Vacation II: San Francisco

Camille posing inside a giant redwood.

After the family reunion we all flew to San Francisco to meet up with our "San Francisco Cousins." Jeff's brother Andy, his wife Jenny, and their daughters Naomi and Isabel have lived here for 5+ years, and we love to visit. Last time we were there Celeste was 4 months old! A lot has changed since then...One of my favorite memories, for which we don't have a picture, was running the Lands End/Lincoln Park trail with Gwyneth, and exclaiming, "Look at this view!" about a hundred times (Golden Gate in the background). Here are a few of the good times we did get pictures for:



On our first day (Friday) we drove north to hike in a redwood forest, and hopefully catch some sun.  It had been many days since Jenny had seen the sun!

Here we are basking in 5 minutes of sun.  Little did we know that it would be the last sun until Sunday afternoon!

From the hike we drove to the coast, hoping the sun would follow us; it didn't.  We couldn't understand the point of this beach because it's so dangerous a person shouldn't even be on the sand!

We decided to try surfing and boogie boarding.  Camille looked so adorable in her wet suit!

Andy giving advice about the surf, etc....

Jeff and Andy fixing the sink Sunday morning.  I love this picture!

Sunday afternoon at Andy's lab, Romny Scientific, in San Bruno.

Camille, the future scientist.

We had to see at least one of Silicon Valley's stars.  Time got away from us so we couldn't visit the Google-plex, next time...

We took a skyline drive in the mountains, and stopped at this overlook of the Bay and Silicon Valley.

At a small lake in the moutnains.

We met up with Scotty at Stanford for a tour of this beautiful campus.  Notice how the sun is shining.  Jenny, you should move down here!

Scotty with Gwyneth and Elise.  Who has grown the most?

Family picture in front of the Memorial Church.

Jeff had to get a picture of the sun's rays, the light blurring the photo!

Gwyneth under the famous arches.

Camille playing games with Scotty.

Golden Gate Bridge on Monday.

Crazy entertainer we happened to meet in Haight-Ashbury.

Last surfing trip.  Andy and Jenny were amazing at outfitting our entire family to surf.  Next time, if the sun comes out, I'll try to make a fool of myself.

Gwyneth

Celeste finding sand dollars.  Later Camille would look for them - the beach was covered witht hem.  Jenny offered $1 for every sand dollar.  Little did she know, this offer would break the bank.

Jeff and Andy deep in conversation.

Elise is Awesome!

Vacation Part I: Wisconsin

For the first part of our summer vacation we flew to Wisconsin for the Stephenson 2011 "Life's Too Short..." Family Reunion.  My dad always says, "life's too short to..." be angry, hold a grudge, get stressed out, etc.  I think he's right.  All his kids except Adam were there with their families.  Most of the kids slept in the garage with Grandma and Grandpa, so their parents could have beds.  Such sacrifice!  On the first day we started the festivities with a baseball game.  Most of the grandkids don't know how to play, so there was a lot of coaxing and cajoling!

Here's one team practicing their Eagle scream - team intimidation tactic.

Barefoot Baseball

Elise at bat with Mom as pitcher.

Camille at bat.

The zip line like we had as kids.

Getting ready for the big picture.  Can we have one Peter?

Maegan, the master of the french braid.

Canoeing with my little angel.  Lazy rivers are best for our family! - at least for now...

Camille and James, canoemates.

Elise about to jump- watch out for crocodiles!

Too bad I didn't capture Bill breaking this log with his strength.

The toddlers safely on the trampoline.  Camille doesn't gouge her leg and send us to the ER until later that night.

Saying goodbye, we love you Mom and Dad!

Graduations!

This year Elise graduated from elementary school, and Gwyneth from middle school - at neither event was it called a graduation, something like "Celebration of Learning".   (Note Bene: I prefer "graduated from middle school" and not "graduated middle school."  If you know a compelling reason why I should switch to the later, please tell me.)  Here are some of the pictures:


Elise's Graduation, June 15th (still one week of school left!):

Elise with her friends Hannah and Isabelle.

Celebratory lunch afterwards - Jeff was able to break away for lunch to join us.



Gwyneth's  8th Grade Graduation, June 21st:

Dad's picture of Gwyneth in the morning before the ceremony.

Gwyneth and a bunch of her friends at the reception following the graduation.

Gwyneth and Izzra.

Gwyneth and Vivianne.

Delilah and Celeste (her babysitter.)

Gwyneth trying to get Celeste off the gazebo so we can go to a graduation party.  We didn't see Gwyneth until the next morning when we picked her up for our family trip to NH.