Final Dish Hike

Ellie and Arden running to the next "bus stop"


Waiting for the strollers to arrive at the "bus stop"


The dish!



Our final dish hike was long and hot! Behind campus, there is a 3.7 mile, hilly hike that I often did - both with and without the kids. My favorite hikes were the ones I took with Karen, Arden, Maya and my kids.

About every 50 feet, there are pedestrian signs to remind people to stay on the path. We called them "bus stops" and pretended the stroller was a bus. The kids (Ellie and Arden) were only allowed to get on or off the bus at one of the bus stops, preventing the kids from getting on and off the stroller every 10 feet! Most of the time, this worked well, but sometimes it didn't! A common problem was arguing over whose bus stop it was. What else can best friends do but argue over such silly things!

Hiking the dish was a great form of exercise - especially when pushing 100 pounds of kids and stroller uphill! But more than that, it was great fun! This will be near the top of most-missed list from my time at Stanford.

Golden Gate Bridge

Before we left California, we took a quick trip to Golden Gate Park. It was so windy!

Kevin Races up the Stairs

You think this box is going to stop me??

Afte two days of constantly getting Kevin from the stairs, I made a make-shift gate. I didnt think he would figure out how to get around it. Obviously, I was wrong. Babies are not stupid! It was crazy how much time I was spending keeping him off the stairs! We borrowed a baby gate from a friend!

Playschool Party

A sweet moment I caught on film. Ellie saw Kevin sitting by himself and went over to sit with him. She loves to hold his hand - especially when they are in the car!

We had an end-of-the-year party for the kids. It was originally a "playschool" party, and then Henry and Adam joined us to complete the party! I had put up the portable crib for Maya, and the kids found it in Ellie's room! They made a nice bed for themselves. Ellie and Arden were laying together in there (he is behind the stuffed flower next to Ellie), and then Henry (or Adam-not sure which one as they are twins!) joined them! I dont know the exact weight limit on the crib, but I'm pretty sure they at least doubled it! Fortunately, it didn't break!

Ellie showed the kids how to climb on the bars and turn themselves upside down - a trick I think she learned from Daniel! All the kids devoured the cupcakes and other treats.

For many days after the "party", Ellie kept asking if we were going to have another playschool party. I think she just wanted more cupcakes!

Memoral Day Weekend - Sequoia National Park

Snow!

Kevin sleeps while Chris and Ellie visit the biggest tree in the world!

Chris was trying to keep Ellie warm, and so he pulled her pants up high and tucked her sweater into them. Ellie was oblivious to her fashion faux pas, and had a great time with her friends! But I had to capture it on film!

Catching raindrops!

The biggest tree in the world!

Memorial Day weekend, we went camping with two other families at Sequoia National Park. The first day was drizzly rain, but nothing too terrible. We visitied the 5th largest tree in the world and walked through a fallen sequoia with a huge walkway through it.

The nighttime was interesting to say the least. Kevin woke at 10 with a dirty diaper that had also leaked all over his multi-layered PJs. So, we changed him and his PJs as he screamed through the whole thing! But he then slept until around 6am the next morning, which was amazing because I thought he would have been cold. Ellie woke once and screamed for quite a while as loud as she could. I finally had to bring her to the car because I knew she was waking up all the other campers. That actually calmed her down, and then we made a "family bed". She was much happier after this, and we all slept peacefully! I think she was cold and confused!

The next day, the weather was the same in the morning. But as it got colder and colder, we began to see snow! We visited a cave, and Chris and Ellie got to see the biggest tree in the world. Kevin was sleeping, so I skipped that venture into the snow!

We had planned to stay two nights, but due to the snowy weather, we left after only one night. It was a fun adventure, and I never would have guessed we'd see snow on Memorial Day weekend!

Ellie and Kevin Playing Together

We setup Ellie's princess tent on the patio, and she and Kevin had a tea party. Ellie loves Kevin so much. A few days ago, I asked her to watch Kevin while I went around to the front door. When I came back, she was holding his hand and in a very soft voice, she was saying, "I just love you Kevin. I won't ever let anything bad happen to you because I think you're the best little brother in the whole world. I will protect you. I just love you so, so much." Very sweet!

Kevin's Latest Doctor Visit and Checkup

I think this picture looks very much like one I have seen of Chris as a little boy - maybe 4 years old or so.

I brought Kevin in to the doctor to check out a knot that we found under his nipple. It's a normal occurrence for many babies, but they wanted me to bring him into the office anyway since he's older than the typical age it first appears. Anyway, there is still nothing to worry about - just a blocked duct. Warm compresses for a few days should do the trick!

The doctor, however, informed me that I missed his last checkup. I guess this shows that Kevin is truly my second child. I didn't even realize that he needed a 9 month checkup! Oops!! So, at almost 10 months, they treated this visit as a checkup also!

It seems that I have been wrong on Kevin's size. I've been telling everyone he is average size, but he's actually been around 80th percentile for height since he was born! Oops again! His weight jumped up in percentile this time to around 68th percentile.

Weight: 22 lbs, 7 oz
Height: 29.5 inches

He learned to wave bye this weekend and has also given up his pacifier. I feel really fortunate that he has begun rejecting his pacifier on his own! This means that when he gets older, we won't have the pacifier struggle that so many people have told me about!

Show 'Em You're a Tiger...

We had a carnival today on campus. Ellie rode a pony, devoured a snow cone, visited the petting zoo, and obviously got her face painted. She was so excited about her face and wore it all day long! The paint even left a ring around the tub! But it was worth it to see how happy she was being a tiger all day!

Escaping the Heatwave

With the heatwave in full effect, we spent a few days playing with the water table and the kiddie pools!