Here we are again at the Marin Headlands beach. What a sweet shot of Nana with Dahrius.
Ranier with mommy. Our lovely group and view. Before Ranier's bath, we let him have some diaper-free time pushing his wagon. What freedom!!! Here is Teresa, our wonderful nanny. Ranier adores her (me, too!), and she's teaching him so many Spanish words including: vaca, zapato, gato, pato, and my favorite "tortuga." It's very cute. Here he wouldn't give un besito, but frequently he does when he's off for a walk.
We had a great visit with Nana last weekend with lots of activities. Here are the boys at Dahrius' "theater camp" at his friend, Avi's house.
Dahrius was a sort of bird-cheetah creature (left) and Ezri was some sort of mouse. It was all very cute, though Dahrius didn't much like wearing his mask. We had some exceptionally warm weather in Berkeley and went one day to Lake Anza to cool off. Ranier had a great time throwing sand, splashing, and getting himself and everyone around him nice and wet. Here's a view from our upper deck with a lovely sunset on a warm, warm Berkeley night. The boys are still safely contained on the upper deck looking out. Ranier had great fun riding in and pushing his newly discovered wagon. Of course, it was best to be surrounded by his beloved "balls". See video of pushing wagon below...
On Sat, since it was still so hot, we went to the Marin headlands where it is nearly always cool and had a fun day. WE had a great picnic by the beach, then we took a hike to the Point Bonita lighthouse.
Ranier had quite a fun time riding way up high on mommy's shoulders!
Here's the start of our hike with a great view (looking east) to the Golden Gate bridge, SF, and the Pacific ocean as it connects with the bay (though the mouth at the Golden Gate). Dahrius wasn't too cooperative with the picture (and it WAS pretty sunny), so his head is covered by his hat. Again, we weren't having full cooperation for a photo, but the view is still gorgeous! Here's the cool Point Bonita lighthouse. You had to go across a long, narrow, rickety bridge where they only allowed 2 people at a time. Dahrius and I attempted and made it 2/3 of the way across before he got pretty scared and we had to turn back. Mom and I made it across, though, and it was pretty stunningly situated on a point surrounded by crashing waves on the cliffs and rocks below. The special lens was made over a century ago in France and it was quite impressive!! After our hike, we took a short jaunt to Sausalito and had some ice cream and wandered around a bit. THe boys really liked this fountain. ...and watching the ferry boat and sailboats in the bay. Mr. Ranier was quite pleased with himself to be sitting on this big boy booster seat!! On Sunday evening we had a nice dinner with Mina and Monty and Nana and us. Here's our kitchen with our lovely new artwork from Mexico and a nicely set table (not a particularly frequent sight, I'm afraid).
We've had a fun pre-summer so far. We recently visited the Oakland Zoo (first time for me and Ranier), and had a great time. We heard there was a new baby giraffe there, and indeed, he was very cute! Here we all are in a sunny grassy patch, taking a break.
Ranier LOVES climbing up and down (and up and down and up and down) stairs, here are some action shots of him making his daily moves. It's pretty exciting, but requires some patience since he can't safely do it on his own yet. He especially still needs some help going down FEET first, rather than what he's dying to do...go down head first. YIKES! Notice the "spotter", following closely behind. Around the bend... Almost there!!!!!! Hooray! At the top!!! Now back down again...and again...and again... Our Berkeley friends, Sarah and Eric, have two little girls, Helena and Ellie, that are around Dahrius' age. They all came over for dinner and dress-up. We've got pirates, cowgirl superheros, and all sorts of fun. Here we are at the zoo, Ranier was practicing walking. You can just make out the baby giraffe (MUCH smaller than the others) sitting in the background to the left of Dahrius. A train ride was enjoyed by mom and Dahrius at the end of the zoo visit. Ranier likes to stand on all things of the appropriate height. Ranier also loves to put balls (and other objects) into trashbins, hampers, or any enclosed thing he can reach. A rule in our house is to keep toilet lids closed...
Ranier with mommy.
Our lovely group and view.
Before Ranier's bath, we let him have some diaper-free time pushing his wagon. What freedom!!!
Here is Teresa, our wonderful nanny. Ranier adores her (me, too!), and she's teaching him so many Spanish words including: vaca, zapato, gato, pato, and my favorite "tortuga." It's very cute. Here he wouldn't give un besito, but frequently he does when he's off for a walk.
Dahrius was a sort of bird-cheetah creature (left) and Ezri was some sort of mouse. It was all very cute, though Dahrius didn't much like wearing his mask.
We had some exceptionally warm weather in Berkeley and went one day to Lake Anza to cool off. Ranier had a great time throwing sand, splashing, and getting himself and everyone around him nice and wet.
Here's a view from our upper deck with a lovely sunset on a warm, warm Berkeley night.
The boys are still safely contained on the upper deck looking out.
Ranier had great fun riding in and pushing his newly discovered wagon. Of course, it was best to be surrounded by his beloved "balls". See video of pushing wagon below...
Again, we weren't having full cooperation for a photo, but the view is still gorgeous!
Here's the cool Point Bonita lighthouse. You had to go across a long, narrow, rickety bridge where they only allowed 2 people at a time. Dahrius and I attempted and made it 2/3 of the way across before he got pretty scared and we had to turn back. Mom and I made it across, though, and it was pretty stunningly situated on a point surrounded by crashing waves on the cliffs and rocks below. The special lens was made over a century ago in France and it was quite impressive!!
After our hike, we took a short jaunt to Sausalito and had some ice cream and wandered around a bit. THe boys really liked this fountain.
...and watching the ferry boat and sailboats in the bay.
Mr. Ranier was quite pleased with himself to be sitting on this big boy booster seat!!
On Sunday evening we had a nice dinner with Mina and Monty and Nana and us. Here's our kitchen with our lovely new artwork from Mexico and a nicely set table (not a particularly frequent sight, I'm afraid).
Ranier LOVES climbing up and down (and up and down and up and down) stairs, here are some action shots of him making his daily moves. It's pretty exciting, but requires some patience since he can't safely do it on his own yet. He especially still needs some help going down FEET first, rather than what he's dying to do...go down head first. YIKES! Notice the "spotter", following closely behind.
Around the bend...
Almost there!!!!!!
Hooray! At the top!!! Now back down again...and again...and again...
Our Berkeley friends, Sarah and Eric, have two little girls, Helena and Ellie, that are around Dahrius' age. They all came over for dinner and dress-up. We've got pirates, cowgirl superheros, and all sorts of fun.
Here we are at the zoo, Ranier was practicing walking.
You can just make out the baby giraffe (MUCH smaller than the others) sitting in the background to the left of Dahrius.
A train ride was enjoyed by mom and Dahrius at the end of the zoo visit.
Ranier likes to stand on all things of the appropriate height. Ranier also loves to put balls (and other objects) into trashbins, hampers, or any enclosed thing he can reach. A rule in our house is to keep toilet lids closed...
