A Day Out With Thomas!

We finally bought tickets for A Day Out With Thomas! Cody couldn't wait to see "BIG Thomas" (which was actually just Thomas connected to the Roaring Camp train.)

Cody also enjoyed the other trains around the camp!

Here's Cody and Tanner's big moment with Thomas!

My Little Refugee

I always call Tanner my little Cambodian refugee. I think he looks like one, especially in this picture!

Here is my niece's boyfriend Chris stopping the little refugee from escaping back into the mountains!!

Trainride to Downtown

Last Saturday, we took the boys on the train to downtown San Jose. I was skeptical at first, but the train was clean, air conditioned, and there wasn't a bunch of hoodlums or scary/crazy people riding it. There was only one greasy haired thrasher guy that kept pacing while madly singing with his iPod. Everyone else looked normal (except for the guy with his hawaiian shirt tucked into his running shorts! ). hee hee!
Waiting for the train to take us to the Children's Discovery Museum...

This was Tanner's second trip to the Discovery Museum, and I think he enjoyed it more this time. It was Cody's third trip, and of course he loves it every time!

I knew I had to bring a change of clothes for him! That apron just funneled all the water onto his clothes! haha!

Other Camping Activities

Besides fishing, swimming, and enjoying the scenery, there were lots of other "activities" to do while camping.

Here's Tanner doing some bouldering...
Poor kid got mama's short legs, so he couldn't quite get up...
There was also hole digging...

Searching for artifacts with grandpa (in other words...more hole digging!). My dad claims to have found an arrowhead two years ago, but my mom swears someone made it and buried it for fun!

A good amount of time was spent scratching mosquito bites, particularly the ones on the head. I started searching for lice because it became such an obsession!

The blank stare. This activity could occur at any time of the day. It might have been "enjoying nature", but it looked more like zoning out. I think it has something to do with being outside, but it may be because there was no TV around.

A lot of zoning out was also done by the campfire...

Happy Campers!

Our annual trip to Eagle Lake was so much fun, even though we had to leave early due to smoky air from surrounding wildfires. We were getting concerned about the boys having to breathe the polluted air all day and night. We were there for five days, which was still plenty of time to enjoy ourselves.

Here is Tanner (Pig Pen) within minutes of arrival...
Ansell and Cody setting up our tent.

I was reading Peony in Love while at the lake. The character lived in The Chen Family Villa, which I named our tent! hahaha!

Each morning, my dad and Ansell would go out fishing. (Except for one morning when I got to go, and another when the three of us went!) Each person is allowed two fish per day, four in possession.

After coming back from fishing, we would head to the beach with the boys. Tanner LOVED the water! When his teeth started chattering, we knew it was time to get out of the water. Cody enjoyed serving up cake (out of sand) and lemonade (lake water), and collecting small shells.

After the beach, we would come back to camp, and the boys (Ansell included) would be exhausted from all the fun in the sun.

One evening, Grandpa & Russ took the boys out for a boat ride. They had a great time! We could hear Cody laughing all the way from shore.

In the evenings, we had a campfire. Cody toasted marshmallows one night (while Tanner just impatiently waited for me to toast his). I wanted to work up to doing smores, but we left before we were able to do so. Maybe next year!

A Camping We Will Go...

Our annual camping trip is coming up, and I can't wait! We weren't able to make it up last year, but this year we are ready! We even bought a new tent! This will be Tanner's first year up there walking (he was only 8 months old last time)! Cody is the age (4) that I started going to the lake, but this is his third trip!
It is one of my favorite places to be.

My favorite parts of the day are dawn and dusk. I think it's because of the lake.
Here is a picture of dawn...which is usually spent on the lake fishing.

And here is dusk.

Sure it's a lot of work. The packing alone will scare off most people. (I think I'll post our pack list!) The boys will be filthy from dirt, sand, lake water, sunblock, and mosquito repellent. And I'm not sure how to keep our boys corralled in our campsite. But I still can't wait for the smell of pine trees, while gazing out onto the lake any time of the day, and watching the boys (Russ included) enjoy the great outdoors!

4th of July Weekend

We went down to L.A. to celebrate the 4th of July and our niece Carissa's birthday! After opting out of parking a mile away and walking to the park to watch fireworks, we decided to go to the nearest parking garage and watch from there. Here's our view...

HAHAHA! There was a big groan from the crowd when we all discovered the fireworks were directly behind that building! Luckily, there were other fireworks visible from the other side of the garage! It was also lucky we didn't go through the trouble of going to the park because when we got home, the neighbors were setting off some fireworks, and Cody screamed and cried because it hurt his ears so bad.

On Saturday, we went to have a BBQ with friends. Larry and Jenny have a big beautiful house with a pool. Mark and Julie were there with their kids too! They all had a great time swimming. Even Tanner! After dinner, the kids all played like crazy while everyone else caught up on the past year (can't believe we haven't seen them for over a year!). We stayed until Tanner had a meltdown. Cody could have lasted all night, but once in the car, he fell asleep in about two seconds.

On Sunday we went out for Carissa's birthday lunch. We went to a place called uWink! It was the coolest place! You order your food on the computer screen and after sending your order in, you could play games!

Back at the house, Carissa chose cupcakes instead of cake. Her dad got them from a place called Susie Cakes. YUMMMM! I tried the smores and the red velvet. SO GOOD! He said they have peanut butter (but didn't get any because Carissa doesn't like peanut butter, WHUUUT?) I already made plans to go back there and try more cupcake flavors!

Carissa had a party with her mom's side on Friday, celebrated with us on Sunday, and has yet to celebrate her actual birthday this coming Saturday! Lucky girl!!!