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By Dan, on August 1st, 2012 Last weekend Janet and I got to take the girls on their first camping trip! We’ve been looking forward to this for a long time, partly because we’ve missed doing things like this ourselves, but also because we really want our daughters to come to love the kind of outdoor fun that we enjoyed so much when we were kids. So, several months ago we jumped on a Woot deal and bought a gigantic 18×10 foot tent… And last weekend, a perfect opportunity to test it out finally presented itself.
A good friend of ours wanted to celebrate her birthday by inviting a bunch of her friends to come camping for the weekend at their boat club on the delta. To be honest, when I first heard that the location was in Tracy, I was somewhat skeptical and figured it wouldn’t be very nice at all. But I was wrong! It was great! There was a huge amount of green grass, some nice shade trees, a great sandy playground area for the kids, and it wasn’t crowded at all. It was like a huge park, and we practically had the place to ourselves.
 Dusk falls on the campground I’m afraid I don’t have any pictures of us in or around the tent, and that’s unfortunate because it was (of course) one of the biggest parts of the adventure for the girls. You have to bear in mind that this was literally the first time that they’ve ever slept outside of a crib! Yes, we still have them in cribs here at home, and when we’ve traveled on vacations in the past, they’ve always slept in little porta-cribs. Yes, they could climb out of their cribs if they wanted, but we’ve told them not to, and (as far as we know) they never have. (They have however climbed over the railing to get into their cribs. Once.)
Anyway, the point is that this was not just their first experience sleeping outdoors in a tent; it was also their first experience sleeping without a cage! And if that wasn’t excitement enough, add the fact that it was a rather wildly windy night; we discovered that our gigantic tent moves around quite a bit in strong wind! The wind was noisy in the trees, the tent rattled and flapped, and strange shadows danced all over in the moonlight! All of these things meant that the girls’ eyes were very wide; it took a long time for them to fall asleep, and we didn’t really feel free to just drop them off in the tent and then go back and join the rest of the group by the campfire… But that was OK. It was really fun watching them experience everything for the first time, and I have to say they were really very good about it! Eventually they just got too tired to keep marveling at everything, and they fell asleep. In fact, they probably slept better than I did! Elizabeth woke up just once because her blanket had come off and she was cold. On the other hand, I was probably awake at least half the night worrying about how they’d react if they woke up (no cage!), and it turned out to be no big deal. Bottom line — they did great, and we can’t wait to take them camping again sometime.
 Carolyn discovers the game of tetherball  Wheee!  Lounging around on a picnic chair is sort of an essential camping activity, right?  Bottoms up Also, in addition to all the fun of playing at this park-like campground, our friends also had their ski boat there, so we got to take the girls out for their first tubing ride! After watching me take a short ride by myself, they were both intrigued and bravely took turns with Janet and I. They had a blast, and we had a fantastic time watching them take it all in. I’m so glad we had the opportunity.
 Carolyn & Mommy  Daddy & Elizabeth
By Janet, on June 22nd, 2012 The girls have begun learning about emotions – happy, sad, frustrated. Dan shared a story with me recently that I thought was very cute and wanted to share with our family and friends. He had gone into the girls’ room one morning when I was at work and shared the following conversation with Elizabeth.
Elizabeth: Are you happy?
Dan: Yes, I’m happy.
Elizabeth: Are you very happy?
Dan: I’m very happy. Are you happy?
Elizabeth: No, I’m sad.
Dan: Why are you sad?
Elizabeth: Mommy’s not here.
Well of course that was just the cutest thing I heard all day!
The girls very much like reading stories with us. Recently they were playing together in their bedroom. They had been quiet long enough that I decided to go check on them. I discovered them reading to each other. A few of their books they pretty much have memorized and it’s fun to hear them “read” a book.
The girls also enjoy geocaching outings. And I like it that “geocache” is one of the words in their vocabulary. More and more, they want to walk when we go on little hikes. They heavier they get, the more I like that.
The girls have really been enjoying their new pool. And we’ve had a number of days that were warm enough to fill it up and let them splash.
Their climbing prowess continues to improve as well. I remember spending much of my childhood in a tree too.
Dan recently introduced us to a new park with a really tall slide. After a trip or two down with Daddy or Mommy, they were ready to go on their own. Can’t you just see the glee in their faces? Wheee!
By Dan, on June 16th, 2012 We’ve been enjoying the warm weather — with hikes, lunchtime meetings in the park, and (of course) swimming! We’re having a blast. Can you tell?
 Hiking in Las Trampas...  On our way to find a geocache!  Tree climbin'  Sittin' pretty  Wheeeeeee!  Catch meeeeeee!  Coolin' off  She loves the water!  Can't you just hear the squealing?  Water fun
By Janet, on May 15th, 2012 Carolyn and Elizabeth have changed from infants into toddlers. I’ve watched it happen, but it still amazes me. They run and jump, sing and laugh, dance and splash. This last weekend we celebrated their 3rd birthday. I know… you’re probably saying something like, “I can’t believe they’re three years old already!” We feel the same way, but they are. And if you ask them, they’ll tell you.
 I'm three years old! As the birthday anniversary approached, we talked with the girls about the celebration. We asked, “How old will you be on your birthday?” And they would respond, “I’ll be three years old! After I grow a bit.” They have also begun to learn how to indicate the first few numbers using their fingers. Another time I mentioned that their birthday was coming soon and that we were planning a party. I asked if they wanted a cake. Carolyn responded, “Yes! And I can have candles and I can blow!” Of course, they both got to blow candles, although in the end Carolyn actually did most of the blowing.
 I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow out all the candles! And here’s a picture of the whole cake, just because I was so pleased with my handiwork.
