Outdoor Fun and Princeton Connections

October was a month filled with fun adventures.  We started out the month heading up to Fallen Leaf lake, for Princeton in the Sierras.  This was the fourth year of this family tradition.  We stopped at Fenton's on the way up for some yummy food and ice cream.

 As we got close to the lake, both kids had fallen asleep.

Once again, one of the fun activities was rock climbing!

 Elsa excelled at this, and Liam is starting to enjoy it.

 The kids really enjoyed "fishing" for crawdads and playing on the docks. 

 And even on a trip needed their night-time storytime.

 On Sunday, before leaving, we had some fun time on the water on a stand-up paddle board and paddle boating with friends.  

A lovely weekend of family time. 

The next weekend in October I headed out in Boston for the Head of the Charles regatta.  I raced in the Princeton Alumni Fat Cats Women's Masters 8.  It was amazing.  

My classmate Stephanie helped organize the team and added me to the roster.

I got to see other college friends like Phoebe, who was racing against us.

And a Bay Area friend, Julia, came out to watch.

It was a perfectly awesome race weekend.

For the last weekend in October we went to Apple Hill for apple picking and hanging out with some Princeton friends, Chris and Steve, at their home in the foothills.  Kelli was also out visiting from DC, making it a mini-Princeton reunion.

 I enjoyed my morning yoga.

 The kids enjoyed picking over 60 apples!

 Elsa was very good at climbing in the tree.

 We then had a lot of apples to peel for an apple pie, stewed apples over pancakes, and apple sauce!

What a great fall month!

Girl Scout Santa Cruz Overnight

 

This last weekend, I took Elsa and her Girl Scout Troop to Santa Cruz to camp on the boardwalk and enjoy some fun in the sun.  We met up at her school, and then caravanned down to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk.  After checking in, along with 2000 other girls scouts and parents, we found a place on the Boardwalk to set up our tent.  The girls were setting up a big tent that would fit all 9 of them!

  

 

 

Then we headed out on to a dinner on the sand and then a movie under the stars!  We saw Zootopia, and soon after the movie ended, the girls were all nestled in their sleeping bags. 

By 6AM they were up making noise, and soon after that, they packed up all the gear.

 

Then we headed back to the beach for breakfast and then a sand castle making content, which mostly involved playing in the ocean.

 

 

 

 

The MOMS!

After the contest it was time to change into dry clothes and go on the rides.  The girls had a lot of fun on the rides, and so did I!

 

 

Some of the rides were too spiny for Elsa, so she played a ping pong ball toss game and won a large turtle!

 

By early afternoon we were all very tired, so we headed home, stopping by to see Auntie Amanda and get some ice cream!

  

 

 

National Parks and Seashore

We started off September with a Labor Day weekend camping trip to Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park. We headed out Friday afternoon and spent the night in Fresno.  Early on Saturday we drove into the park, met up with friends, and put up our tent.

It was nice to camp by the riverside and watch the kids enjoy playing around the site.

Elsa and I hiked with others up a 2 mile trail to a waterfall. 

We had a lot of fun playing in the water.

On the hike back we saw a bear!

Back at camp it was fun to make dinner and hang out as a group.

 Liam enjoyed roasting the marshmallows for S'Mores.

Early the next day we headed out to Moro Rock.  It was hazy from fires south of the park, so we really couldn't see any of the great views, but the kids all did the 250 steps up to the top of the rock. 

The heights were not as fun for Arne.

In the afternoon we headed out on the bus to visit the General Sherman Tree.  It was awesome seeing all the beautiful big Sequoias.

I like that I have a tall tree with two little saplings.

That evening it rained, but we were snug in our tent.

We left Monday morning and visited a viewpoint in Kings Canyon.  It was great seeing into the valley.

The following weekend, we headed up to Point Reyes station and the Point Reyes National Seashore.  Friends moved north and we wanted to visit and see their new home. The kids had fun scooting and biking around and checking out the playground, while the parents sat and chatted.

We had dinner at the local pizza place, then got to wander through the marshlands and pick blackberries.

Then on Sunday morning we headed into Point Reyes National Seashore and Limantour beach for some morning beach time. 

We had a lovely lunch in town with Aunt Jan, then a good ride home with some sleeping children.

We are lucky to have so many beautiful national treasures to visit in California.