Naomi Turns Five!!

I cannot believe my little girl turned five this year! Happy Birthday Naomi! Due to family travels and our travels her celebration lasted a few weeks - beginning with a surprise cake and presents from her Nana and Pop Pop and Aunt Christa, 2 weeks before her birthday.The weekend before her birthday we celbrated with friends...the requisite Carrot Cake - with chocolate cream cheese icing this year (Mark came home, saw this, and said it was time to start telling Naomi "no". Hey, when its your birthday you can choose whatever cake/icing combination you want.)There was a pinata, decorating fairy wings and crowns, and......a Teepee!!Naomi's actual birthday was the following weekend, after we arrived in Colorado. Here's the birthday girl opening her present from us - a real necklace with a dragonfly.

I am excited to think back on how wonderful it has been to be with her at home the last year and a half, and think about what a big girl she is now and all the things she will learn in the next year. We are leaving baby, toddler, and pre-school Naomi and have a Kindergarten-ready school girl.

Last California Pictures - Muir Woods, Fisherman's Warf, Home

From Point Reyes we drove an amazing drive down the coast to Muir Woods. We had a small side adventure looking for the nearest gas station (and finding a random little town on a point literally in the middle of nowhere). Muir Woods was incredible, and I hope to go back and do more hiking in the future.

The kids loved running through the woods and looking at the trees...On the way home we found ourselves driving through San Francisco at dinner time. So, Fisherman's Warf it was...After food, a walk along the warf, and almost losing three of four children, we headed out.A very tired bunch of kiddos.Last picture from the plane ride home. Wonderful travelers.

California, part 7 - Point Reyes

Our road trip Day Two sent us to Point Reyes, on the coast. And just, wow. If I thought the other parts of California I had seen were beautiful, this was incredible.

The point juts out into the ocean, there is a lighthouse (which I'll have to make the trek to another day - it was not really kid-friendly) and a place where you can watch for the tiny white specs way out in the ocean that mean WHALES are migrating by. There are some old ranches there, quite a few grazing cattle. We loved walking on the beach.

Music and Singing

Sometimes while we're doing this...Micah likes to get the guitar stand and pretend its a microphone.

Dance!

This last year Naomi has been in a dance preschool - a really fun time two days a week with dance class and art and a lot of pretend play. It all cumulnated in her dance recital in May. She loved her costume...

Her class was the Clocks in the performance of Cinderella...Naomi was the number 12, and got to do some extra special jumping at the end to warn Cinderella about midnight.She had some lovely admirers come to watch her performance...

California, part 6 - more Road Trip

After the sea lions we headed out of the city (got super lost and confused by the California highway system trying to leave!) On our way north of San Francisco we spotted. then crossed, the Golden Gate bridge.

I've seen pictures, but they just don't do it justice - it was beautiful. So were the views looking back into San Francisco.At this point, we were all ready to find our hotel, order some pizza and not be in the car. I love these car trip pictures though - the kids were really great, but we were definitely all packed in!

Once at the hotel, Micah and Olivia helped themselves to markers and crackers. I had left the room for a minute and came back to find them all set up. I see some co-conspiracy in theri future.

California, part 5 - The Road Trip

My favorite part of our trip came at the very end. Alli and I had the weekend just us and the kids so we went on a road trip to the coast! These posts are going to be in multiple posts, too, because I want to get all the pictures in.

Here we are, all packed in and ready to go.

First Stop: Trader Joe's. But no picture of that, just some lemon curd and brushetta brought home and banana chips for the road.

Second Stop: San Francisco and the seals at Pier 39.

California, part 4

More pictures from our trip back in...earlier Spring. Of course, we had a lot of hangoout time and cousin time. Here's the evidence. (And does it need to be said that these are all of my sister?) Naomi and Livvy bonded over many things, including dancing skirts. And Micah learned to eat at a table.