Cottage Boat Rides

The other cottage post was getting a bit long, so I thought I'd put the boat pictures in a separate email.  We had a great time on the boat over the weekend, the kids especially.  They love it.

One night Cameron, Leah, Daddy and Poppa went out finishing at dusk.  The kids were hoping to catch a bass or pike for the fishing contest.  Leah's got her line out looking for a bite.

Cameron is concentrating really hard

He got one!  It's a sunfish, so no chance on the contest, but he was very excited nonetheless.

She loves the wind

Wheeeeee!!

Cameron doesn't love the wind quite so much

What does Poppa see?

It's a loon!

View of the new cottage from the lake at dusk

The next day we decided to all go for a boat ride, even Aaron.  Doesn't he look cute in his life jacket?

It's a beautiful day for a boat ride

Aaron is so relaxed he conked out

Having fun!

Such silly kiddos

I don't remember what they were looking for - fish maybe?

Looking at the cottage from the lake.  I love Leah's curls!!

New cottage from the boat during the day

California, Day 3, Part 2 - Fourth of July Fireworks

The San Francisco fireworks were going to be over Fisherman's Wharf, so we decided to go right down there to watch them.  Not surprisingly, a million other people decided to do the same thing.  The pier was packed with people, but we were able to find a place to go to dinner - Bubba Gump's at the end of Pier 39.

Leah in Forrest Gump's shoes.

Cameron's turn

Aunt Susan and Leah at dinner.

We had an amazing table, right at the window overlooking the marina.

After dinner the kids spotted a merry-go-round on the pier so we let them go for a ride.  It was actually a major breakthrough for Leah, who up until that point had been to scared to ride on her own horse on a merry-go-round.  She was very proud of herself for riding all by herself!  We don't have a good picture of her looking at the camera though, because she was so busy looking for Mama to wave and show me that she was riding on her own horse.

Cameron loved riding too, but he's an old pro at merry-go-rounds.

We walked around a bit more looking for a good place to stand.  We walked past the floating docks where the sea lions usually hang on.  There was only one lonely guy there, all by himself.  I don't think you can see him in this picture but it was so sad because he was all alone.

Happy baby waiting for fireworks

Our spot for fireworks on Pier 39.

This crazy little boat was driving around the marina.  Its lights changed colors and it spun around in a circle.  We have no idea what it was, but the kids really liked it.

Masts in the setting sun

The fireworks started right on time at 9pm.  It was really cool, they were shooting off fireworks from two different places - one was to the right of where we stood, one was to the left.  They were the same fireworks shot off at the same time, it was really awesome.

 

Leah LOVED the fireworks, she watched them all with rapt interest.

This isn't the greatest picture (a bit blurry) but the shape of these fireworks is really cool.

The fireworks were all so amazing and the show went on for 20-30 minutes.

Cameron got really tired towards the end so we let him lie down in Aaron's stroller while I held Aaron in the sling.  Cam fell asleep, despite the fireworks booming overhead!

More awesome fireworks

Tim got some really great shots of the fireworks!

The walk back was crowded but overall wasn't too bad.  There were so many people that they just flooded out onto all of the streets and stopped traffic.  The cars couldn't go anywhere because the entire street was filled with people walking back to their cars.  We picked up our car at the parking structure and headed back to the hotel to go to bed.  What a fun Fourth of July!!

Our Europe Adventure: Part 12 - Hike to Obersee

We got off the boat at the Salet stop and started our walk to Obersee.  It was a little more than a half mile hike so we told Leah she had to walk all the way there by herself.  The hike was a good one - beautiful scenery, lots of rocks to jump on/over and tons of cow pies to watch out for.

Stopping to look at the ducks and watch the boat pull away from the dock

Cute Cameron

Cute Leah.  We tried to get a picture of both kids on the bench but they were not interested in sitting together.

Obersee is out there somewhere

Cameron on a different bench.  Maybe we can photoshop the two pictures together?

More amazing scenery

Cam asked for Tim to take this picture of him

I love this picture.  I love my kiddos!

A little stream we walked over.  The water was rushing pretty quickly so the kids had fun dropping a leaf in on one side and running over to the other side to watch it come out.

Trying to decide which way to go

Would love to have seen this on a less overcast day - with a blue sky it would have been extra beautiful.

More cuteness with pretty scenery.

Peek-a-boo!

Climbing on a big rock.  This was about 10 seconds before Cameron pushed Leah off the rock because he wanted a picture by himself on top of it.

Leah didn't get hurt and didn't mind that she had been ousted from the big rock.  Cam was excited to have climbed the big rock all on his own.

Leah was happy to find rocks that were more her size to climb on and jump off.

More climbing on and jumping off of rocks.  Kept them busy for quite a while.

Almost to Obersee

I think Cameron is going to win the race (he is the little red dot ahead of us)

Picturesque boat house on Obersee

Even better with a cute baby on the dock (and a Mama standing at the edge of the picture shouting at said baby not to go back any further because she would fall into the hole in the dock).

Pretty cute the two cutest kids in the entire world

Love, love, love this picture!  They are adorable!!

Family picture at Obersee

On the way back, Leah asked if she could be carried for a bit.  Cameron was starting to get tired too, so we decided to race back to the dock to try and get him moving.

It worked out pretty well, other than having to run with Leah on my shoulders and trying to keep up with Cameron - he is getting quick!

Celebrating his win in the race

Watching for her leaf on the bridge

Finally clearing up

Such a beautiful place

We came to a field full of rocks so Cameron and Leah were in their glory again, climbing and jumping

Leah went for the REALLY big ones - hah!

Daddy, Cam and Leah walking back to the boat

One more view of St. Bartholomä on the boat ride back

Looking ahead towards Schanau

When we got back to the main dock, it was almost 5:00 so we went back to the room for a bit and then headed out for dinner.  It was pretty close by so we just walked.  It was a very cute little restaurant with delicious food.

While the kids waited for dinner to come, they played Angry Birds on Tim's phone.  This was much to the amusement of many people in the restaurant... I'm not sure what Germans do to amuse their kids while waiting for dinner, but apparently playing games on a smart phone is not one of them.  There was lots of pointing and smiling at them, especially when Cameron was teaching Leah how to beat a level.

Happy girl with her yummy schnitzel dinner

Cam loved it too

Tim really enjoyed his dinner.  I can't remember what it was but he ate it all up.

We decided to order dessert, which we didn't do at most places.  We couldn't decide between their specials, so we just got both!  Here is Cameron with the chocolate cake, which is what he asked for.

And Leah with the marillenknoedel (apricot dumpings), which is what Mama wanted!

Leah and her happy face, apparently excited at the prospect of eating delicious dessert.  I don't blame her!  The desserts were amazing.

We finished up dinner and were happy to have a walk back to our B&B to get a bit of exercise after eating so much delicious food.  We went to bed pretty much as soon as we got back.  Tomorrow - on to Austria to visit family!