Friday, September 23, 2011

"Whodunit" on Tahquitz

A few weeks ago, on Sep 2nd Kenneth and I had a wonderful day just the two of us, and went up to a place called Idyllwild o climb the route "Whodutin" - a 5.9 rated climb going up 800 ft. on the rock formation, Tahquitz. We started up the trail around 9 am and started climbing shortly after 10 am. The climbing was so beautiful and very fun - except for maybe a particular move or two. It was killer too on the calves! I don't know the last time I had such an intense all day workout!


Mid-way up










Here we are at the top of the mountain - 8 hours after our start


Kenneth's summit shot


Kenneth's awesome helmet hair


Beautiful sunset on the hike down

This climb was so much fun, and I know Kenneth especially liked it. His favorite climbs are multi-pitch climbs like this. It was wonderful to get out and spend some time together in such a beautiful area, doing something so fun!

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Woodland & Sacramento

After spending time in Lake Tahoe we headed to my Pa's house in Woodland, which is just outside of Sacramento.  My sister Alisha, her husband Sai and son Inoke (pronounced e-no-k) where there from Germany.  Sai, who is in the British military, will be deployed to Afghanistan for 6 months and Alisha and Inoke will be staying at my dad's house during that time.  It was fun to finally meet Inoke and to see Alisha and Sai after so long.   

Bath time for Danny, Jonathan and Inoke - also know as medium, light and dark

We were in luck on this trip because the Yolo County Fair was going on (less than 5 minutes from Pa's place). I was excited to take Danny and to have him see all the farm animals. He was a little hesitant about touching the big animals...

Emily - taking everything in

We found a pen for the kids - we were hoping to win 1st Prize in the "cute kid" category


Grandpa finally convinced Danny to touch an animal.  He loved the rabbits. "Hop, hop!" 

Checking out the catfish - apparently someone stole a ton of the fish a few days prior.  Rude!

Checking out a cow

And another one...

We didn't bother going on any rides, but we took a picture with one at least!

Grandma & Grandpa
Danny LOVES tractors

Wow...I feel small

Danny & Cousin Jonathan

This is Danny throwing a tantrum because we took him off of the tractor...then he got Jonathan crying...
Okay, so Danny LOVES horses.  He loves to see them in person, he has a rocking horse in his room, and he even sleeps with a huge stuffed-animal horse.  While at the fair we saw the pony ride and couldn't resist. Danny was so anxious to get on.  He climbed up the steps to be put on the horse before Kenneth even purchased the ticket.  The man said it was fine and put Danny right on.  I went to stand next to him because I was worried that he would freak out as soon as he realized it was going to walk - but no.  Good thing too since I couldn't walk next to him with Emily on my chest.  Anyway, these pictures tell it like it is:

I could just imagine him saying, "Look at me dad!!"

Yay!

He loved the scenery too
Danny was absolutely in heaven!!  Anyway, back at home, we found this little clown doll in my room:


We decided to see if Emily would fit in the outfit:



Not quite, but close enough!! If she had, I think I would have borrowed that for Halloween!  I love the picture with the mask on.  She makes a perfect little clown!  She is so adorable!

Alright, next on our list was a trip to Old Sacramento.  I was excited for Danny to see all the trains - another thing on his list of favorites.  I was not disappointed!

Choo choo!

P.S. Is it just me, or does he look so big in the picture! I can totally picture him as a 5-6 year old here.  Weird!

Again, Danny was so mad when we took him away...

Sai, Alisha & Inoke

Danny in front of "Danny's Mini Donuts"

Michael, Kim & Jonathan

...and us! Notice Emily sucking her thumb...she ALWAYS is!
On Sunday, Alisha & Sai's son was given a baby blessing at church by my dad. Afterwards we took a couple of family photos. It is the first time we have had all the 5 Adams' kids together with their spouses and kids. We still haven't managed to take a complete family photo with my 4 step siblings. Hopefully we'll be able to get that some time in the future.



Michael, Alisha, Nathan, Tytus & Me

Sai, Alisha & Inoke
Well, that was our trip to Sacramento!  I love being able to see family, even if it is just for a short time.  We had a wonderful time!

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Lake Tahoe

My siser Alisha, her husband Sai and son Inoke flew into CA from Germany a few weeks back, and we headed up to Sacramento for the baby blessing of their son. We drove up a different way than normal and hit some sights along the way to Lake Tahoe where we stayed a night with my brother Michael, his wife Kim and son Jonathan. Here are some photos of our adventures from the two days:



High Sierras - loved seeing Mt. Whitney for the 1st time

I'm a sucker for waterfalls!

The climb we attempted...a short hike ended up taking us 2 1/2 hours...

Danny loves being outside...I think he would prefer living in the wild

This is how I felt about the hiking -
Mono Lake - they have amazing tufas sticking out of the water

More tufas

Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe - beautiful!

Hiked down and took a tour of this "castle" - the lady built it for next to nothing and entertained celebrities here

She bought antiques from Norway, or had pieces replicated - everything was VERY detailed!


Formal dining room











Michael & Kim

Fun lady clock

This is totally a castle door!

I love turrets!

Michael, Kim & Jonathan

Our fun little family

The grounds were gorgeous! I'm a sucker for flowers

Upper Eagle Falls (not as impressive as the lower falls)

All of us

Noyce family

"Fire truck! Wee woo!" - Danny

Fun cottage on old casino resort (only ultra wealthy could afford to stay here back in the 1890s)

Love this girl!!

Fun old trolley (yes, we were allowed to take a picture in this)

Up close and unedited... :)
We had so much fun exploring the castle, and this casino and resort. At the old resort they had all the cabins set up as they were back in the day. It was crazy to see how small the cabins were where the workers lived. It was a fun day full of exploring, hiking, seeing waterfalls, and swimming. I'm glad I finally made it to Tahoe (considering I lived only 1 1/2 hours away most of my life!). We'll definitely have to go back and try out the climbing!