California Trip

So, as promised, here are some pictures from our trip to California.  We flew out to San Jose and stayed with our friends, Meera and Jason and their 2 four year olds Kali and Kirin.  The boys adjusted to the time change by leaping into the pool in their backyard.

Then the next day we all headed up to Truckee, California and stayed at a rental home near Donner Lake.  The boys loved traipsing around the backyard finding pinecones as big as their heads!

 Kali and Kirin brought along their beloved pugle, Dawkins.  He was great!

 Sam's favorite Olympic event is the Pinecone Toss.

 There was even an outdoor play area for the kids.

 The kids got along so well, it was pretty normal to see all four of them hanging together on the couch waiting for Mike's pancakes in the morning.

 Sam even convinced Dawkins to sit on his lap.  So cute!

 We went to the beach at Donner lake one morning and did a picnic lunch.  The water was freezing, but the boys had fun playing in the sand.

 Beautiful Donner Lake Marina

 Kali and Kirin enjoy some picnic lunch on the beach.

 We did S'mores one night in the fireplace.

 No surprise they were a big hit!

 The weather was fantastic, up to mid-80s during the day, but cooling off in the evenings.  We did dinner outside to enjoy the scenery.

 One day we went to the rockier beach area that was for dogs, so Dawkins to run around.  The boys enjoyed rock throwing and watching all the dogs that came to play.

 We did an evening nature walk and found a thistle bloom that was pretty big.

 Sam had fun stealing Kali and Kirin's shoes to try them on.  Love how he even coordinates with his shirt.  Kirin gave him a pair of shark slippers to bring home!

 We did a popcorn/jammie/movie night with the kids when the big kids (Mike and Jason) went out for a night on the town.

 Mr. Naughty found some markers (washable thankfully).

 We had a lovely indoor concert one night provided by the 4 year olds.

 One of the bigger highlights was the horseback riding.  Sam had a fit getting a helmet on, but LOVED the horses once he saw them.

 Big kids ready to roll.

 Sam is NOT a fan of headgear.

 They also had a play area with fun little wild west scenery, which made for a good photo op.

 Little rascal looks kind of at home behind bars, huh?

 We also spent a lot of time at the pool.  All the kids enjoyed sporting goggles after watching all the Olympic swimming.  

 And we survived the plane ride home.  The boy traveled amazingly well and we had a wonderful time. We miss our buds in Cali and look forward to another trip sometime soon!