Back Into Gear

I’m not sure what it was about this particular vacation, but I’m finding it very hard to get back into gear now that we’re home.  I went to bed last night at 9:30, and woke up at 8.  For the second day in a row.  I know I’m tired, but should I be that tired after our vacation?  It’s supposed to be vacation!  I’m supposed to be well-rested!

However, when I look at everything we did over our vacation, I can see why it’s been so hard to pick myself up and start doing laundry, unpacking, etc.  Here is a brief pictorial recap of our 10 day adventure in California.  More detail to follow in later posts.

We visited the Oakland Zoo:

Jake and Lydia took a bike ride with Grandpa out the Nimitz Trail while Aaron and I walked.  It was a stunningly beautiful day:

We also rode the steam trains – a particular favorite for Aaron.  What is it about four year olds and trains?

The highlight of our trip was camping in Yosemite.  We were there for three days and two nights, and took advantage of every moment.  This is Half Dome in the distance, swimming (and freezing!) in the Merced River, and Bridalveil Falls:

We also went to an A’s game, and stayed for the entire game:

And we went to the Exploratorium and the Palace of Fine Arts in the city:

On our last day, we took the Amtrak for a beautiful ride to a nice playground/nature area in Martinez (where I neglected to take pictures).  Then we flew out on the red-eye, during which the kids slept (some more than others) and the adults did not.

Long story short: the grown-ups are still recovering from our whirlwind trip.  Back to work tomorrow.  Yeehaw!

Baseball Wrap-Up

Another baseball season has come and gone, and this one has been particularly nice.  This year Jacob decided he wanted to play Farm League again.  They don’t keep score, there is a lot less pressure – it’s more about learning the skills and having fun playing.  He just barely made the upper age cut-off (by a matter of days!), so he was by far the oldest kid.  His team came together really well, and he made HUGE leaps in skills.  He got several hits every game, his throwing and catching improved by leaps and bounds.  He was excited for every game and happy to be there.

Lydia also played this year in the Coaches Pitch league.  There are no strikes or balls, nobody gets out.  Every kid gets a turn at bat while the other team fans out in the infield, and there are as many pitches as necessary for the kid to hit the ball and get to run around the bases.  She had so much fun, and was so proud to hit the ball!  Her catching and throwing are awesome for her age and size – I think we have a softball star on our hands!

We signed Aaron up for T-ball this year.  He just barely made the age cut-off on the other end, and was by far the youngest and smallest kid there.  He had absolutely no interest at all in being there.  He just hung onto my leg and refused to participate.  Maybe next year.  Here he is enjoying Lydia’s last game yesterday – at least he’s a good cheerleader!