 The balloons are cupcakes! The girls spent some time playing with their cousins.
 Story time It was an extra special treat that Great-Grandma Siemens was able to join us for the party. Also, since the party happened to be on Mother’s Day, we had three generations of moms to celebrate with.
 So grateful that Great-Grandma Siemens could join us to celebrate! It was a beautiful spring day, so we enjoyed some playtime outside as well.
 What visit to Nana & Papa's would be complete without a ride in the wheelbarrow?  And now for Elizabeth's turn... A favorite gift was the new wading pool. The little old inflatable pool they used last summer was only about three inches deep and was so small that I don’t think they could both fit in it now, so it was definitely time for something bigger. They were totally shivering when we got them out! They very much wanted to keep splashing, but we promised they could play again another day.
 SPLASH! Thanks for celebrating with us!
By Dan, on May 8th, 2012 Clearly, regularly updating the blog with fresh posts has not been one of our highest priorities lately. And as they say, time flies! It’s too bad that we haven’t been keeping up with more regular updates about the girls because as I’m sure you can imagine, as they’re approaching their 3rd birthday, it seems like every week there’s some fascinating new developmental milestone, or some charming new facet of their personalities. And yet, they’re the kind of moments that slip away almost as soon as they have passed, and sadly I don’t have much hope of remembering them in detail now. I’ll simply try to hit a few of the highlights from the past 5 months and let a huge bundle of pictures speak for the rest.
We spent Christmas here in Livermore and celebrated with a couple different sessions of opening presents. The girls were old enough this year to really get into the fun of tearing open the wrapping paper, so that was fun. And they understand at least a little bit about celebrating baby Jesus’ birthday. On Christmas Eve when tucking the girls into bed, the last thing Carolyn said before we shut the door was “Happy Birthday Jesus.” The next day when asked “What’s special about Christmas?” Elizabeth responded, “Give… presents… Jesus.”
 Carolyn & Elizabeth in their Christmas dresses  Carolyn  Elizabeth (being slightly dramatic)  Merry Christmas!  Tearing into the loot! After Christmas, we were very blessed once again to spend some time visiting with good friends at their cabin in Dorrington. We’ve joined them for a few days between Christmas and New Year’s almost every year for the last… Well, a long time. I was sorta looking forward to using our 4 wheel drive Pilot in the snow again, but as of December the winter had been ridiculously warm and dry. There was no snow! None. At all. So I never had to shovel the deck, but I have to say that it was actually rather disappointing. And although the girls didn’t get to do any sledding or make snow angels, we did have a couple nice walks around the neighborhood.
 Dry streets!  "Little Drummer Boy" was a favorite Christmas carol  What a smile! As much as we love the mountains, we also love vacationing at the beach. My grandma has a nice little cottage just a block from the beach in Cayucos, and somehow we had just never managed to get out there since the girls were born. And we’ve really missed it! So in February we finally made a point of taking them to see the ocean for the first time, and we all had a blast. We made it a nice long trip and stayed for a good five days, so there was plenty of time to walk on the beach with the girls, play in the sand, play in the water, do a bit of geocaching…
 Biggest sandbox they've ever seen!  She had a blast flinging shovels full of sand into the air and letting it rain down all over her head. We didn't find it quite as exciting.  Look! I'm digging!  Cautiously approaching the waves...  Elizabeth & Mommy get their feet wet  Just strollin' down the Moonstone boardwalk, enjoying a breezy afternoon... Easter was a lot of fun this year for some of the same reasons as Christmas — namely, the girls are old enough now that they “get it” and are able to participate a little bit more. Janet helped them dye their first easter eggs (which they enjoyed), they got to wear their pretty Easter dresses, and of course they got to do an Easter Egg Hunt. However, I must say that they were greatly distracted from finding all the Easter Eggs once they realized after the first few eggs that they had jelly beans and M&Ms inside. Next year I expect that such a discovery won’t distract them at all, and will merely cause them to redouble their efforts to find them all as quickly as possible.
 Spring has arrived!  Something tells me she'd love one of those giant excercise balls  Look, a tiny flower!  Finally, here's a genuine Easter photo!  Carolyn's turn on the swing  Elizabeth's turn on the swing  Wait, who's turn is it now? Another fun thing we’ve done in the last few months is take the girls to the Oakland Zoo. Janet got a Season Family Pass, and we’ve used it three times already. The girls have enjoyed seeing the various animals, and it has been fun engaging them in coversations about the things they have seen and done there. But alas, I don’t really have any good pictures of the girls at the zoo, so I’ll have to try to remedy that at some point.
Still, one thing about the zoo is that they have a small section of the park with a few different kiddie carnival rides, like a miniature train (which they love), a small roller coaster (which they’re brave enough to go on even though it makes them a little nervous), and a few little rides that just go around in circles. They were interested in the roller coaster because it was so noisy, and they actually went on it with us and they didn’t totally freak out (although Carolyn seemed a bit uncertain about it while the ride was in progress). Since they seemed to enjoy the ride attractions at the zoo, Janet also got a one day pass for a little kiddie amusement park in Concord called Pixieland. They’ve got the same little roller coaster, a miniature train, carousel, cars that drive around on a little track, airplanes, spinning teacups, etc. It was nice to be able to take them on those rides as many times as they wanted. Well, almost as many times as they wanted.
 Gallopin' gals  Flyin' Aces And here are just a few more miscellaneous pictures to close out the post:
 We turned the fan on them and told them we were taking glamour shots.  Groovy tie dye!  We have also enjoyed a few visits to Uncle Mark and Auntie Annmarie's trampoline.
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