Nikos rides a bike with pedals (his doesn't have pedals) for the first time.
Olive proves that she can still be amused by a jumparoo (perhaps we pulled the plug on ours too early?)
And last but not least, the rock painting in action.
Monday, July 12, 2010
More Camping Fun
Here are a few of the videos I took while we were camping. Enjoy!
Nikos rides a bike with pedals (his doesn't have pedals) for the first time.
Olive proves that she can still be amused by a jumparoo (perhaps we pulled the plug on ours too early?)
And last but not least, the rock painting in action.
Nikos rides a bike with pedals (his doesn't have pedals) for the first time.
Olive proves that she can still be amused by a jumparoo (perhaps we pulled the plug on ours too early?)
And last but not least, the rock painting in action.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Camping Finale + Bonus: Worst Heather Pic Ever
I swear this happens to me every time we go on vacation, I take so many pictures that it makes blogging a challenge, and then by the time I get around to it I am bitter because I wish we were on vacation again. Ha!
Well, without further ado, here is the rest of our loooong camping post.
Nikos and Taki try out the water.
I realized I was an ocean snob because the water was freezing and I declared it was "not at all like the warm water in Hawaii." Snooooty! I also continue to maintain that the Atlantic Ocean is warmer than the Pacific in California, but everyone else pretty much told me I was ridiculous with this belief.
The little ones stayed amused in the sand.
Ollie
Dylan
Trevor
No idea what they are all staring at.
Olive shares a "drink" cup with Trevor. Amazing how she has already learned to plie boys with drinks to get what she wants. I didn't even teach her that.
While Princess Olive - with snack in hand, mind you - sits on the boogie board Mia shares a little wet sand with her (hoping to find a sand crab.)
The Princess does not know how she feels about this goop and she certainly does not want it to touch her foot.
Nikos ready to catch a wave.
While the parents enjoy some wine and a community dinner outside, half of the kid contingent watches a flick on the Press fancy schmancy rotating flat screen tv. From left to right - Riley, Nikos, Zach, Luke and Taylor.
Next up - s'mores!! Woooohooo. One of my favorite parts of camping.
Taki, Zach and Nikos. No one is on fire in these pictures, I was just playing with the settings of my camera.
Waiting patiently.
The payoff!
Jeff and Trevor (again, no one on fire.)
Jen and Dylan.
Press family by the fire.
Wow, this is a B.A.D. picture of me, why do I look all freaky like a stay-puff marshmallow robot? I don't know, but I am tossing all vanity aside to show you this cute picture of little Olive.
The next morning we took the train to Santa Barbara - so fun! Nikos was loving it! Once we got to SB we walked down to the pier and had lunch, followed by ice cream.
Nikos is not happy that I am delaying his ice cream start. Taki is protecting the ice cream from a perilous fall.
Love, love, love this pic. How cute is it that she is holding onto him?
Another cute one - sucks I didn't move the diaperbag out of the frame. Photoshop friends, who wants to tackle this project??
Shot of the scenery (it was warm but June gloom was in full effect.)
On the train on the way back. Olive felt like such a big girl in her own seat.
And check this out - exhausting day! This train ride is not long (15-20 minutes?) but both kids were down for the count by the end of it. Of course it could have been the mad dash we made to catch the train (as it was pulling into the station.)
Jennie made cupcakes on the last night that we were there (we were leaving a day before everyone else.)
Zach and Nikos fixing the stand for the rope game.
On most of the mornings the kids slept in until about 8-8:30. (This is Olive's usual wakeup time at home but Nikos is usually up by 7.) Each night when we were camping Olive slept in her pak-n-play and Nikos slept in his sleeping bag, but on the last morning he crawled onto our air mattress at about 7.
We got a group shot of the kids on the morning that we left. Front row - Riley, Luke, Taylor, Mia (hands in the air), Zach and Nikos (with his usual group picture face.) Back row - Madison holding Ethan, Tate and Shelby holding Olive. Shelby and Tate were just neighboring campers that joined the kids to play.
