The Stephenson Families' Great Californian Adventure: November 2010

November 2010: Pillow Pets!

Finally, the Birthday Gods bought Pillow Pets for the kids... after who-knows-how-many begging sessions!

November 2010: Happy 4th Birthday Kyle!!!

The day after we returned from Miami, it was Kyles 4th birthday! No party (same as Karina) this year as they celebrated more than enough in Miami, but he had a cake, presents, and ice creme. Happy birthday big lad!

November 2010: Cocktails on South Beach

Yummy. And pricey!

November 2010: Kyle at the Dolphins game

The Nascar was also taking place in Miami while we were there, after the Dolphins game... Kyle simply *loved* the Nascars he found outside the stadium!

November 2010: Miami Beach!

Reeeeee-laxing!!!

November 2010: Florida Everglades

A real easy, short trip from where we were staying was the Everglades National Park. Funnily enough we ended up going to the same Gator Park I went to many many years ago on one of my earliest trips to Florida. And it hasn't changed at all (though last time was a coach trip and the coach left without us, but thats another story!) Stunning natural beauty.

November 2010: American Airlines Arena / Downtown Miami

My beloved American Airlines Arena... sigh! :-)

Downtown Miami

Downtown Miami at night

Bayside, Miami at night

November 2010: Sports-tastic!!!

Thats what I'm talking about... Miami Sports!

November 2010: Miami

Boy has it been a long time since I was in my "home away from home"... Miami. It was evident that we really missed it too... we had such an awesome time. We took in a lot of sprts games and had Karinas birthday there too. No party this year but she had a cake, a meal in downtown Miami, a trip to Chuck E Cheeses and to finish it off - a Miami Heat basketball game (which they won!). A brilliant day, a brilliant trip, and it sucks to be back on the West Coast :(

Karinas birthday:

October 2010: Halloween!

Halloween 2010! Kyle wanted to be a Police Officer. Check. Karina wanted to be "Scary". I think she succeeded!!! We received lots of very cool comments about both costumes, Karinas in particular, so we must have done a good job. Oh, and the result: lots of candy, which we are still rationing out to them, a month later!

Sept 2010: Napa trip

Its been a while since we went up to Napa - its beautiful there but unless you have a bunch of money to spend on wine, or an overnight babysitter so you can stay over and soak up the atmosphere, theres not really so much to do. Anyway we had friends in town from the East Coast who really wanted to go so it was the perfect excuse. Such a beautiful day, we had lunch on the terrace, bought a bottle of red wine, and chilled out. Not a bad way to spend a few hours.

Sept 2010: Pool Time!

Boy did we have a hot September! Couldnt get these 2 out of their pool!!!

September 2010: Karina is a Retro Gamer!

Way to go girl, blast those rocks! :-)

August 2010: Back to School

School year started early this year and Karina entered 2nd Grade. here she is at her new desk, in her new class, on day 1.

August 2010: Pool party

Our friends invited us to a party at their pool, with beer and BBQ. How could we resist? :)

August 2010: San Francisco Giants baseball game

As last year, we tagged along with the class from Kyles daycare and all the families to the Giants game at AT&T park. We also took the kids on teh ferry right around the bay, directly to the ball park, which the enjoyed immensely. We had a beautiful day and ended up seeing an amazing game that went well into overtime against the Padres. It was pot luck when the game was picked and tickets were bought... seemed like an easy win, but it was far from it and went on to become a, important win on the way to the Giants winning this years World Series!

July 2010: Santa Clara for California Extreme

July also saw my yearly pilgrimage to the Peninsula (south of San Francisco, in the heart of Silicon Valley) for the annual California Extreme arcade game expo and convention. This year was awesome... hot, great hotel (the whole family went for a mini break) and lots of very cool games. I also did some setup the day before the show, moving probably 50 machines in 90 degree heat and getting a rather extreme case of chafing resulting from a fall from a loading dock while transporting a pinball. But thats another story :)

July 2010: Construction!

He loves his digger, not too sure its made for quarrying in the rocks tho.....

July 2010: Lucasfilm 4th July BBQ

The annual BBQ was a blast as always - beer, fiood, ice cream, swimming, animals, lots of kids. Same every year and always a lot of fun. Oh, and very hot, as always.

July 2010: A busy month for us!

July seemed to have more events then the rest of the year-too-date for us. A lot of money but also a lot of fun! The biggie was our trip to Las Vegas, primarily for the Clasic Gaming Expo but also as a bit of a small family vacation. Look at what we got up to!

Grand Canyon trip: