Princeton in the Sierras 2016

We headed up to Fallen Leaf Lake for a Princeton in the Sierras weekend.  The weather was beautiful all weekend. 

Elsa enjoyed "fishing" for Crawdads.

Liam had fun on the pontoon boat - he even got to drive it!

He also enjoyed climbing on the rocks.  

Elsa loved the climbing wall.  She was able to get to the top of all three faces. 

Elsa was very excited to play a game of "high in the sky picture time" where Arne took pictures of her and Liam jumping from the docks. 

Elsa enjoyed going out with both of us on the stand up paddleboard.  It was so much fun. 

The kids were also excited to swim, but the water was very cold!

Both also had a lot of fun with the art projects. 

I enjoyed all the great family time!

October Camping



The first weekend in October, we headed to Joseph D. Grant County Park, for a camping adventure with our friends the Dumbras.

Liam enjoyed exploring the old Grant Ranch house.

Elsa created her own "fire" and showed us how to start it with two rocks.

What was most fun was watching Emilia and Elsa playing together and running around.

And also all the rolling around in the dirt!

Liam really liked his cuddle time with mommy by the campfire.

While Elsa and I had fun playing.

The kids were fun.

The girls had fun exploring the hillside, making up stories and having adventures.

Arne liked taking pictures of the birds.

It was a lovely area to spend the night.

School Pictures



Elsa's first grade school pictures.

Pictures from her school "Hoe Down" fall celebration.

Santa Cruz Boardwalk!

The first weekend of fall was HOT (heat records were broken throughout the Bay Area), so we headed down to Santa Cruz to ride the rides on the boardwalk and play in the ocean.

Elsa's favorite thing was a giant donut!

 Liam was very excited for the Haunted House ride.

It was nice to go on favorite rides, like the air swing.

 And the roller coaster.  It is also exciting that Elsa is big enough to ride by herself!

 Liam made new friends everywhere!

Arne finally got to ride the Merry-Go-Round.

 My sister Amanda met us at the beach.  The water was cold and refreshing.

 We all played in the waves.  Elsa loves body surfing.

First Grade!

Elsa is now in First Grade!  On August 16th, we had a great first day of school, heading over early to check out the new classroom - Room 6 with Mrs. Schweitzer.

 I loved getting to see her enjoy being back on campus.

 There was a new place to line up.

 And a new rug to sit on.

 Later in the week, she was able to give me a tour of her room.  Several of the girls loved playing in the puppet corner.  She is more giddy/playful this year as she lines up for class.

 But I think for Elsa the best part is playing on the monkey bars!

It is nice to be back into the regular schedule of school.  Elsa spent the summer going to a variety of summer camps.  She had a great adventure going to Crowden Camp and learning the piano and getting to enjoy time with her grandparents.

She enjoyed taking the bus up to Girl Scout Camp.

 It was fun for me to go up with her on the days I volunteered.

 And fun to watch the girls all sing songs at Singing Tree.

One of Elsa's goals for the summer was to learn to sing all the songs from her Equestria Girls videos.  She made a lot of progress.

Her last camp of the summer was Swim Camp - she made tie dye and got to buy candy in the pro shop.  A nice end to the summer.