Old Faithful and The Petrified Forest

Last Friday we had a scheduled power outage in housing. It was super hot and so we had to get out. We decided to visit Old Faithful and the Petrified Forest in Calistoga, about an hour from Petaluma. It was sooo hot and I was pretty swollen by the end of the day but it was definately better than sitting around the house and twiddling our thumbs.

Zwieba and the Kids in front of the entrance to Old Faithful.

The kids cool off in the blowing mist of the Geyser.

The kids sit on a petrified tree in the Petrified Forest.

Walking around the woods at 37 weeks pregnant, I felt like I should be wearing this sign.

Adam's Rocket

Adam's cubscout activity for June was a Rocket Launch. He and Zwieba built his rocket and he was able to launch it 4 times! It was a beautiful sunny day and we all were a bit sunburned by the time we were done.

Adam holds his rocket after he recovered it.

Sam's 6th Grade Promotion

The first week of June was very busy for us. It was the kids last week of school and Sam's last week of Elementary School. He will be attending Jr. High School next year. It is hard to believe that he is old enough for that!

Sarah, Eliza and Adam congratulate Sam after the ceremony.

Yep, he's in there!

Poor little guy! So many kids always bumping, poking and in Eliza's case, kicking at him! This was at 33 weeks and the hands are clockwise L-R Adam, Sarah, Sam, and Eliza. We are really starting to get anxious and can't wait to meet him!

Bodega Bay

5/31/08 We live 20 minutes from the beach...and we love it but we never seem to find a sunny day. Here it was the last day of May and we are wearing jackets!

Eliza tries to keep up with the kids as they run along the beach

This is my favorite picture all day - Zwieba holding Eliza's hand as they look for beach junk

Cold sand feels super good on my swollen pregnant feet!

The kids dig for sand crabs...

Adam screamed like a girl when he found this one.

Bodega Bay

5/31/08 Living just 20 minutes from the beach is great...but we never seem to get there on a sunny day. We had been having a heat wave the entire week before these were taken and here we are on the beach in jackets! Oh well it was still beautiful to sit and look out at the ocean and put our feet in the sand! Enjoy these pics!

Eliza tries to keep up with the kids

Fairyland

The day before Mother's Day we went to Fairyland in Oakland. I have wanted to visit since we moved up here. It was built just a few years before Disneyland and was one of the places that inspired Walt Disney to build Disneyland. He often visited during the construction of Disneyland and donated a Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs statue set. The park consists mainly of storybook sets with little boxes that you activate with a key to play stories and songs. Wandering around it is easy to see how Walt looked at this place and thought to himself..."I can do this and I can do it better!" This was right up Eliza's alley and even though the bigger kids pretended not to have fun, they climbed on everything climbable and touched everything touchable. The kids and I in front of the entrance and the old woman who lived in a shoe is on the right behind Sarah.

The kids sitting in flower chairs

Adam peeks out the window of one of the tiny houses

Fairyland's version of Toad Hall.

Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs...A bit of Walt Disney in Nor. Cal!