Zach and Nikos
Romios family, ready for the (7.5hr) road trip home.
3/5 of the Press family.
We had such a fabulous time and owe the Press family for showing us such an awesome time. Here's to making this an annual tradition!
Well, without further ado, here is the rest of our loooong camping post.
Nikos and Taki try out the water.
I realized I was an ocean snob because the water was freezing and I declared it was "not at all like the warm water in Hawaii." Snooooty! I also continue to maintain that the Atlantic Ocean is warmer than the Pacific in California, but everyone else pretty much told me I was ridiculous with this belief.The little ones stayed amused in the sand.
Ollie
Dylan
Trevor
No idea what they are all staring at.Olive shares a "drink" cup with Trevor. Amazing how she has already learned to plie boys with drinks to get what she wants. I didn't even teach her that.
While Princess Olive - with snack in hand, mind you - sits on the boogie board Mia shares a little wet sand with her (hoping to find a sand crab.)
The Princess does not know how she feels about this goop and she certainly does not want it to touch her foot.
Nikos ready to catch a wave.
While the parents enjoy some wine and a community dinner outside, half of the kid contingent watches a flick on the Press fancy schmancy rotating flat screen tv. From left to right - Riley, Nikos, Zach, Luke and Taylor.
Next up - s'mores!! Woooohooo. One of my favorite parts of camping.Taki, Zach and Nikos. No one is on fire in these pictures, I was just playing with the settings of my camera.
Waiting patiently.
The payoff!
Jeff and Trevor (again, no one on fire.)
Jen and Dylan.
Press family by the fire.
Wow, this is a B.A.D. picture of me, why do I look all freaky like a stay-puff marshmallow robot? I don't know, but I am tossing all vanity aside to show you this cute picture of little Olive.
The next morning we took the train to Santa Barbara - so fun! Nikos was loving it! Once we got to SB we walked down to the pier and had lunch, followed by ice cream.Nikos is not happy that I am delaying his ice cream start. Taki is protecting the ice cream from a perilous fall.
Love, love, love this pic. How cute is it that she is holding onto him?
Another cute one - sucks I didn't move the diaperbag out of the frame. Photoshop friends, who wants to tackle this project??
Shot of the scenery (it was warm but June gloom was in full effect.)
On the train on the way back. Olive felt like such a big girl in her own seat.
And check this out - exhausting day! This train ride is not long (15-20 minutes?) but both kids were down for the count by the end of it. Of course it could have been the mad dash we made to catch the train (as it was pulling into the station.)
Jennie made cupcakes on the last night that we were there (we were leaving a day before everyone else.)
Zach and Nikos fixing the stand for the rope game.
On most of the mornings the kids slept in until about 8-8:30. (This is Olive's usual wakeup time at home but Nikos is usually up by 7.) Each night when we were camping Olive slept in her pak-n-play and Nikos slept in his sleeping bag, but on the last morning he crawled onto our air mattress at about 7.
We got a group shot of the kids on the morning that we left. Front row - Riley, Luke, Taylor, Mia (hands in the air), Zach and Nikos (with his usual group picture face.) Back row - Madison holding Ethan, Tate and Shelby holding Olive. Shelby and Tate were just neighboring campers that joined the kids to play.
Zach and Nikos
Romios family, ready for the (7.5hr) road trip home.
3/5 of the Press family.
We had such a fabulous time and owe the Press family for showing us such an awesome time. Here's to making this an annual tradition!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
Happy July 5th from our little elf.
(Elf hat courtesy of Olive's pants)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Kamping Klowns 2010 - Part 1
Last Friday we had the pleasure of joining my friend Jennie (from high school) and her family for a camping trip on the beach down by Santa Barbara. IT WAS AWESOME! I was a little bit nervous since Taki didn't grow up as a big camper, and hasn't been that enthusiastic about wanting to try it since we started dating. Despite the fact that I hit the money shot (it's cheaper than a hotel!) he wasn't going for it. Well, after talking to Jen about all of the camping they do (and reading about it on her blog) I decided to just do what I do for every vacation, plan it!
We left our house on Friday around noon (planned departure was 10:30a) and started the drive to Carpinteria (about 12 miles south of Santa Barbara.) I wasn't too worried about the drive since we have taken the kids on a bunch of them already, and I've done pretty much the same drive with the kids solo. Of course, as they get older it adds new wrinkles. Nikos was pretty much great for the whole drive, thanks to his red "computier" (dvd player) and a selection of Heather-approved videos (ie. do NOT bring that god forsaken Thomas video!) Of course, fate dealt me a blow when the Thomas video was the one that was already in the player when he opened it. DOH! Anyway, he did really well. My big concern with Nikos was the potty breaks. I had made the mistake of reading the Stecher roadtrip blog entry shortly before I left and I was imagining us pulling over every 15 minutes. I did calm down a little bit when I remembered they had TWO potty trained kids to deal with. Of course, a few minutes later I remembered that I had Taki's pee breaks to deal with as well so I started panicking again. Turns out Nikos did really well. I won't mention who had to stop more times to pee.
Olive was a little more of a handful, we did turn her seat around so she could face forward and we finally remembered to bring that little pacifier leash, so we weren't playing Where In the World Is Your Pacifier every 20 minutes. Of course, being the little miss 'tude that she is she was a little pissed that the pacifier was attached to her. Oh, sooo Olive.
After two hours we stopped for gas and a potty break. Two hours later we stopped again to eat a healthy lunch at McDonalds. Every roadtrip we go on Taki and I say we need to find out where the McDonalds are with the playplaces so we can stop there and let Nikos burn off some energy. Why is this so hard? From the car their website was too clunky to find them easily - someone please tell me there is an app for this that I can just download? I guess next time we should just try and plan it out before we leave - but it doesn't seem like it should be that hard.
Olive sports the windblown look on the patio after lunch.
Once we got back in the car Nikos made sure to wish Anut Sandy a Happy Retirement (we'd been getting updates from her Retirement Party at Knoebels from the PA fam.)
After another 2.5 hours (6.5 hours total for the trip) we pulled into the campground. What a great location! Here is a shot of Taki and Olive - and this is directly diagonal from our campsite!
Jeff and Jen totally have the camping thing down, which was awesome for the Romios family (aka moochers.) All we had to bring down was ourselves, clothes for the week, an airbed/sheets and they pretty much provided everything else. We shared their campsite (they have a new 26 foot rv) and they even brought a tent for us! I'm telling you, for our first camping trip we couldn't have planned it better!
Here is Nikos checking out our living situation for the next five days and four nights.
It was perfect. We set up the air mattress in the middle for Taki and I, with the pak-n-play for Olive on the right and Nikos' Buzz Lightyear sleeping bag on the left.
Olive surveying the view.
Jen and Jeff have a great group of friends (that I have been fortunate enough to hang out with a few different times) that are really welcoming. All together I think there were 11 kids in our group!
The next morning we took a walk down the beach. Nikos absconded with Olive's hat again, little sneak.
Nikos (in all his white trash-no pants glory) and Mia (daughter of Jeff and Jen's friends) explore the waves.
It's amazing that she was still playing with him since he almost pee'd on her about two minutes earlier! He was a huge fan of the camping, pee on the beach thing. I think he may have even beat one of Taki's records by going FIVE times in less than a half hour. I am not exaggerating. If I heard "look momma, a rainbow...a fountain...etc." one more time!
Olive conks out on the walk.
Zach and Nikos on the walk back to the campsite.
Later on Tyke and Olive relax on the beach.
Dylan and Trevor in the kiddie jail hole that Jen and I dug.
We let Olive crash on the bed (a first!) for her naps.
I enjoy General McChrystal's favorite beer.
Much to my chagrin I discover another country fan in the family (Taki was the sleeper fan.) Notice how he so busy dancing and watching his shadow that he makes Taki crack his peanuts for him!
