Connor's big birthday trip

For Connor's birthday this year instead of throwing him a party that would be over in a few hours we wanted to give him an adventure he'd always remember. So we spent a few days in Bass Lake & Yosemite National Park. Connor got to drive a real boat, ride a huge steam engine through snowy mountains, snowball fight with grandpa, get lots of cuddles, love & gifts from grandma, see Yosemite and hike around the giant sequoias, feel the freezing spray from the powerful Yosemite Falls, see El Capitan, make smores, see a few deer in person, stay up late & become a knight.



Thank you grandma and grandpa for the knight costume. Connor loves being a knight and saving the princesses from the dragons.

Grandpa showed us how to play shuffle board and Connor got pretty good after just a few try's.

The restaurant had such a beautiful view of the lake.

We spent Saturday in beautiful Yosemite. The temperature was in the low 40s. COLD!

We saw 6 deer grazing in a field but that was all the wild life we saw. The park was actually pretty crowded so I think all that noise scared most wild life away.

Behind to the left is El Capitan and behind on the right is Yosemite Falls.


Connor sporting his new big boy hiking backpack. North Face for the littles . . . so cute.

The beautiful and huge sequoias.


Getting ready to throw a snowball at my camera.

Getting lots of love and attention from Grandma and Grandpa.




The weather up at Bass Lake & in Yosemite was pretty cold and cloudy but on one afternoon we had just enough of a break to get out on the lake for a boat ride. Connor was in absolute heaven when Chris let him drive the boat. The boat didn't go very fast but Connor loved controlling the throttle and making it go fast, slow, fast, slow, fast . . . well you get the picture.






A real steam engine. I don't know who was more excited Connor or Dad. Chris has always loved trains and this is just like the models he played with as a child.

What a great adventure. Happy 4th birthday Connor!

For more pix click here

I love this face!

Birthday Treats

For Connor's birthday at home we had yummy dragon cupcakes with friends and then at school Connor had a dragon cake made by mom & dad.



The celebrating and treats will continue this weekend with a trip up to Bass Lake and Yosemite with Grandma and Grandpa.

crafty boys

Great job on the dino Easter eggs boys.

Tennis anyone?

Well maybe not. Connor had his 1st group tennis lesson last week. They practiced proper position, did some running games, a balancing game and hitting contest. He seemed to have fun the entire time. So I was a little surprised that on our walk to the car when I asked him if he wanted to come back next week and do it again his response was "Um no thank you". And while I was a bit disappointed I was also a bit relieved. Tennis is not cheep and I definitely don't want to push Connor into something he doesn't want to do or pay to do that. We do need to find something were he can run a lot because he loves to run and race.

Poor poor iphone picture but it's the only one I have.

On a side note Connor's swimming is improving by leaps and bounds. He now will now take several breaths in a row instead of trying to hold his breath until he gets to the edge. It's going to be a great summer watching this guy swim.

7 Mile....

No, this is not "8 Mile" nor is it Detroit, and I'm not Eminem. But Connor hiked 7 miles!!! I find myself underestimating Connor or maybe being too protective, but he walked and climbed and had enough energy to swim after our long adventure. I am so proud of him...


This weekend we dragged Connor on a 7 mile hike! We hiked up Romero Canyon Trail and then down the fire road. We did NOT realize this was such a long hike until we were 2 hours in.. Connor was a champ! Yes, he complained that he was tired and wanted to be carried many times but he also walked and climbed the majority of the hike. We kept him motivated with the promise of gum and a swim in the pool. We started the hike at about 11:15 and didn't get back to the car until 3:10. Can you imagine any other preschooler walking for about 4 hrs. As I type this it sounds crazy and unreal but he did it and most of it was fun! I'm sure part of the reason it took so long is because Connor loves to stop and pick up every rock and stick he sees and throw it.

Hiking with an inquisitive and adventurous preschooler is definitely a challenge but also wonderful. Before Connor, I always enjoyed the the quiet peacefulness I found while hiking. Now I answer nonstop rapid fire questions or listen to the creative and somewhat bizarre ramblings of a 4 year old boy. For example "Mom lets pretend you, me and dad are lions. You are the mommy lion, daddy is the daddy lion and I am the baby lion and we all eat gazelles." a few minutes later "okay now lets pretend we are JETS!!! and we have guns to kill the bad ones" . . . one minute later "which plants are poisonous?" . . . "okay well what's a rash?" . . . "what's reaction mean?" . . . "do you want to be a mountain lion or a rattle snake or a cobra?" . . . and so on and so forth for 7 miles. While a bit exhausting I absolutely love that Connor is always wanting to know more and use his imagination.

The 1st half of the trail is shady and runs along a creek bed. There is a strong scent of bay laurel in the air. There are tons of different kinds of wild flowers scattered around the forest setting as well as along the fire road that runs back down the outside of the canyon. The hike down the fire road is absolutely beautiful with breath taking views of Montecito and the ocean.






This lizard is about one foot long. I think it was the longest lizard we have seen on a hike.

The Beach Boys

Yesterday was an amazing day for the beach and we took full advantage. I let Connor skip nap and we spent the entire afternoon at the beach with our friends Elena and Luke. Connor and Luke get along great and it's really fun to watch them 'be boys'. They love running, hiking, climbing, pretending to shoot things, roaring like dinosaurs, digging in the dirt, talking about animals eating other animals, throwing dirt, rocks, stick or what ever they can pick up. These guys have a blast together.

Sitting in their respective holes.

Throwing rocks and sticks into the water.

While the boys played Elena and I actually got to just relax for a bit. I'm hoping for a lot more days like this before baby number 2 arrives.