Mama's New Baby!!

Bird Watching

So ever since we landscaped our back yard at the beginning of summer we have had so many more birds visiting us. Obviously there is a much more plentiful supply of worms in regularly watered lawn than there was in dried up old weeds.

Anyway, Sofia loves to watch the birds and tonight as she looked out into the back yard she exclaimed......"look Mummy - Grandpa Robin Redbreast!"

TA-HOE!

We were so lucky this weekend to be invited up to stay at our friend's cabin in Tahoe. Yip, even Barcaly was invited. The weather was perfect and we spent the weekend just relaxing and enjoying the company of our friends.

Waffles for breakfast on the deck. Don't pay any attention to the hood....it was not cold at all.


Barclay John thought he had died and gone to doggy heaven. We took him for a walk in the wilderness, off leash. We have never had enough faith in Barclay to let him go off by himself but he surprised all of us. He would not stop wagging his tail and in true Border Collie style split the difference between all of his people to make sure he had everyone in his sights.
Look how good he is being in this photo. This was the front door of the cabin that was left open almost all weekend and for the most part he stayed right where he should have been.


Sweet Brodie who put up with all of Barclay's herding. I think Brodie is Barclay's new BFF.


My little beach bum.








Before we left, we took the dog's to the beach for a little swim and romp on the beach. What an awesome weekend we all had.

Tutu Madness

This series of photos was taken one night out in the back yard. I bought Sofia her own tutu skirt because she so enjoyed wearing the blue one in the photo shoot. So we put it on one evening and danced in the back yard. The girl twirled and spun until it was time for bed and I think these photos capture her personality at it's finest. The last couple of weeks have seen the real two year old surface, so it was nice to see these smiles and we took such joy in watching our beautiful girl dance with complete and utter abandon.

Pinecrest Finally

Sorry about the delay in getting some photos published of our camping trip up to Pinecrest. We had a wonderful, completely filthy time. The kids were great, the weather perfect, and the food was pretty amazing all around if I do say so myself.


Sofia and Jake discovered the dirt first thing. Good thing that they enjoyed it so much 'cause we all did 4 days without a shower. Mmmm mmmmm good!


A perfect camp site. We had lots of room to set up our trailor, tents, games, a fire pit with plenty more room to spare.


Running round and round and round. Sofia taught Jake how to play follow the leader. These two kids are so cute together. At one point Jake went and gave Sofia a big hug and lost his balance. Both kids went crashing to the ground. So sad when such a sweet moment ends in tears.


Such a happy camping girl.


A perfect spot.


Jake the Snake. We won't mention that a little snake was swimming around in the water on our little beach. Yeah....a swimming snake. Is it just me or is there something a little wrong about that whole thing? It gives me the chills just thinking about it now.


Floating with my girl.


My little boat "Jaffa" got a good workout. The weather was perfect for a little sailing and almost everyone got out on the water at some point.


My little overtaking manouver. Good thing that this was the move that got caught on camera and not my turtle move from the day before. 'Nuff said!!



Jake and his Grandpa. Jake was pretty serious about his mission to bail the whole lake.




Packing up to head home. Let's do it again next year guys. It's a plan!

A Night in the City with Grandpa

Part One of our vacation last week was a trip to San Francisco to catch up with Grandpa Robin. We headed out on Friday for a night in the city. We caught the cable car down to the Ferry Building and had an awesome dinner (except dessert....yes Meg and Gladys, next time we WILL listen to you) at "The Slanted Door". Sofia even gave her chopstick - only one of them - a workout. She loved the pork belly we ordered which is unusual. She is not really much of a meat eater.



We decided the best option on the way back to the hotel was to walk off all of the good stuff we had just eaten. It never gets tiring looking at all of the wonderful buildings in San Francisco.




Story time with Grandpa Robin. We are so lucky that even though we live so far away from Grandpa, we do get to catch up every once in a while even if it is just for one night. Sofia seems to have a special place in her heart for her Grandpa. Maybe it is because he was the first person she met when we came home, or maybe it is the simple fact that he is a super cool Grandad.


On Saturday we headed out to the newly renovated California Academy of Sciences. I don't have too many pictures to share of that. It was super busy and SUPER toasty in there. We did get to enjoy the rainforest display and Sofia did have a good time checking out the penguins. But, far and away her favourite display was of the medicinal leeches. Yip....go figure. The display consisted of a human foor (not real I don't think) covered in leeches. Ever since we have come home this is what we have heard from Sofia.....over and over and over again:

Ewwwwww foot!! Leeches! No Shoe!!

The way she says it is just too damn cute! It really made an impact I guess. What is up with that? I thought the butterflies in the rainforest were pretty spectacular, but not my daughter. She liked the leeches!!



Part two of vacation tomorrow. Off to bed with a girl who has come home with a high fever. Doctor said that it is just some kind of late season flu and we just need to ride it out. Looks like a sleepless night in the making for us tonight.