It was our annual camping trip last weekend.  This year Theresa recommended Henry Cowell Redwood State Park, and the four of us were the first one to arrive on Friday night.  This was a beautiful park and Theresa reserved us a nice roomy spots.  Stuart’s goal was to set up the tent before dark, so the rest of us walked around checking out our home for the next two nights.  I also attempted to start a campfire to prepare for our dinner cooking.  Theresa and Martin then arrived.  We enjoyed the evening together and had a great dinner of short ribs, baguette and broccolini.  Then Theresa took out some long bamboo sticks for the boys to roast marshmallow; it was fun and they enjoyed eating the S’more.  We made cool jewelries with glowsticks, then we attempted to find open sky to see the meteors.  Finally when it was late, the boys went to the tent to read; later I went to sleep with them while Stuart, Theresa and Martin stayed up a bit longer.

    The next morning after we all slept fine, Theresa made us eggs and harsh brown for breakfast.  We then hung out to play bocce balls and it was fun.  Stuart and I considered taking the boys to check out a Junior Ranger program at the ranger stations, so the four of us took a short hike.  We also passed by the Kaos who happened to be driving in and entering the campground.  We then arrived at the station and signed the boys up.  It was an one hour program without parents; initially the boys did not seem thrilled finding that out, but they went with the flow and stayed with the group of 20 kids and rangers as we left them.  At some point, the group had walked past our campsite and the boys waved back to us.  When we returned to pick them up, the kids were given an activity book with a stamp from this state park.  The boys did not tell us much details but said they had fun during the hour.  We returned back to our site, and the boys immediately started playing with Marcus and Mckayla with various things and continued to play for the rest of our time there.

    We had chili and sausages for lunch, and Logan really enjoyed the chili.  For the afternoon, we played with bocce balls, threw around a football, battled with a checker game and with giant Jenga, shot at targets with Nerf guns, and lastly the kids spent a lot of time hanging out on the hammock Theresa brought.  Later, we and the Kaos decided to go for a short hike.  We saw lots of beautiful trees and some quite large trunks.  Connor was counting steps with Fitbit and decided when we would turn back.  At that point, Stuart quickly led me down a short way to check out a bridge and a creek while the others waited for us.  Then we headed back to our campsite and it was Theresa and Martin’s turn to hike.  They passed our turning point and kept going, and they actually saw a small beach.  What a surprise find!

     Late afternoon, we started setting up to make dinner.  Michelle and I skewed veggie skewers while Theresa, Martin and Ted grilled chicken skewers and steaks for dinner.  By then, Robyn and Peyton arrived and set up their tent just in time to eat.  Our big meal was delicious, then the kids went to play with some light rocket launchers that we bought.  Logan did a good job shooting up high while Connor got frustrated with it.  At some point, some rockets got stuck in the trees, and only Stuart was able to knock them down with a football.  After 10pm, the kids went to sleep, and as usual the adults stayed up to chat a bit longer.

   This second night was a bit colder.  Connor definitely needed a warmer sleeping bag.  Other than I awoke a few times worrying if Connor was cold, the four of us all slept quite well until 7ish.  We joined the gang for a big breakfast, and we took it easy to relax some more before we packed up to go home.  We took a group photo and wrapped up another fun camping trip this year.  The boys fell asleep during the car ride home.  Stuart and I were exhausted; after a good shower and a quick lunch, we both took a big nap while the boys got caught up with some video games.  This was a wonderful weekend.

     The boys are currently at Camp San Jose this last week of summer.  Due to the age difference, the boys were separate in two groups.  Connor was very disappointed and hoped to stay with Logan.  When I dropped them off on Monday morning, Connor was sad when Logan and I signed him in.  Logan tried to encourage Connor and told him that he would meet some friends.  Fortunately by the end of the day and the past few days, both boys were happy and enjoyed their days.  They both gave it a good mark 9 out of 10, and they also happily reported that they were able to meet up for lunch there.

