China!

Somehow the summer is almost over and we haven't got any updates in yet. June was consumed with our big family vacation. For the first time, all four of us went to China! TT's parents also travelled with us. We flew to Beijing (via Seoul) and had some nice visiting there with TT's Aunt & Uncle, Cousin & Wife and their 2 kids. Our kids love their "new cousin" as DT's been calling Geoff-Or-Ree (DT's other name for him) since last summer. Here are some pictures from Beijing and the surrounding ares:

On a hike outside the city.

All 4 kids!

Hope to be back sooner with some more pictures. Stay tuned.

A new bike rider

We have a new bike rider in the family. Like his brother, we made a video of this milestone. Unlike his brother, DT is very insistent that we use a particular song for the video.

Sorry about the ad. Youtube won't let me remove it because the video has copyrighted music. You can see an ad-free version here:
https://plus.google.com/photos/109910766431602311182/albums/5878840188902646433

Happy 5th Birthday

DT turned 5 today! He had a backyard birthday party featuring some special friends.

  DT had a blast being the birthday boy.

Everyone had a turn with the snakes.

Snowpeople

This weekend we made an attempt to be SnowPeople. We left very early yesterday morning to drive up to Kirkwood ski resort. It looked like we were going to be there in plenty of time when we ran into some ice. We stopped, put chains on, got going again... then there was no more ice, so we dechained and got their barely in time for the kids to get dropped off for ski school. LT signed up for skiing and DT signed up for snowboarding. We got them all checked in and then they take it from there from 10 AM until 3:30 in the afternoon. TT and I were late then for our lesson and had to miss it, so we were on our own for snowboarding. It took some courage, but we went off and were somewhat successful. (On the bunny slope anyways.) We checked in with the kids and they seemed to be doing just fine, too. LT's coach even took him up in the chair lift! I was proud of the kids for being so brave. Our friends were nice enough to have us over at their mountain place and we enjoyed our stay. I think we might just be back again soon... The little snowboarder
On the magic carpet

My best moves

LT in ski school

Playing in the snow this morning!

All the kids together... I think LT was a bit cold by this point!

Hello!

Just had a lovely day in Monterey/Pacific Grove.
Here are this year's valentines. Dinosaurs for D and Mad Libs again for LT.

Happy Halloween!

We're still here, in case you missed us! Just been so busy that we've had a hard time taking pictures and then uploading the ones we do manage to take. Happy Halloween from the Brother Ninjas!

First Day Of School

Well, it's hard to believe, but today was LT's first day of third grade. He's in a combo class again, this year a 3/4. He is the only one from his class last year in this year's class. Hopefully, he will make some new friends! The summer flew by with a lack of blog posts. Rest assured, we were quite busy. So busy, we hardly took any pictures! I just now downloaded what we had and there was actually more than I thought, so heres a brief recap. We had a fun trip to Disneyland with Grandma & Grandpa and Cousin JT. I think everyone had a great, if tiring, time! We were having so much fun we only took a few pictures.

When we got back, we had a party to celebrate our 35th birthdays. I mean, it only happens once! We had our favorite food truck pull up to the driveway.

And a singer in the back yard

We managed to show Grandma a few sights also. The traditional strawberry picking and tossing kids photos

And a very chilly trip to the beach!

Grandma even did a little exploring

LT went to overnight camp! He went to a mini camp, just 3 nights away, in this beautiful YMCA camp in the Santa Cruz mountains. He had a fabulous time and didn't miss us at all. Next year, he may do the 2 week camp!

On his bunk with his cabinmate from home

1st Day of Jr K Summer Camp for DT! Waiting for the bus like a big kid. Well, except he won't take a bus as a big kid...

We also did a bunch of time at the pool and went on a weekend camping trip, along with visits to Monterey, Santa Cruz, Oakland Zoo and more. Plus, an overnight in Napa for our anniversary! TT has been mountain biking and I have been doing my boot camp and master's swim along with some running. We've just been having a lot of fun, and been very busy. Now it's time to settle down and get back in the school routine!

Beginning of June

Somehow time has flown by and the summer is half done already. We seemed to have been very busy so far! At the beginning of June, TT's parents came down for a week and did a Grandma & Grandpa camp with the boys. I think everyone had a good time. We celebrated Grandpa's birthday and visited some wineries in the beautiful Santa Cruz mountains.

LT also got very into building forts at the end of the school year. They take up the boys' entire room. I have LT would sleep in there and DT did a few times also.

Here you can see the important provisions: allowance, library, hex bugs, drawing supplies, snacks... all the good stuff!

I'll have to come back with some more posts to catch us up!

May Races and Camping Trips

The first weekend of May, ST participated in a triathlon in Napa with a group of moms from LT's elementary school. After the race, a random guy took a great photo of the group, and sent it via email later on. 

While the moms were away for the weekend (apparently there's some other stuff to do in Napa as well) , TT and another dad took the kids camping. The kids just love camping and hiking. 

Last weekend, TT participated in a mud/obstacle race, and yes, there was camping involved again. Everyone had a great time, although at one point, someone said she's done camping for the year. We'll see.