Fishing at the Lake

We live in a community called Yosemite Lakes Park, and as the name would imply, we have some little lakes very close by. Sadly, we haven't been very good at taking advantage of them, but today I took Max and Isaac fishing before their swim lesson (this little lake is right by the swimming pool). There have been a few failed fishing attempts in the past, but today was the first "real" fishing venture. While Max had a few close calls, Isaac actually caught his very first fish! Shortly thereafter, he caught his second fish, so all in all it was fairly successful (except I have hands that smell of fish and worms, and slid on my butt into the lake trying to help a friend retrieve and hung up line. Much to Martin's amusement. Sorry, no photos of that!)

Fun With Clothes Pins

It's funny the things that will grab a kid's interest.....the other day the boys (and their friends Alani and Siena) spent a good hour playing with a package of clothes pins. Their favorite creation was the Clothes Pin Magic Top Hat.

Pollution Makes Great Sunsets!

With California ablaze with wild fires, the air has been really smokey up here. It's terrible to be out in, but the upside is it makes for great sunsets. I snapped these out in our driveway last night.....The sun was literally blood red.

Swim Lessons at the Local Pool

We're quite lucky to have a community pool just about a mile down the road from us, so every summer, we spend a good amount of our time there. In particular, the boys always take swimming lessons every summer. Here Isaac is finishing up the first two week session of level three and Max level four. Since today was the last day, there was lots of goofing around and silly noodle races (Isaac won his!)

Max Turns Eight!

For Max's birthday this year we had a little party at the local pool. Considering it's in the 100s here, that was a pretty good choice! Click on the link below to see the birthday cake video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPr7h0Tz8TU

Hau`oli La Hanau Max (that's "happy birthday" in Hawaiian to you mainlanders)

Since Max was born in Hawaii, we went with a Hawaiian Luau theme. Of course, here you can't get the real thing, so we had to settle for pizza, "tropical" punch, and fake flower lei, but the idea still worked.

Isaac Graduates Kindergarten

It's hard to believe that my "baby" is graduating kindergarten, but there you have it! Isaac had a pretty good celebration today....the graduation, cake in the classroom, lunch out, AND a graduation party at the pool with cupcakes! I'm beat! Here's also a photo of him with one of his best friends Joseph and underneath that is a link to a short video of him receiving his diploma. Sniff, sniff.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_pxJogYPME&feature=user