day.  I thought she would be scared - but she absolutely LOVED this ride.

She refused to sit alone; so Aunt Becky saved the day and sat with her.  

My forever princess - I think she was secretly hoping these pumpkins would turn into Cinderella's coach

She was so enthralled by the tiny pumpkins.  

Hike with the Girls

I took a detour on the drive home the other day and ended up driving past a local regional park with some hiking trails.  After I explained what the place was, Audrey was itching to go on a hike and check it out.

So Saturday afternoon, after we all took much needed naps, the girls and I went on a little hike.

We logged about 2 miles total.  But with small children, that's 2 very SLOW miles.  We stopped a lot and rested.  We took our time going up the hills.  We looked out on the valley below from the top of the hill.  We mooed at the cows at the bottom of the hill.

The girls each had a copy of the map and they followed along, finding each trail marker on the map as we passed them on the trail.  We got to the 5th trail marker when we decided to turn around.

It was windy.

The girls learned that cow poop is also called a cow pie.  They learned what they look like and know not to step in them.

I practiced patience with them and let them play and have fun and move at their pace.

They posed for pictures.

Audrey fell, got up, wiped off the dirt, and was ready to keep going.  (My girl's a rockstar when it comes to falling!)

It was an awesome outing and I hope to go again.

Got the map - we're ready to go!

PEACE!

The view from the top of Donlon Hill

Looking down at the valley below

Believe it or not .... the bay is visible from here.

CHEESE!  (now can we go home mom?!)

Father's Day

I like to do special things for Josh for Father's Day.  He's very sentimental and loves being a dad and really cherishes the Daddy things.

This year I followed followed the trend and did some photos of the girls, specifically with a D-A-D set of photos in there.   It's not easy to get 3 people to look at the camera and smile all at the same time.  Let alone do it with a 2 year old in there who is very stubborn.  And then add to that a teenager who just wants to go hang out with her friends.  But they cooperated long enough to get some cute shots. 

I framed an individual shot of each girl, plus 2 group shots, plus a collage frame with the D-A-D photos.

If You're Happy and You Know It...

If you're happy and you know it clap your hands...

 

If you're happy and you know it stomp your feet

If you're happy and you know it shout Hooray!

If you're happy and you know then your face will surely show it...

 

 

If you're happy and you know it clap your hands....

Muir Beach

Due to Josh's band schedule, I get a lot of time with the girls just the 3 of us.  I take advantage of this time to get out of the house and go do something.  Usually I stay local and go to parks or local entertainment places.  But this weekend I wanted to do something different.  Right after Josh left for his gig, I packed the girls in the car and we went for a drive to the beach.  I chose one of the few beaches that I know without having to go through the city or have to consult a GPS.  And one that wouldn't be super busy.

I grossly underestimated how long it would take to get there.  I thought it would be just about an hour.  Turns out it was an hour and a half and we weren't even to the beach I wanted to go to.  But we were at A beach, so that's OK.  It was already getting late and I wanted them to play some before it got too cold.

Mom fail - I didn't bring a change of clothes.  Or walking shoes.  Or jackets.  I did bring snacks, but left them in the car.  I did bring a change of diapers.  but also left those in the car.  and no sand toys.  And it was too cold to play in the water.  But nothing stops a 2 and 3 year old from playing in the sand and being goofy.  We went for a hike up the hill, but wearing only flip flops they struggled.  It was steep.  I got some exercise picking Annie up, putting her down, picking her up, putting her down.  And going up the hill carrying her on my shoulders ("Uppy head," she says).

It was a great change of scenery and fresh air.  I was hoping to get some photos of the sunset, but it was overcast and hazy and there wasn't going to be one.  And it was cold, so we left earlier.  The girls were covered in sand.  So they took off their pants and shoes and we used baby wipes to clean feet and hands.  And because it was nearly bedtime and traffic was really bad leaving the beach, we had to get dinner at Burger King.  

We had a good time.

The girls were agreeable enough to pose for some photos for me in front of the water.  That was nice.  And they were cooperative and did what I asked, too.

Audrey's rock collection - it stretched 2 full logs

Placing her flag

Surf's Up

Surf's Up

Sisters

Smile .... 

Smile!!!  :D

Collage of all their shots

The full photoset can be seen here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/biochemtine/sets/72157632907181453/with/8527069614/