On Sunday we took Lauren on her very first cable car ride and earned her San Franciscan stripes in the process…
Waiting for the cable car to arrive - very exciting!
Don't worry Lauren, I'll be right here the whole time!
Lauren was a little nervous as things got going...
... but then she warmed up just fine!
Mommy, Maile and Lauren on the cable car
The girls hanging off the side (with a little assist from Mommy)
Our San Francisco Girl!
No doubt you’ve heard of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge by now. It’s been incredible to watch it spread – one of the most viral things I’ve ever seen hit Facebook.
Christine was tagged by one of her good friends yesterday, so this evening, we gathered the family to participate and help spread the word even further. (And yes, we also donated some money to the cause.)
Maile had so much fun, that she wanted to do her own special version after – and had a special call out for her Auntie Elyssa!
When we came back upstairs, check out the picture Maile drew…
Maile's interpretation of our Ice Bucket Challenge
Love. The whole thing was a great bonding experience as a family – we hope it does a lot of good for those in need!
(Click here for the first video.)
(Click here for the second video.)
Lauren got wind that Maile is going to start taking Ukulele lessons in the fall and decided she needed to get a head start …
(Click here for the video.)
We did a team building exercise at work the other day and one of the funny prizes they gave out were fake teeth. I brought them home and boy did we have fun with the girls trying them on!
What beautiful smiles 🙂
This picture absolutely cracks me up. I love it.
Family shot - what great teeth!
My favorite part was that Lauren actually got that the teeth were funny some how. (Perhaps because Christine and I were dying laughing every time she put them in her mouth). She would put the teeth in and then just start giggling.
Good times – definitely 10 minutes that added time to my life due to the laughter. Hopefully, you enjoyed the pictures as well 🙂
Some of you might recall that Christine ran a half-marathon about 5 years ago when Maile was just a few months old.
Here’s a shot of Maile and the sign we made for Mommy…
I roll everywhere, so clearly I'm impressed by anyone that can run 13.1 miles!
On Sunday, Mommy hit the road again, this time running the San Francisco Half-Marathon. Our cheering party has, of course, increased my one as well 🙂
Maile and Lauren anxiously await Mommy at the finish line...
Maile was on the look out for Mommy as soon as we approached the race route. She thought she saw her about a dozen times before the real deal crossed the finish line and we showered her with hugs and kisses.
Mommy and her girls - I couldn't ask for a better role model for my two girls!
Family shot, another half marathon in the books!
Of course, my favorite part was Mommy going through the food line after the race. She picked up a banana and a muffin. Lauren demanded the banana and Maile asked for the muffin. (They had only had 2 breakfasts already that morning.) That’s a mommy runner 🙂
It’s been awhile since we’ve done a full family picture. We snapped this one this weekend down at the Aquatic Park – we went down to watch our friend, Nate, do the Escape from Alcatraz swim!
Maile at 5, Lauren at 1.5
Per Maile’s request, we had her birthday party at Pump It Up – the mecca of bouncy houses. The party was a great success with the kids (and some of the parents) all running themselves ragged followed by pizza and birthday cake. Some highlights below…
Hannah was the first to arrive!
Listening intently to the rules of the road
Reaching for the top ribbon...
Lauren dragged Mommy, Daddy and Aunty Jen all over the bouncy houses...
After all the bouncing Lauren was happy to be on the ground...
Judging by the sweat, I think it's fair to say Maile had a good time!
What in the world?
I make this magic ball float! Me!
Taking a break and soaking in the fun
Maile Girl in her chair of honor!
And here’s Maile Girl blowing out her birthday candles…
Birthday #5 was definitely a big success. Very thankful for all the friends that came to help us celebrate!
(Click here for the video.)
For the past few years, we’ve had a tradition of going on a bike ride for father’s day. This year, Lauren joined for the first time. We rented a trailer and the girls both sat in that while I pulled it and Christine pedaled along side, stopping occasionally to document the adventure.
I felt like Rocky in the Rocky IV training scene where he is pulling Paulie in the sled – except I was biking over the Golden Gate Bridge on a beautiful sunny day instead of in the Russian winter.
My girls are decidedly cuter than Paulie though…
Mommy and Maile
Mommy and Lauren
I taught Lauren why we need to wear a helmet to keep our heads safe...
... and then she shared with everyone else 🙂
For the ride itself we rode up over the Golden Gate Bridge and back – perfect weather and it was a first going over the bridge for both Lauren and Mommy!
Family picture halfway through the ride
This was actually Mommy's first time riding over the Golden Gate Bridge too!
On Monday, Maile and I headed to the Giants/Cubs game. It wasn’t her first trip to the ballpark, but it was the first in a couple years and she’s a bit older now to enjoy things. It was an absolutely beautiful day and we had great seats (courtesy of our old neighbors) behind home plate with a view of the whole park, the water, everything.
We lasted about 5 innings – I the metric for baseball is 1 inning per age, so 5 was about right. Having recently gone to a basketball game, baseball is a much slower game. With that said, there is a lot to see at the ballpark and Maile was full of questions. She made friends (shocking, I know) with the other people in our row and they were really sweet to her (they gave her a Giants pin and chatted her up).
Definitely a fun way to spend the afternoon – looking forward to doing it again soon!
Before the game Mommy hit the carousel near Daddy's office with the girls...
Picking up Daddy and taking a quick family shot
Daddy and Maile ready to rock AT&T Park!
Check out our view!
We had a lot of fun with the Memorial Day flags they passed out.
Maile's first ballcap - yes, it's pink. BUT it's not the princess one they were selling, so I consider that a victory. A small one, but a victory all the same.
On Sunday we headed down to San Mateo to visit the Maker Faire. As the web site says, “Maker Faire is the Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth — a family-friendly festival of invention, creativity and resourcefulness, and a celebration of the Maker movement.” It started in 2006 here in the Bay Area and its kind of like a huge science fair/country fair covering everything from knitting to robots and everything in between.
We had an absolute blast – can’t recommend it highly enough, especially if you have kids.
At the entrance was this huge fire breathing dragon/octopus robot contraption thing. It was cool...
... and a little befuddling for little Lauren!
Maile jumped right in and took control of a robot some students made...
This was a fun one - using paper tubes Maile built a structure that had to protect a marshmallow from a book dropped from about 5 feet high...
Do you think Maile’s structure was successful? Well, check it out…
Speaking of marshmallows, Mommy and Maile had fun making this marshmallow shooter from PVC piping...
... and then Lauren had fun running all over with it (pizza slice in hand, of course!)
Maile girl hard at work building a structure out of spaghetti and (once again) mini marshmallows...
Great success!
The last thing Mommy and Maile did was make a purse out of old jeans - I don't think she's taken it off since she made it!
A truly awesome day and we’ll definitely be back next year!
(Click here for the video.)
