Our Boy and His Cricket: Adventures

Showing posts with label Adventures. Show all posts

12 November 2010

Friday, November 12, 2010 -

Sunshine and smiles

The last few days have been beautiful fall days here on the coast and of course we've been taking full advantage of the outdoors!

On Wednesday I took the little cricket down to the beach right before sunset to get our sillies out and enjoy a little mommy/daughter time.

Our little walks along the shore are always filled with some adventure and of course lots of perfect moments...right before I snapped this shot my girl grabbed my hand and kissed it and looked at me and smiled....my heart just melted right there.

Thursday I loaded up our bikes, packed a big picnic lunch and piled my sweets in the car early in the morning for a bike ride to the aquarium. We had a fantastic time and completely lost track of time and space! Our few hours turned into an all day adventure and we found ourselves peddling fast to get back to the car and get home to get dinner in us before Big J's bible study started. It was worth every ounce of sweat that poured off me as I road up that big hill to get back!

Oh goodness I LOVED this picture but is there an action out there to make eyes open!? :)

There is this sweet spot at the aquarium where the light is perfect and I've been spying it for awhile to shoot some pictures there and ohhhh I wasn't disappointed! My ever handy model did a great job of dealing with a crowd around him and was eager to let me practice. :)

Then of course I tried to capture my toddler which was just about pointless!

I had visions of her perfectly saying cheese in this small brick alley way there,

but no she wanted to turn all the valves and ring the bell.

She still gave me the perfect cheese though.

Thanks to my babes for letting me get all mamarazzi on you and for a perfectly wonderful day!

I adore you!

06 August 2010

Friday, August 06, 2010 -

Adventures

7 comments

Going home

Our trip to Southern California was fab! We had a great drive down the 101 stopping in Pismo for a park and lunch break, spending an hour crawling through Santa Barbara, and we even managed to get lost looking for a Starbuck's in Santa Paula, we made the most of every minute and laughed our heads off. Big J was a great co-pilot and the cricket was a trouper! I loved my one on one trips with Big J but now I'm loving my "mommy and kids" trips even more!

Once we hit the sun and heat filled valley of angels we were go, go, go! Big J went off to his grandparents and I was on my own with baby in tow and people and places to see! The highlight of my days was being woken up by my bed mate with a beautiful smile, a "hi mama", and a sweet kiss. Nothing but momma joy and a perfect way to start our full days!!

Create a photo slideshow

The main event of my reunion was upon me before I knew it and while I thought I was okay with going back 20 years in time, nerves hit me hard! Thank goodness my wonderful hubby flew down just in time to reassure me that I looked great and we'd have a great time. And a good time was had until the flu smacked me right upside the head and running home we went. Gerrrrr! I did though just love seeing old friends and reconnecting with everyone and Mike loved hearing all the stories about me...good times!

The drive home wasn't pretty and I hated coming to terms with the fact the trip ended before it was supposed to and we didn't get all of our plans accomplished....oh well I have no problem jumping in the car to head straight back to the land I love! For now I'm relishing in the memories of the sun and hot temps and gearing up for school to start in a few weeks!! YeeeeHaaaaaa!

04 July 2010

Sunday, July 04, 2010 -

Adventures,Family

5 comments

“The love of a family is life's greatest blessing” ~ Anonymous

Our trip to Oregon couldn't have been any sweeter and now we are living in the memories of the time we spent with family and cleaning up the aftermath of a week long camping adventure. The cricket did fabulous on the drive and surprised us all when four new teeth appeared on our last day on the road. :) She is a trouper and we are all a bit exhausted from a whirlwind adventure!

With so many pictures I tried to put a few together in a slideshow along with some fun videos! Enjoy!!

Click to play this Smilebox slideshow: Oregon 2010

Create your own free picture slideshow

Happy Fourth to everyone!! We're off to enjoy "The Worlds Shortest Parade", spend the day together, and catch up on laundry, emails and of course blogs!! :)

22 June 2010

Tuesday, June 22, 2010 -

Adventures,Family,Life

10 comments

Pit Stop!

We are home for a quick pit stop between adventures with just enough time to refuel, restock and reorganize! Within the next 36 hours we will be back in the truck and towing the trailer northbound to Oregon for a week of celebration with family and friends!

But first here's a peak of our fun filled Father's Day weekend celebration in Solvang...

Click to play this Smilebox slideshow: Father's Day 2010

Make your own free photo slideshow

And now I must run and clean up and load up for our next trip where we get to celebrate my littlest sister's wedding and a great week ahead! Happy Summmmmer!

