Bowling!

We took Lukas bowling for his first time a few weeks ago. The bowling alley had automatic bumpers (to prevent gutterballs) that popped up before his turn and 6 lb balls for little kids - so all went well. Lukas' favorite part was the bowling shoes, though. He really wanted to take them home afterwards. While we were there we saw that they had "disco" bowling night where you bowl in the dark with flashing lights & music - we're there next!


Lukas & Rob discuss strategy & form.


Lukas already "steering" with his body.

Our family is expanding!

Meet the 2 newest members of the Wiggers/Lapsins family: Squeak & Lucy. They are 9 week old kittens that we adopted from an animal rescue organization after literally months of searching.



When I was growing up, I remember that free kittens were everywhere. Not here. We had a hard time finding any kittens & then if we did most had adoption fees when they weren't even spayed/neutered & vaccinated. We finally found some at the local animal shelter only to have our application turned down because we revealed that we were planning to keep them as indoor/outdoor (gasp!) cats. We may have had a shot if I hadn't rolled my eyes when the animal shelter worker explained that the cats couldn't go outside because they might get sunburned/skin cancer.

Anyways, 2 days later we found these 2 at another organatization. They are the cutest things - playful, affectionate, purring little troublemakers. Lukas is loving it!


Squeak watches Lukas' work of art in progress

Oh..... and for those of you that may have had other ideas of our family expanding when you read the title of this post......... you're not off - we're expecting baby #2 this fall! ;-)

Father's Day Hike

All the Dads & their boys

On Father's Day we headed to Mount Tam for a hike up to the West Point Inn for a pancake breakfast. The Inn is only open for breakfast a handful of days/year and the only way to reach it is to hike in. We did a nice little 1 mile hike & then enjoyed perfect weather, a great view & breakfast with friends.


Breakfast with a view

Lukas having fun with his buddies

The kids were kept busy building this fort while the parents enjoyed more coffee.

Lukas' first baseball game

Rob & Lukas took the train into SF the other week to catch a Giants game. Lukas was REALLY excited, even though he knows squat about baseball. But Rob taught him some of the basics of the game during the 4 innings or so that they actually watched, and Lukas learned the word "creamed" .... as in the Giants got "creamed". Of course, more exciting for him was the concession guy selling hot chocolate from a big tank on his back with a hose, the playground at the back of the park and taking the train into the city. He was all smiles as he bounded off the train telling me stories of hotdogs, ice cream, etc......

Backpacking - sort of..

At the start of the trailhead (with Lukas' new friend Ru)

We've done vanagon camping, we've done car/tent camping so we thought it was time to step it up a notch & really get out into nature with a backpacking trip. Rob found a great hike-in camp site up in Point Reyes. The hike was only 2 miles so we thought it would be doable with Lukas and the site was just meters from the beach so it promised to be beautiful.



We headed out with some friends that also have a 2 1/2 year old little boy. And the boys did great! Lukas hiked the whole way with his backpack which carried his essentials: extra underwear, pajamas, favorite stuffed animals and a water bottle. The boys "helped" set up the tents when we got to our site. And then the "sort of" backpacking part came into play. While the moms & boys headed to the beach for some fun, the dads hiked back out the 2 miles, loaded up 2 bikes with a burley trailer & rode back on a 5 mile fire road with all of our other creature comforts: air mattress, real food (no dehydrated backpacking meals for us!), etc. I think it turned out to be a great compromise - we got a nice secluded campsite, the boys felt like they were truly backpacking & we all got good meals & good sleep. win. win. win.

Setting up camp

Playing monster trucks in the sand while the dads get all the goods!

Definitely beats car camping!

What's camping without a s'more?

After a good dinner & watching the sunset on the beach, the boys crashed hard. But the grownups stayed up sitting around reading old ghost stories by flashlight while bold raccoons edged around our campsite.

We all packed fleece & hats prepared for the often foggy, blustering weather up on the coast. But we couldn't have asked for better weather - sunny & warm (actually hot). The next day we explored the tidepools and played on the beach for awhile.

After all of the sun in the fun the boys were wiped again, so the burley & dads got another workout: 2 trips out by bike - one loaded with gear, the other with 2 sleeping kids. :-)

Gotta love the like-a-bike

Grandpa & Grootmoe bought Lukas a like-a-bike for his 2nd b-day. It's a "laufrad" - a small wooden bike with no pedals which is ubiquitous in Switzerland. It's great for little kids cause it teaches them balance - Lukas could cruise around on it & absolutely loved it.





But he was getting a little too big for it so it was time to move on to a "big boy bike". So G&G bought him a blue two-wheeler. This past weekend we decided to teach Lukas how to ride it. Now I seriously remember trying to learn how to ride a bike: lots of scrapes, lots of tears, & as my mom reminds me: a couple of outbursts at my mom&dad, telling them that they bought the "wrong, stupid bike"!

But literally after 3 minutes with Rob helping Lukas, he was zipping around no problem! I'm sure it is because of all his like-a-bike "training".

Pinnacles National Park

Lukas had his spring break from preschool a few weeks ago (like he needs a break from all the playing & snacktime?) so Rob took off work for a few days & we headed to Pinnacles National Park for some camping.


Heading off in the vanagon - Lukas always tries to talk to us from WAY back there which would be hard in a normal van, but in the sputtering vanagon.... impossible....

This time we brought a tent for sleeping for more of a real camping experience. We only brought 2 sleeping pads, though so I opted to sleep in the vanagon afterall while the boys roughed it in the tent.

Lukas was very excited to help set up the tent.

Tadaa!

It was near 80 degrees during the day, but dropped to 30 at night. I woke up at about midnight, absolutely FREEZING! I was wearing fleece & jackets & was sleeping on the thick vanagon cushions. I was soooo worried about Lukas who was sleeping in only his flannel PJs & fleece & sleeping (basically) on the cold ground. Of course, my mind started getting ahead of me, wondering how cold it has to get before hypothermia sets in, etc. I wanted to check on him, but figured that Rob would look after him....unless..... Rob was sound asleep......aaah.... So basically, I couldn't sleep all night, worried about my little boy. Finally, at about 7am I climbed out of the vanagon & went to check on them in the tent. They were both completely zonked out, sleeping happily in a toasty little tent. I guess the little tent captured the warmth from their bodies & breath quite nicely. And here I thought I was getting the better deal, sleeping in the vanagon.

Rob & Lukas warming up at the fire

We did a great hike on a trail that took us through caves, through forests & out in the canyons to see the rock formations. We were all so excited to be hiking again - we miss our CH wkd hiking excursions!