Somewhere In California

The boys had a great time playing at the beach, building sand castles with cousins, jumping waves, hiking, playing in a waterfall, swimming, and visiting elephant seals. I just wish California were a little closer.

We hiked to a small waterfall and there was a little cave behind the falls that the boys could climb through


Jumping waves with cousin K

Boogie Boarding

Elephant seals on the sand

Elephant seals sparring, which is what the boys did periodically

Working on the sand castle
The finished product

Jumping off the diving board

Not to be outdone by his big brother, boy #2 jumps into the pool

Rocket Science

For Father's Day the boys bought Steve a model rocket. The boys were very excited about it so tonight we tested it out. The cartridges I bought allowed the rocket to reach 450 feet. I think the rocket did just that. We had three successful launches and I believe we will have lots of fun with this rocket.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Blastoff

Boy #2 launching the rocket

See that small orange dot by the moon? That's our rocket!

Boy #1 retrieving the parachute

S'mores and More

We have been talking about building a fire pit in the backyard, so we decided to go for it. I was looking for something cool and rectangular, but in the end we ended up with an easy, circular pit. We will eventually dig out the grass and create a patio area with gravel. The weather cleared long enough on Saturday to have an inaugural fire. We enjoyed s'mores and hanging out around the fire. We are looking forward to a summer full of foil dinners and dutch oven cooking.

The boys with their friends

Enjoying the fire

Loving the s'mores

Forts

Boy #1 is really into building forts these days. Some are inside and some are outside. Last week he built this fort in the living room. He spent the afternoon reading books to his brother in the fort. That night the boys and their dad slept in the fort. I'm glad the fort wasn't big enough for me to sleep in too.

The boys with their fort

The view from the back side

Setting up the sleeping bags

Summer Hikes

In an effort to get in shape and get out of the house, we plan to take many family hikes this summer. Last week we did a four mile hike and the boys were such good hikers. Boy #2 calls himself a "professional hiker" and boy #1 loves to lead the hike. We spent Memorial Day hiking with lots of other people who thought it was a good day for a hike. Maybe our next hike won't be so crowded.

You can see the crowds behind the boys

I love the green of the aspens