At the end of our California trip we flew from SF to San Diego to spend a few glorious days with our dear friends, Liz and Kevin, and their son, Gabe. (Plus adorable Buddy.) We hung out at the beach, went on leisurely walks around the neighborhood, spent a day at the zoo, and played with Buddy in the yard. Below are photos from many of these adventures. (The zoo photos were hum-drum, so we’ve left them out. It’s a great zoo though; you should go there.)
Kevin, among many other things, is a brilliant photographer. We always treasure the shots he takes on his camera. All of the photos below that are marked “-KM” are Kevin’s. The rest were taken by Sarah or Andrew.
Remember that you can click on a photo to see the set in a full window slide show — they look best big!
We were fortunate enough to rent a house in Bodega Bay that would accommodate all of the Roy Boys and their families, and at a time when everyone could make it! It was a sweet time to reconnect with Anthony, Gena, Dave, Nancy, and their kids. The cousins were non-stop playing from the moment we arrived until the moment we left! Highlights included trips to the beach, meals together, and a carnival put on by the kids. We have a lot of photos in this set, mostly of the adorable children. I have a feeling our kids will be talking about this trip for a long time to come!
Maggie, with the friendly neighbor kitty, in front of the house.
Cousins! From left to right: Raven, Caleb, Julia, Griffin, Maggie, Max
Take two
Take three
The youngest kiddo, Caleb
Look at those cheeks!
Maggie contemplating
Our first excursion to the beach!
Dave surveys the dunes
Julia, Andrew, Gena, Anthony, and Caleb arrive.
It was chilly, but that didn’t seem to bother the kids!
Max
Griffin
Running Max
The coolest discovery ever: a driftwood fort!
The kids could have stayed here all day
Griffin checks out the construction
Maggie and Andrew arrive at the fort
Maggie enjoys the sea breeze
Ahoy! I think there be pirates!
Maggie, Sarah, and Griffin rock the stripes
Hot tubbing back at the house
A favorite kid activity at the house: running in and out of the doors
Running
Still running
Can we play, too?
Julia!
Julia, take two!
Julia and Maggie
Cracker conversations
Let’s give Caleb a cracker, too!
Caleb
Shall we see if we can break this?
Sweet Maggie
Sweet Raven
Sweet Max, Griffin, and Julia
The Roy Clan
The Roy Clan, take two
The Roy Clan, outtake
Maggie wants to be like her big cousin, Raven
How are those jokes, Maggie?
Beach day two
Maggie wanted to play chase with the waves, first with Daddy…
We made it to our Bucks Lake campsite on Friday and stayed through Sunday. We rendezvoused with a group of friends from the Bay Area. It was so great to catch up with old friends, make new friends, eat gourmet camp meals, and sit around the fire. It was a fitting culmination of the camping portion of our trip. Looking forward to a bed by the Pacific when we head to Bodega Bay next!
One of our new friends was Ella, Noemi and Jen’s dog.Maggie lounging. This shot, as well as the featured image at the top of this post, are by Katie McCall. See her flickr album for more of her beautiful shots from this camping trip.Cool evenings demanded a roaring fire.Noam and Ely about to emerge.
The trip has exceeded our expectations in every way, but lest it appear unrealistically idyllic, I provide this evidence of woe (due, I think, to a stubbed toe):
We spent much of the day crossing North Dakota. This was the last state west of the Mississippi that Andrew hadn’t been to. It was a gorgeous drive. Should be camping in Theodore Roosevelt National Park shortly.
As we enter the park, “This city is blocking the way of the beautiful view.”
Mind-boggling Eels concert at the Fitzgerald Theater tonight. Mark Oliver Everett and the band were in top form. As I giddily posted to facebook afterwards, “Eels were SO good. I’d rank this in my top five lifetime shows. Stunning performance. We got Grace Kelly Blues AND Last Stop This Town. (Two favorite songs.) Along with a lot of great numbers from the latest album. Joy. Rapture.”
But that was only the beginning. After the second encore, Everett invites none other than Steve Perry (Journey!) on stage for his first public performance in 20 years. Unbelievable. A few pictures borrowed from the internet (my phone didn’t hold up) followed by a video of the Steve Perry encore:
