Kris' trip, continued...

Today we drove Kris and Dallas back to San Francisco to meet up with Dallas' dad. I took them the long way, to see the scenery in Marin County.





Our meeting place was the Palace of Fine Arts. I've driven past this place dozens of times as I've gotten off the Golden Gate Bridge, and always wondered what it was but never went and explored it. It is an amazing, beautiful gem of a place.






Her dad came armed with plenty of bird seeds to feed the pidgeons and grapes to feed the swans. We had pidgeons eating out of our hands. Gavin also had a blast scaring the pidgeons. He'd let them gather around the pile of seeds, wait for them to get busy eating, and run into them. He was able to do this about at least ten times, and the pidgeons just kept coming back for more.












The palace grounds were amazing. Gavin had made fast friends with Dallas' dad, who he kept calling "the fun guy." I guess I'm not fun enough.









After we toured the grounds, we were treated to a trip inside the Exploratorium, which was so much fun. Gavin loved the exhibits, and he might have even learned a thing or two.







Well that's probably enough pictures. We had a great weekend, and we're so glad that Kris and Dallas were able to visit with us!

Kris goes to Lake Tahoe

We took a drive yesterday to take Kris and Dallas to Lake Tahoe. We didn't do much except eat lunch and take pictures, but the scenery at the lake is worth it, and the drive is beautiful anyway.

Kris comes to California!

So my sister Kris and her friend Dallas are visiting from NY state. They've been pretty busy...here are some pictures.

A very belated welcome

So now that Gavin is 5, I thought maybe I should put some of the pictures from his birth into an album. So I gathered some leftover chipboard, opened my new package of yummy Wild Asparagus paper, and made a mini album a couple of weeks ago. Sorry for the bad pictures of it, it was a bit too bulky for the scanner.








We had a beautiful weekend, weather wise. As usual, we spent some time at the park but I didn't bring my camera. I attended a fundraising event for our local oral deaf-ed school, and met firefighter Tom from Survivor Palau (yes I'm a reality tv nerd). A colleague took a picture, I'll see if it came out tomorrow.

According to the forecast, we're in for a bit of heat this coming week. Just in time for my little sis Kris to visit. =)

Happy Mother's Day!

My best present of the day was being able to just relax for a few hours. If my darn internal alarm clock hadn't woken me up at 5 am, I would have been able to sleep in. Wally made some really yummy hamburgers (I didn't get any pictures).

I also got some beautiful flowers from Gavin and Wally


And my favorite little rock star sang me some songs.



Happy Mother's Day! Especially to my momma out in the NC!

Photos from last night

Last night we had a very lovely visit from Jannette, Alana and Shanna.


Gavin and Shanna



Gavin trying out Shanna's leash




It's Jannette!

Gavin got a hold of my camera

Although I'm not a huge fan of my 5 year old using my camera, it does give a bit of a glimpse into what life is like from his vantage point.


He saved up his allowance for several weeks to get these skates.



He loves the shows on PBS Sprout. This is Angelina Ballerina.



This shot was most likely followed by temporary flash induced blindness.

Pictures from last week

Just a few random photos from last week....


Gavin turning bathtime into an underwater expedition.



Gavin made me a flower. Awwwww.

Bike Ride

This is a few months old, but I don't know if I ever sent these pictures out. So here are some pictures of Gavin's first bike ride.

At the park

Yesterday was such a gorgeous day that it seemed a shame to not spend it outside. So we took a trip to McKinley Park, which Gavin refers to as "the cool park." Gavin didn't want to slow down long enough for me to get many pictures, but I did manage to snap a few of him chasing the ducks. Yeah, since we didn't bring any old bread to feed the ducks, we had to chase them instead.

Here's a picture of the fountain with the playground behind it.


And here are some pictures of Gavin torturing the ducks.




The roses were in full bloom.


After a couple of hours at the park, we headed up to Roseville to visit a new scrapbook store that recently opened. This is by far the best scrapbook store in town. It's huge, and has some fabulous products that I haven't seen at any other stores. Did I mention it's huge?

And this is just a small portion of the store.


Unfortunately, Gavin doesn't like shopping for scrapbook materials as much as I do, so I didn't get to explore as much as I wanted to. After we left the scrapbook mecca, we stopped for a refreshing Jamba Juice, and found a Jelly Belly store and got a free sample.

Jamba and Jellies

Oh, and did I mention there was a mariachi band at the park? We love free entertainment. Looking forward to more nice weather today. We've already been to another park today, and Gavin's itching to get back outside. Are you done on the computer yet? I guess I can tell him yes pretty soon.

*Update* We spent over six hours at the park today, with three separate visits. First a visit to Marriott park with our new friends Ella and Jake, an afternoon visit with the bike, and an evening picnic. Trying to enjoy the weather before it becomes so horribly hot that we can't bear to be outside.