Frog Blog

Every once and a while our lives are met with some randomness. And tonight our randomness was dressed in green.

A frog half again as big as my fist made his way into our yard this evening. I decided to bring him inside and surprise the kids. The kids weren't that surprised, but Amy sure was. Heh!

Allison immediately lavished him with choruses of "Froggy! Froggy! Froggy!" and proceded to try very diligently to poke him in the eye. Allison even managed to kiss the frog before I could consider the hygiene ramifications. Alas, he did not turn into a prince.

Cooper vehemently declared that he was NOT afraid of the frog, but when I asked if he would like to hold him, he politely declined. Cooper did pet him repeatedly and asked if the bumps on his back were what caused him to go "ribbit."

At about the time he peed on my hand (the frog, not Cooper), we decided it was time to let him back outside to enjoy the rest of his evening. Allison saw him to the door with a hearty, "Bye bye Froggy!"

Easter in The O.C.

We spent Easter in Orange County with Amy's family. Thanks to a generous visit from the Easter Bunny, the kids got their fill of candy and toys. Coop and Nicholas particularly loved the egg hunt. Thanks to Grandpa Paul and Grandma Janet for hosting such a nice day!

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Yosemite Vacation - Day Two, Three and Four

Day Two - We couldn't wait to get into "The Big Park"! We were a little surprised to find that once we got to the front gate, we were going to have to wait a bit more. The drive from the gate to the valley took us an hour, but it was worth it. On the way we drove through snow, then rain. When we finally got out of the car, just barely a drizzle. Our initial view of the valley was breathtaking... the rocks were flocked with snow and the waterfalls were pounding. The rest of the day was spent getting a feel for the layout of the valley and planning what we'd do the next day.

Day Three - Back into the valley with picnic lunches in the trunk. The weather was cloudy and cool but thankfully no rain. We spent most of our time in the meadow beneath Cathedral Rock and The Swinging Bridge. Coop threw every stick he could find in the stream. Allison went for a record number of "What's that?" We hit the indoor pool later that night. It was strange to see snow outside as we swam, but we loved it.

Day Four - Sun! We hit the Sugar Pine railroad after our third huge breakfast buffet. (no scales in the hotel room) We road the historic logging railway and learned all about that area's logging industry in the early 1900's. Of course Coop had a big time. After the ride we hit "The Big Park" for one last look and a chance to see Yosemite Village up close.

We had a great time and took in so many wonderful sights. We left thirsty for more and I'm sure we'll return.

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Yosemite Vacation - Day One

Yea! It is Lunenfeld vacation time again! This time, our blog comes to you from beautiful Fish Camp, California, just outside Yosemite National Park. We arrived at the lodge just in time for the snow to start falling (and yes I know it is the middle of April!). Here are some pics of our litlle bit of snow play in the beautiful Sierra Nevadas. More to come!

Dora, Dora, Dora The Explorer!

Dora visited The Santa Barbara Zoo on April 2nd. Cooper was soooo excited to see Dora that he asked if he could give her a hug.

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