Going Fishing

I'm going fishing on Saturday to catch tuna, approximately here. I'll let you know how it is after!

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Chloe not content with just crawling!

So having just started crawling just a couple of weeks ago, Chloe has now decided that moving around on her hands and knees is not dignified enough for her! If she is not chasing Louis on her hands and knees she can invariably be found pulling herself up on whatever she can find, and generally on her feet.

Yesterday she decided that Louis' walker would be a good assistant to take some steps! She clearly can't do this on her own yet, but I wouldn't put it past her to be walking by the time we are next in England!

Enjoy...

A little break down the coast…

So once again, we find ourselves in a situation where we haven’t made a blog post for ages, so sorry for that. We get busy, then finding the time and energy at the end of the day is sometimes difficult!

(Note that the pictures in this post have been squished or cropped for some reason, but if you click on them, you get to see them properly - sorry!)

Well as you can imagine, we have been pretty busy over the last couple of weeks. Summer is in full swing here now (BBQs, swimming, picnics, more BBQs) and so the weather has been lurching between hot and seriously hot. Typically it gets to about 28-30 degrees C but on numerous occasions over the last couple of weeks it’s topped 37! That’s over 100 degrees and although it’s pretty dry heat, without a breeze, it is still hot!

The week of 4th July I took the week off so we could have a little holiday. In the middle of the week we went down the coast for a few days. It’s really nice to be able to have a holiday and not go very far to see some spectacular places and beautiful beaches. I think people who have always lived here take it for granted a little bit, but within a couple of hours drive in any direction there are some great places!

We decided we didn’t need to go very far at all this time, so booked a motel in Monterey and used that as a base. It’s only about an hour south of here and there are some really nice places to visit nearby. When we arrived, we went to the Dennis the Menace playground. It’s like the ultimate playground and Louis loved it! The parks here are generally very good anyway, but this place was amazing. As soon as you arrive, you see a huge original steam engine that they have turned in to a climbing frame. Of course Louis was immediately inside pulling levers, filling the firebox and generally being train-like. As well as that, they have wobbly bridges, climbing walls, slides, climbing frames etc. Unbelievable and completely free!

Afterwards we went for a big greasy burger in a diner right on the beach in Monterey just past the aquarium, and then spent a little bit on time on the beach digging and splashing. We were planning to drive something called 17 Mile Drive which is a particularly scenic route around Pebble Beach, but someone at work had suggested we also drive around the coast of Pacific Grove first, which is a place sandwiched between Monterey and Pebble Beach on the peninsula. You can see where this is below.

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The drive around Pacific Grove is spectacular. Sandy, rocky, huge waves crashing in. Unfortunately, because of the geography, it’s generally windy and not so hot. But, if rock pooling is your thing, it’s great! Also, if you want to see seals, sea lions, sea otters and pelicans just hanging out on the beach, you’ll like it!

We did eventually make it to the 17 Mile Drive, which is a private road that goes through the exclusive area of Pebble Beach. There is a famous golf course here, and most of the houses are huge mansions, and some of the coastline is equally spectacular.

By this time, we were all hungry again so we decided to stop off and eat at the clubhouse on the golf course. While very nice, in hindsight perhaps it wasn’t the most suitable place for a 3 year and 8 month old!

The next morning after a luxurious stay in our Motel, we went to Carmel for breakfast. One of Kate’s friends had recommended a nice little place called Katy’s Place, and it was great. All homemade, great big stacks of pancakes, fresh fruit and eggs. Carmel is a funny little place. It’s just south of Monterey and is quite a fancy place. Lots of boutiques, cafes and restaurants, and a huge white beach!

After we had our breakfast we stumbled upon a fire house (fire station to you and me!). We’ve heard from various places that the fire service here are super friendly to kids so we thought we’d test out the theory. We loitered outside for a few minutes letting Louis inspect one of the fire trucks (I know!) and hey presto, a fireman appeared and promptly started showing Louis around. He got to drive the fire truck, look at all the buttons, got a sticker and they even brought him out a plastic fire helmet! If you ever need some free entertainment for a 3 year old, I strongly recommend it!

We then headed back to Monterey, got some lunch and sat by the beach to eat and watched some big fat sea lions lazing around on some rocks in the sun. In the afternoon, we went back to the Aquarium as Louis loves it so much. By this time we were all exhausted and so headed back north and home.

Monterey holiday pictures

For those of you who are interested, here are the rest of the pictures from our trip down to Monterey.

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Weekend in the Bay Area with Sim

Sim came to stay a couple of weekends ago so we all got out and about to plenty of places and took lots of pictures.

We met up with Sim in San Francisco after picking Louis up from preschool. It was great to see him - he'd not met Chloe and we last saw him when I was heavily pregnant with her at the end of last summer. After checking in to our hotel we took a wander down some of many hills to find some lunch.

Louis was quite perturbed at the steepness of the hills so opted for a ride whenever he could!

We stopped at Lori's Diner on Powell which satisfied our craving for 1950s nostalgia, burgers and malts. This is definite pit stop for future visitors.

And so with our tummies full it was time for the inevitable walk back up to the hotel (which was possibly situated on the top of the biggest hill in the city). Pushing Chloe in the buggy meant that I was lagging way behind the boys (well, that's my excuse anyway!).


Our hotel was the Mark Hopkins Intercontinental on the corner California and Mason, and it featured in the Steve McQueen movie Bullitt. It was a lovely building and we had spectacular views of the city from our room and also enjoyed some drinks in the bar situated at the top of the hotel (again another great place for all you would-be visitors).

The view from the bar

After recovering from the hike back to the hotel we decided to take advantage of the clear, sunny weather to head off over the Golden Gate Bridge. Clear days in San Francisco can't be guaranteed, even in the summer because of the fog from the Pacific but it really was the perfect time to drive around and take some pictures.

Look how steep it can be!

Looking north from San Francisco

Now over the bridge in Marin (Chloe absent due to car-based nap)

From the vista point over the bridge with the city in the distance

We headed back to the hotel for Louis and Chloe's dinner and a bite ourselves before Simon and Sim went out for the night. I think we'll leave it there...! I was perfectly happy babysitting, ordering room service and watching BBC America!

The next morning after a quick breakfast at Starbucks Sim treated me to a mani-pedi, which was 2 hours of pure bliss whilst Simon took the children to the Golden Gate beach.

And so we headed south back home, firstly along the coast road, then inland so Sim could sample the delights of In n Out Burger (if you've been there, you'll know!).

The following day we packed up and drove down to Santa Cruz for lunch. We parked on the pier and enjoyed crab cakes in one of the many seafood restaurants there. There was time to quickly say hello to the sealions piled up on the jetty and then we moved onto Monterey. Louis loves the aquarium so he was very pleased to accompany Sim around - until that is, an ice cream was mentioned and then Sim was left to wander about on his own! Afterwards we sauntered along Cannery Row which has lots of nice eateries and shops.

From Santa Cruz pier looking across to the rides on the Boardwalk

Outside Monterey Aquarium - Louis looks like he's dancing but he's just making an escape from the photo!

Our last day together was the Monday and after dropping Louis at preschool we went to Santana Row in San Jose where there are lots of cafes, bars and designer shops. It has a nice European feel to it and it's a good place to spend a hour or two. There was time for a quick look at the Lego shop before back to collect Louis and on to Los Gatos for lunch and the park.

Chloe at home with Sim

Lunch in Los Gatos

It was really nice to see Sim and have the chance to show him around. So who's next?!

Look forward to speaking to you all soon.
x

Chloe & Louis Update

We’ve been up to loads over the last couple of weeks, hence us not having any time to post any news recently! So here is a little update on some of the things we’ve been doing.

 

Firstly, we are all well. Louis is loving school, Chloe is eating and trying to move and Kate is getting a good routine together and enjoying some of the places that are so close to us here.

 

A couple of weeks ago we went to a beach near Santa Cruz for the day with the family of a guy that I work with. It’s a really great beach as it has a small river that dissects the beach and is pretty shallow and calm. Louis loved playing in it, splashing around and digging. It’s about 30 minutes from here so is really easy to get there. You can see Louis enjoying the digging below.

 

You actually find pretty quickly that when you are going to the beach with any frequency, there are certain essentials you just need! We’re now kitted out with a great big sun umbrella and a huge drag along cooler (ice box) but I think that some good mats and boogie boards won’t be too far behind.

Louis is loving pre-school so we’ve changed him to 3 days a week instead of 2. He now goes Monday, Wednesday & Friday so some of the kids in his class are different (based on which days they go) but he is still really enjoying it. Some mornings the first thing he asks is ‘am I going to pre-school today?’. As well as all the playing and stuff, they also do some loose learning type stuff in anticipation for kindergarten. He seems to like this too and they even send exercises home (homework at 3!) like tracing, counting and copying. I thought I’d get him to try copying his name, and this is what he came up with!

He also went to his little friend’s Birthday party a couple of weeks ago, Ryan. He had a really cool party in a place called Pump It Up. It’s basically like a soft play place for kids, but entirely inflatable. I’m not sure if he or I had the most fun, but running around an inflatable assault course for a couple of hours is really quite tiring!

 

They was also a nice little Birthday lunch with pizza, ice-cream cake and Transformers themed everything. Very cool indeed.

 

Chloe also seems to be accelerating at a frightening pace. She is nomming her food like a crazy girl and nothing interests her more than watching us eat! Louis is definitely her favourite. It seems that everything he does makes her laugh, especially when he is doing something naughty!

She is a little bit grumpy at the moment, we think for 2 reasons. Firstly, she is having some teeth issues and secondly, she really wants to be able to move to get to things. She can turn around on her bum in all directions, get herself in to a crawling position and back, and even pull herself up to standing (see below) but she’s not actually been able to move yet. We’re thinking it’s not going to be too long, and then we have a whole baby proofing task to address!

 

 

She’s also been feeding herself with finger food like breadsticks and fruit and I’m sure if you gave her quesadilla  packed full of chilli, she’d nom it right up!

 

Here is me (looking more than a little gormless) with Louis and Chloe at home. Louis is very kind and gentle with Chloe most of the time, and when he’s not, it’s just because he is getting carried away with playing with her. They’ll be no stopping the pair of them once she is mobile.

 

We also just bought a trailer for my bike. Because it’s so nice to cycle here (weather and great cycle routes) I’ve been using my bike so we thought it would be cool to get a trailer so Louis and Chloe could come too. A couple of weeks ago I went for a ride down the Los Gatos Creek Trail which starts near our house and goes down to the mountains via Louis’ favourite park. I rode down there with Louis in the back, and met Kate and Chloe at the park. Round trip was about 12 miles and you really notice that with Louis on the back!

 

It’s a really nice route and goes from about 3 miles north of our house all the way down to the Lexington Reservoir at the foot of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Even though you are riding right through the middle of Silicon Valley, it feels pretty green and remote which is nice. As soon as we get a bike for Kate we’ll all be able to go out, and I can put both of them in the back!

We hope you are all doing well and look forward to hearing from you soon. We’ll all be back in Europe from about 5th September for a couple of weeks. I need to go to Amsterdam for about a week but we’re thinking to spend some time before and some after that so it will be great to catch up with you all.

Where we live

This is where our house is:

Pics of Louis

Here are some pics of Louis from when we had our BBQ recently...

Louis' Pre-school Pictures

Hi all - I've got round to scanning Louis' school pictures so here they are. They were taken during his first week so I'm surprised he let them take them at all, and as you can see in his individual one, he looks pretty grumpy, but this was the least grumpy one of the pictures taken!

Out & About

We've been pretty busy the last couple of weeks getting out and exploring some of the places nearby. As you can see from the previous couple of posts, we also put up some pictures of some of these trips. 

A couple of weekends ago we drove down to Monterey which is about an hours drive south down the coast, and visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium which is world famous. It's right on the coast and Louis loved it. Not only could he see all the creatures, they also have loads of displays with buttons and levers he could play with. They also had a really nice restaurant overlooking the ocean so we had a lovely lunch there. We've joined up as members so we can go back as often as we like. 