More to come!
We left our house on Friday around noon (planned departure was 10:30a) and started the drive to Carpinteria (about 12 miles south of Santa Barbara.) I wasn't too worried about the drive since we have taken the kids on a bunch of them already, and I've done pretty much the same drive with the kids solo. Of course, as they get older it adds new wrinkles. Nikos was pretty much great for the whole drive, thanks to his red "computier" (dvd player) and a selection of Heather-approved videos (ie. do NOT bring that god forsaken Thomas video!) Of course, fate dealt me a blow when the Thomas video was the one that was already in the player when he opened it. DOH! Anyway, he did really well. My big concern with Nikos was the potty breaks. I had made the mistake of reading the Stecher roadtrip blog entry shortly before I left and I was imagining us pulling over every 15 minutes. I did calm down a little bit when I remembered they had TWO potty trained kids to deal with. Of course, a few minutes later I remembered that I had Taki's pee breaks to deal with as well so I started panicking again. Turns out Nikos did really well. I won't mention who had to stop more times to pee.
Olive was a little more of a handful, we did turn her seat around so she could face forward and we finally remembered to bring that little pacifier leash, so we weren't playing Where In the World Is Your Pacifier every 20 minutes. Of course, being the little miss 'tude that she is she was a little pissed that the pacifier was attached to her. Oh, sooo Olive.
After two hours we stopped for gas and a potty break. Two hours later we stopped again to eat a healthy lunch at McDonalds. Every roadtrip we go on Taki and I say we need to find out where the McDonalds are with the playplaces so we can stop there and let Nikos burn off some energy. Why is this so hard? From the car their website was too clunky to find them easily - someone please tell me there is an app for this that I can just download? I guess next time we should just try and plan it out before we leave - but it doesn't seem like it should be that hard.
Olive sports the windblown look on the patio after lunch.
Once we got back in the car Nikos made sure to wish Anut Sandy a Happy Retirement (we'd been getting updates from her Retirement Party at Knoebels from the PA fam.)After another 2.5 hours (6.5 hours total for the trip) we pulled into the campground. What a great location! Here is a shot of Taki and Olive - and this is directly diagonal from our campsite!
Jeff and Jen totally have the camping thing down, which was awesome for the Romios family (aka moochers.) All we had to bring down was ourselves, clothes for the week, an airbed/sheets and they pretty much provided everything else. We shared their campsite (they have a new 26 foot rv) and they even brought a tent for us! I'm telling you, for our first camping trip we couldn't have planned it better!Here is Nikos checking out our living situation for the next five days and four nights.
It was perfect. We set up the air mattress in the middle for Taki and I, with the pak-n-play for Olive on the right and Nikos' Buzz Lightyear sleeping bag on the left.Olive surveying the view.
Jen and Jeff have a great group of friends (that I have been fortunate enough to hang out with a few different times) that are really welcoming. All together I think there were 11 kids in our group!The next morning we took a walk down the beach. Nikos absconded with Olive's hat again, little sneak.
Nikos (in all his white trash-no pants glory) and Mia (daughter of Jeff and Jen's friends) explore the waves.
It's amazing that she was still playing with him since he almost pee'd on her about two minutes earlier! He was a huge fan of the camping, pee on the beach thing. I think he may have even beat one of Taki's records by going FIVE times in less than a half hour. I am not exaggerating. If I heard "look momma, a rainbow...a fountain...etc." one more time!Olive conks out on the walk.
Zach and Nikos on the walk back to the campsite.
Later on Tyke and Olive relax on the beach.
Dylan and Trevor in the kiddie jail hole that Jen and I dug.
We let Olive crash on the bed (a first!) for her naps.
I enjoy General McChrystal's favorite beer.
Much to my chagrin I discover another country fan in the family (Taki was the sleeper fan.) Notice how he so busy dancing and watching his shadow that he makes Taki crack his peanuts for him!More to come!
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