The Stephenson Families' Great Californian Adventure: May 2010

Tilden park

We took advantage of the nice weather yesterday and went to Tilden Park - a huge nature reserve in theBerkley Hills about half an house from here. What a beautiful place it is - so much space, fresh air, forest and lots of areas for BBQs, picnicking and exploration. Theres a petting farm, a huge lake with a beach, a carousel, model railroad, Botanical Gardens and lots more. Heres a selection of the places we visited...

In the forest...

At the petting zoo (Kyle was afraid of the cows!)

Carousel

Steam Train

And finally, at the top of the hill overlooking Oakland and San Francisco Bay

Camping time!

We bought a tent! I guess that means camping is imminent... what did I let myself in for? :)

Here it is, after an hour of swearing and general annoyance... set up in the back yard for testing. Its bigger than we thought!

Singing performance

Karina's entire year (1st grade) had spent the last few weeks writing and learning a selection of songs based on the various countries of origin of the kids' families. They sang Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, French, you name it. Although Karina spent most of the time chit chatting to the other kids rather than singing (which is typical), it was a very nice evening and we were very proud of her. They did an amazing job for a group of 6 year olds!

Karinas project

Karina just completed her nature project at school where each child picked an insect to write a report about and then build a model of. With a little daddy assistance, heres her Ladybug...

Another victorious day

Well well well - our little swimming star keeps on rockin! Another swimming competition yesterday (the end of her current swimming lessons - now theres a short break until she starts again, most likely at a higher level).

She took part in 3 events - Freestyle, Breast Stroke and Back Stroke and - won every one!!!!! Way to go Karina, we're super proud of you!

Day out in the sun

I took the kids to a small idsland we discovered on the map, really close by and strangely hidden in the middle of a housing estate... small, muddy, but beautiful...

Girl Scouts meeting

The Girl Scouts get up to all kinda of cool things at their meetings - look at the awesome cake Karina decorated herself....

Dentist visit

This is what a visit to the dentist does here in California... I know Charmed was set here but this is ridiculous :)

Kyles project presentation

Kyle recently completed a "Sea Project" at daycare, and he sat and read (aided by his teacher!) his story about a shark to the rest of the class... very cute!

Alittle exploration

Miller Creek, only about a mile from us. Karina and I did a little exploring while Kyle played on the playground with mammy...

Snow!

Back in Feb we did a little snowboarding - or rather I did, the kids messed around! Karina had her 2nd ski lesson too and was pretty good at it, despite moaning about it most of the time. Its incredibel how expensive a day at the snow is - a few hundred dollars just for Karinas lesson and my lift pass. Ouch! Mind you, the apres-ski was worth it!

Lots of pics.

Driving to and from Tahoe...