Boogie Boarding in Pacifica

On Sunday, after spending a couple of hours with a group of Vanagon fanatics in a parking lot in South San Francisco, all five of us headed over to Pacifica for some afternoon wave riding. Finn finally got a wetsuit a month ago, so it was time to break it in.

By the looks of the picture here, they had a blast and are looking forward to going again in the very near future:

Gassing up in Weed

Or was it weeding up in gas? I can't tell for sure.

We ended up making in across the border, all the way to Klamath Falls, where we took the safe and boring choice of staying at a KOA. Pretty much a gravel parking lot, but it does give us electricity, water, bathrooms, and a pool for the kids. Next stop will be Crater Lake--we'll either spend the night at a campground there, or hightail it up closer to the area around Bend.

On the road (finally)

After packing, cleaning, organizing and watching parts of the Brazil vs. Costa Rica game, we are on our way. And of course, there's traffic on the bay bridge.

Preparing for Our Family Trip, July '14

We'll be leaving tomorrow for our two week trip through Oregon to Glacier, Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. Nothing is set in stone as far as an itinerary--who knows, maybe we'll only make it as far as Bend! But one thing is for certain--Anke and Bella are ready.

For our first stop near Bend, here are some potential places where we can camp:

Paulina Lake

East Lake

Tumalo State Park

LaPine State Park

Sisters, OR city park

So, as usual, we are light on plans but heavy on food!

Finn on his "bike"

I thought that I'd capture Finn on the wooden like-a-bike, since I'm sure that this phase won't last long. He's hankering for a real bike, or a skateboard. Here he is explaining the difference between all different types of transportation

Enjoy!

Ella Doing Her Homework

Here's the sweet pea out with her mama on a Tuesday afternoon working on her homework in some hipster cafe:

January 2009

She really is becoming a trendy San Franciscan!

Holiday Season 2008

Here are some pictures from the last couple of days at the Weiss'. Lots of play dates, hanging out with friends, and eating too much:



I think that we'll survive these couple of days, but it looks like we're going to do it all over again next week!

Fuer OPA!

Chrismakkah, Christmas (ah)

Ok, given all the German crazy traditions around Christmas, Hannukah got a little short cut there, but let's start with the whole wind up, lead by the advent calendar. Every day of December leading up to the 24th, there is a little tiny present, talk about parental stress.




In between we celebrated the first night of Hannukah with Mike Goos, Ella got to light the candle






In the night from December 5th to the 6th the old Nikolaus (probably some distant cousin of St Nik) fills the kids' boots, assuming that they've been well polished before








Along with the fillings for the boots, he dropped off Oma and Opa from Germany, hurray




Of course, we had to take them to the zoo right away






Bake "Plaetzchen" with them




Impress them with the most graceful dances




Take them to Ella's school performance




Make sure they meet Grandma and Grandpa again, ideally over yummy food, a common interest




Walk off the heavy bbq, or as Opa calls it "die Knochen"






Forget about photographing the Golden Gate bridge, if you have Ella smiling fakely at you.




Oma und Opa in perfect harmony - for once




Finn and Mama




Finn and Papa




Ella showing Oma her favorite Gelato spot




And why shy likes Korean food




Setting up Advents-Kaffee




While Finn is testing the couch with Marlene (an older woman)



Unfortunately as soon as "Cinderella" came on, Marlene only liked the real prince




Finally we made it to the 24th, which we started with some carol singing via iChat, since the other half of the family was in German




While the kids happened to be out on a walk, Santa dropped by in the late afternoon




More carols to be sung, Noah, Galienne and Craig helped us out






The Mary and Joe story told with a bunch of haba figures




And finally: THE PRESENTS!
No need to help with the unwrapping, thanks!








Focus, schmocus




Well, and finally, finally, we eat. Sticking with traditions: bratwurst und kartoffelsalat






We all had the whole week off, enjoying the days with Oma and Opa

At the zoo again




At the bay area discovery museum








And at the Japanese tea garden in Golden Gate park





And then Oma and Opa returned to Germany and we got to update the blog...

November, finally

There have been a few - not to say many - complaints about our sluggish blogging habits, so here it is, a summery of November for starters.

We went on a little weekend trip with Abe, Kirby, Sasha and Mia up to the Russian River area, beautiful time to be up there. We took a couple of hikes and a canoe trip:








Then there was the old German tradition of "St. Martin / Laternenzug", always a favorite amongst the kids:




There was a lot of hanging out and enjoying our first real family movie night (popcorn helped to keep Finn seated):




A little trip to Fairyland in Oakland with Lina and Nika:







Complete with a burger for everyone:






Of course Finn got inspired to dress up at home:




And finally our traditional Thanksgiving trip to Steven's parents in LA, where Finn took over the cul-du-sac with his scooter:



We spent some time in Santa Monica at the pier. Note Finn's safety measures, he likes to wear his helmet for most of the day



Naturally we hit all of Encino's playgrounds





Steven and I got to return to the beach for an afternoon, all by ourselves, what a treat



That was November in a nutshell.