03 May 2010

Monday, May 03, 2010 -

Adventures,Camping

6 comments

Picture perfect weekend!

We had an amazing weekend with absolutely beautiful weather! Leaving the campground behind was hard but at least it's close to us and we know we'll be back.

Click to play this Smilebox photobook: Pinnacles Camping

Photo book generated with Smilebox

The Pinnacles National Monument is a fantastic camping adventure if you're in the Bay Area. Be prepared though for lots of folks in the spring and summer time as the hiking here is fantastic and the rock climbing is loved by lots of locals. There's a cute store, a nightly ranger program, full moon guided hikes, shuttles that take you to the trail head at the caves and a pool which opens Memorial Day weekend. The park is also a great place for star gazing and can often be full of college astronomy classes from all over the state along with serious bird watchers. The park is an area which is filled with California Condors and bald eagles. We're are so looking forward to our next trip to explore more of the hiking trails and see what adventure we can find!

08 April 2010

Thursday, April 08, 2010 -

Adventures,Aquarium,Big J,cricket,Family

10 comments

A day under the sea

Every year we give Big J the opportunity to choose something fun to do for his birthday besides a party. This year he wanted to go look at new trailers and RV's, (yea, that's my kid!!) which is totally free fun and something he finds exciting....again he is my kid. Of course we all wanted to do that but plans got changed as soon as we mentioned going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium as well. He gave up on the trailer option and went straight for his first love....the sea!

Birthday boy!

The cricket's first view of a big fish tank...

she was pretty much in awe until she finally passed out many hours later.

Please don't flash the octopus.

Hey...I'm up here mama!!! Look at the otters!!

Sitting and watching the thousands of fish all going in a circle.

My favorite jellies.

Sitting in the outer bay....a family favorite!

We used to spend MANY afternoon naps here when Big J was a baby

and Mike proposed to me here on March 7, 1999!

Do you see the fish??

and then she sleeps!

My loves!

We had a fabulous day and were blessed with a beautiful weather! I couldn't think of a better way to spend a birthday festivity! I see many trips to the aquarium in our future! Big J's actual birthday was also a great day spent together just hanging out and dinner with his families. I'm still in shock that I have a 15 year old!! Big J said to say....Thank you for all the birthday wishes!

22 March 2010

Monday, March 22, 2010 -

Adventures

14 comments

When's the next trip!?!!?

oooooo! Our camping trip was fabulous! I'd been a little worried that the cricket would have a difficult time of it, but she LOVED it! And LOVED it is actually putting it mildly. We are already planning our next trip and I'm counting the days! For our first trip out with our cricket we went with a full hook-up campground with LOTS of amenities that would help make the first time a bit easier. SO glad we did. But our next trip will definitely be more like Big Sur camping because I can not wait to show my girl where my favorite place on the planet is.

Along lots of pictures to share, we came home with our first tooth! YEA!! Now if I could just get the cricket to sit still long enough to flash that beautiful smile so I can photograph that tooth. Enjoy the pictures......

Are we there yet????

Our home away from home.

Concrete jungles are not my fav way to camp but then again I'll camp just about anywhere!

Not all teenagers are over being a kid. :)

Going on one of many walks.

Our little love bug.

The crickets first campfire and future husband.

Little Gav said he loves the cricket so much and wants to marry her.

I had to tell him that he'd have to wait until after college. :)

Good times!

Nothing like a birthday by the campfire!

Happy puppies.

Sleeping the entire night away!

Yes THE WHOLE NIGHT!!

I think we may have to sell our house and live on the road...now that's not a bad idea!!

Best Friends Forever!

Spending a lazy morning in bed is the best!

Camping breakfasts are the best!

All the boys having too much fun!

Lots of bffs.....

Finally we get to take a picture with our daughters! Another dream fulfilled!

And finally the best picture of our first trip together!

Nothing better than a girl and her daddy!

19 March 2010

Friday, March 19, 2010 -

Adventures,Firsts

16 comments

The first of many!

Oh boy! Oh boy!!! We are about to head out onto the wide open road to start a weekend full of dreams come true! For about four plus years we have dreamed, talked, dreamed some more and planned many a camping trip with our daughter and today it's gonna happen! Finally! The smile on our faces couldn't be any bigger!

The trailer is packed to capacity with a few baby things, beach toys, and all the fixins for s'mores and a good time....we'll see you on the flip side!