We also recently went for a drive over the Santa Cruz mountains heading for the beach, and stopped at the top of Mount Madonna on the way. There is a huge Redwood forest up there so we had lunch and explored a little bit. Some of the trees are massive and Louis loved climbing around and exploring things. We then dropped down the other side of the mountains to the coast looking for a nice beach, and ended up at a place called Rio del Mar which is just East of Santa Cruz. It was a really nice beach, and very quiet. Louis enjoyed digging holes, paddling in the water and then filling his hole with water using his bucket. Chloe hasn't got the hang of the beach yet and spends most of her time trying to eat sand!

Louis has really been enjoying pre-school and even suggested that he would like to go more often. He's got a couple of friends now (Ryan & Ella) who he talks about all the time, and he's now got a party invitation for Ryan's 4th Birthday which is cool. 

He's showing lots of interest in letters and writing, and today he even copied his name under where I had written it. One of the things he's been doing at school is tracing pictures & words, and I think that's sparked the interest. He also had some official school photos taken, so I'll scan them and post them when I get a chance. 

It was Mothers Day in the US this weekend and at his pre-school they had all made picture frames and decorated some little pots as presents for their mommies, so that was a nice surprise for Kate. They also held a Mothers Day breakfast last Friday where all the mums where invited and served by the kids and teachers so Kate went along to that, even though Louis ate most of her breakfast!

He has spent the last 2 weeks learning about bugs, and the next 2 weeks he'll be learning about space. Wish I could go to pre-school! It's funny to ask him about what he did during the day and not actually know what he is going to tell you, but he's definitely enjoying it. 

The toilet thing is completely cracked now too. He no longer uses the potty and instead uses the toilet with a little assistance. He's also been doing that when we are not around, like at school, so I think that trauma is over. 

Chloe is doing really well too. She now has 2 bottom teeth showing through, but is still having a little trouble getting the top ones through. She's well in to her food now and having 2-3 meals a day as well as her milk! That might explain why she is a giant! She is a very happy little girl though and finds it particularly funny when Louis is doing something naughty. She just laughs at him all the time which can make it hard to get him to stop whatever it is!

She is also sitting up now, and trying to roll over, so we've got to the stage where you can't leave her anywhere. She is so nosey and wants to be involved in everything, so it won't be long before she is getting in to everything, even if she has to drag herself around to do it. 

Kate is good. She's met up with one of the other mums from Louis' school a few times and Louis and Ella can have a little play date. She's been whizzing about the place in her huge vehicle without problems too. 

The weather is starting to warm up quite a bit now, and I think it's going to take some getting used to, particularly for Kate, as during the day I'm at my A/C'd office. This week is looking like it is going to peak at 96F in some parts - that's about 35C! The nice thing is that if it gets too hot, you can either go up in to the mountains where it is cooler, or the beach where its also about 5-10 degrees cooler. 

We learnt that lesson this weekend! It was about 25C at home and we drove up to Half Moon Bay which is on the coast between here and San Francisco. When we got there it must have been about 15C, and clearly not warm enough to be hanging around for long on that particular beach. It's strange, but there really are lots of little micro-climates here depending on any number of things, but I guess primarily on where you are in relation to the mountains. 

I seem to have damaged my ankle a bit playing football last week. It didn't hurt when it happened, but got progressively more painful as the week went on, to the point that walking on it was getting tricky, so I went to the doctors. Fortunately I haven't broken anything, but I do have some form of tendon damage, so I now have a big brace on it, a walking cane and some super strength painkillers! Hopefully it won't last too long. First experience of the US medical system, and I have to say I was impressed. 

That's it from us for now. Hope you are all doing well and look forward to speaking to you all soon. 

x

Some more pics

And here are some more pics...

Chloe enjoying some dinner in the garden

Chloe on the beach at Half Moon Bay

Chloe on the sofa

Louis & Simon having lunch at Monterey Bay Aquarium

Kate & Chloe, also at the aquarium

Chloe on the beach at Santa Cruz

Kate & Chloe in the Redwood forest

Looking up through the Redwoods

Louis with some huge trees

Chloe in the garden

The view of downtown San Jose from our local mountain

Chloe in the sand