Augustus

Baby was born in August and named Augustus (Augie or Gus for short). We recently returned from his first trip to the coast to celebrate Ediza’s 9th birthday. 

 There was a magical sunset the night we arrived.

We returned to Monterey, where we had lunch overlooking the water before making our way back to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. 

When the baby was born he looked like an old sailor named Gus so I think he really enjoyed his first encounter with the ocean breeze. 

Central Coast

We recently escaped to the cooler coast for our last trip before the baby. Our first stop was Capitola, which can be summed up in last Sunday’s L.A. Times Travel piece: A train depot B&B, family-friendly beach, and moonlight cliff walk in Capitola

Breakfast in bed(room)

We then continued down the coast to visit a friend in Monterey. Along with the beach, we returned to our favorite thrift store, playground, bakery, and of course the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

 

Summer fun

Granite Dome

Here are some photos from a trail run/hiking adventure through the Emigrant Wilderness over Fourth of July weekend. 

And here are links to recent Weekend Escapes for L.A. Times travel:

What's shaking in San Andreas? Plenty of California history

Unwind naturally at Yosemite National Park

Snow in July!

Lake Ediza (last year as a trio)

For our ninth annual backpacking trip to Lake Ediza, we had to modify the journey due to Amber’s pregnancy. We set up our “base camp” for two nights at a campground before the climb up to Shadow Lake.

Ediza and I were still able to make the trek up to Lake Ediza the following day.

                                          

No llamas this year, but Ediza's stuffed llama Peak made the trip again.

Once we caught the shuttle back to Mammoth, Ediza tried her hand at some bungee acrobatics. As always, she is flying high! 

Update

Well, the year is almost half-way over and this is my first post of 2015. So here’s the quick update: I got promoted at the local newspaper, Ediza just finished second grade and we have another baby on the way — nine years later! Here are some photos from the past two weeks:

Amber (and baby) and Ediza in Yosemite for a friends wedding.

My friend Sarah (we first met studying abroad in Australia, then worked together at a summer camp in Missouri before she moved to the Bay Area) got married at Sentinel Beach along the Merced River. Their reception was held at the nearby Yosemite Bug Rustic Mountain Resort and featured great food, live music and even a tea lounge. Ediza got an early start with some costumes (props from the dress-up photo booth, of course).

The day before we hiked around Pinecrest Lake with her class.

And here she is with a cat she knitted for her end-of-year puppet show: Meow!

Season's Greetings

We returned this year to the Historic Downtown Sonora Christmas Parade, which is held annually the night after Thanksgiving. This photo was taken at the start of the route near the Red Church. Amber made wreaths with lights for around the llamas necks, and Ediza was a pro walking her llama the whole way. Speaking of pros, thanks to Maggie Beck for the festive photo!

Earlier that week, we spent my birthday exploring Moaning Cavern (which we hadn't done before) and sampling beer at Prospectors Brewing Company (which we have done before). Also that day, my latest L.A. Times travel piece ran: Visiting San Francisco? Say yes to NoPa

We hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season and an incredible New Year ahead!

Fall photos

Here's some of what we've been up to the past month...

A dozen of Ediza's friends slept over for her 8th birthday party. It was an "under the sea" theme with lots of activities, including pin-the-tail-on-the-mermaid. In this pic, they are hitting a pinata (shaped like a whale, of course) in the backyard.

After a tea party breakfast and everyone left, we headed up to Bell Meadow that afternoon to check out the golden aspen grove.

The following weekend we took two llamas up to Camp Tuolumne Trails in Groveland to visit with some special needs campers. Here, Golden is checking out the view. In the background is a new lookout where you can see damage from last year's massive Rim Fire.

The mermaid theme continued for Halloween. Amber's sister made Ediza's costume complete with real sea shells.

We went to a variety of Halloween-themed events, including the festival at Sierra Waldorf School, trick-or-treating at Rocky Hill (which I wrote about) and "Dia de los Muertos" in Murphys. Amber also went to a midnight showing of the "Rocky Horror Picture Show," where she won a costume contest (no pics of that one). My coworker voted for her and didn't even know it was her....that's how good the costume was!