   On Tuesday, Connor received the Camper of the Day award.  He was excited to show me the certificate when I came home.  One of the reasons he was picked was that he smiles a lot

    Thursday was a field trip day.  Connor’s group was going to the Rockin Jump (a trampoline place) and Logan’s group was going to Six Flags in Vallejo.  Stuart and I thought it was crazy for the long bus ride to Six Flags, and knowing Logan, he would not care for the roller coasters there.  So when Logan told us that he did not want to go, we agreed for him to stay home.  In the morning, Connor was slightly sad that Logan was staying home, but fortunately he was excited to go play and with the snack money we gave him.  At the end of the day, Connor seemed to have fun there.  However the one disappointment was that Connor handed his money envelope to one of the staffs to hold on to, but he forgot who it was and did not get it back until after the field trip.

   Tomorrow is the last day of camp.  They will be having a party day and will be watching a movie too.

    For the first time, we signed up for a social event with our financial advisor, and it was a minor league baseball game on Friday.  After work and camp, we drove over to the stadium, met with the company staff, got our wristbands, and proceeded to the Future Club.  We said hello to Brian (our advisor) then Logan chose the bench seats by the field.  It was almost time for the food to be served, so we all headed over for some drinks first.  Once we got our food, we sat back down on the bench to watch the warm up.  It was fun being on the field level to watch the action.  Shortly after the game started, the boys got antsy, and decided to play at a couple of little games in this Future Club area.  Then they decided that they wanted to go play at the bouncy houses.  With the wristbands, they could have unlimited access to all of them.  Stuart and I took turns taking the boys over to the Family Game Zone while watching the game.  This game was full of actions and it was fun to watch.  At the Family Game Zone, Connor was a bit hesitant while Logan was the one ready to go.  He went down the slide and took Connor with him to the obstacle course.  After that, Connor warmed up, and the two of them kept going back and forth between the two bouncy houses, competing through the obstacle and going down the tall slide.

   By 6th inning, the boys were finally done with the bouncy house, and hoping to find some snack.  They were so happy when we were able to find ice cream at a vendor that was still opened.   We were then sitting contently to watch the rest of the game together.  At the end, we all cheered for San Jose Giants when they won the game.

    Next was another highlight of the night, fireworks.  Within minutes after the game ended, the firework started.  It was loud and awesome to be so up close to the action.  We all enjoyed the show and it was a perfect way to end the fun evening. 

    The boys had Skyhawk basketball camp last week.  Since day 1, the boys came home with more than 15k steps each day, and they were pleased with the big number.  It was good timing that they initiated a Workweek Challenge on Fitbit, the two of them definitely topped the chart with close to total of 20K by end of each day.  With Connor’s shorter legs, he is beating all of us, and Dora, the runner, finally has a competitor.

    Other than getting exercise, the boys enjoyed the camp, giving it 8-9 stars each day.  The boys also got a report card at the end; they both did well in most to all categories.  Connor has been excited to use the basketball that he was given and showed us the moves he learned from camp.

    We are pet-sitting Cole’s hamster Henry while the family leaves town for two weeks.  Lisa and Cole dropped off Henry and his cage on Saturday morning, and he is now living in our guest room.  Each day we pay Henry a few visits and Stuart has been trying to let him out of the cage too.  Henry is a very tame and lazy hamster.  He often wedges himself in a tunnel or a corner to sleep.  Yesterday Stuart let him out, and Henry quickly walked back into his cage.  Today Stuart finally took him out and carried him a bit.  The boys were able to pet him and watch him for awhile before he ran back into his comfort zone.  Henry did walk around his cage and went up another tunnel to show us what he can do.

The boys were in a Wacky Robot camp last week at the recreation center.  It was a smaller group, 20 of them with 3 instructors.  The two boys were able to stay together; they recruited another boy named Ryan, and all 3 of them hung out together for the week.  Every day the kids built some sort of robotic things, ie. retractable grabbing device, a race car, solar windmill / car, and the boys were happy to show us what they made each day.  Overall, they seemed to enjoy the camp and gave it an 8-9 out of a 10.  The only complaint they had was that they did not have much free time outdoors.