Monterey, CA

This past weekend, Matilda enjoyed the famous Monterey Aquarium and dinner with Andy, Ashleigh, and Olivia.  At the aquarium, Matilda got to see lots of fish and play with all the exhibits.  Unfortunately, we didn't get to see any of the sea otters at the aquarium, but we did see some wild otters in the bay when we ate at Bubba Gump's.  It was a quick trip, but we were happy we made it down to hang out with our friends one more time before they went back across the pond.  We will really miss them and hope we get to see them again soon.  Check out all the pictures of our time in Monterey on the post page.

Sacramento Zoo

Today Tilly went to the zoo with her buddy Olivia (and mommy Ashleigh).  We had a lot of fun even though the girls didn't get a chance to feed the giraffes.  They did spend alot of time with the monkey's and chimpanzees.  Then we somehow escaped the gift shop without buying any new animals.  After the zoo, we went to Cafeteria 15L for a really yummy lunch.  Check out all the photos on the post page.

Yolo County Fair

A couple weeks ago we went to the big CA state fair.  Today we went to our little Yolo county fair.  We went with one of Tilly's best buddies, Olivia, and her parents.  We got there too early, so we went for a walk through Burlington Coat Factory, where Tilly found a singing Elmo!  Once the fair opened up, we went through the exhibits and got pupusa's.  Then we found a kid area were the girls made bracelets and rattle shakers.  Check out all of the photos of Tilly at the fair.

Fourth of July!

This year we entered the Davis Fourth of July Bike Parade.  Matilda helped set up her patriotic wagon and waved flags to everyone watching.  It's a really short parade, lasting 3 blocks and ending up at the downtown city park.  We got there too late to enter the best decorations contest, but Tilly had a great time.  Afterward, we met up with Vivienne and Olivia and Tilly shared her wagon.  It was a very happy independence day!  "Read more" for the rest of the photos.

Kids Museum

Today we went to check out the Sacramento Children's Museum.  Matilda met up with Vivienne and had a great time playing with all the different activities.  She loved watching the golf balls roll, ping pong balls float, and tissues fly through tubes.  Tilly then showed us how to splash it up in the water area and got soaked despite wearing her splash jacket.  Read on for some videos and pictures of our fun day at the museum!

Annular Eclipse of 2012

Today was a special day because of the solar eclipse.  Unlike the total solar eclipse, this was an annular eclipse, meaning the moon was far enough from earth that it doesn't totally block the light of the sun.  This creates a ring of fire around the shadow of the moon.  Way cool.  The problem is, the moon has to be in just the right spot to be in line with you and the sun in order to see the ring.  You can imagine this window is actually pretty small (about 100 miles wide).  Total and annular eclipses are fairly rare, because of how often everything lines up right and that they pass over such a small portion of the earth.  Obviously, the closer to the midline of the umbral path or path of totality (moons inner shadow), the longer the eclipse lasts.  If you aren't within that path, well you're stuck with the common partial eclipse.  Today was special day because we happened to be just 30 mins from the edge of totality.  So luckily, we got to see this:

I'm really glad we got to go see the eclipse this year, because we may not ever see one like it again.  If my calculations are correct, the next path of totality for an annular eclipse to go over Sacramento won't happen again until Feb. 18, 2110 and the next total eclipse won't happen here until Dec. 31, 2252 (okay, so those are NASA's calculations).  Don't worry, if your calendar doesn't extend out that far, you can always settle for the partial eclipse on Oct. 23, 2014.  Redding, CA will actually have a total eclipse in 2045 with an annular eclipse in 2046.  Who knew Redding was the place to see total eclipses!  For everyone in Portland, OR, get ready for your total eclipse on August 21, 2017! (Tilly will be 6 years old then!)

Since these events are fairly rare, we decided it would be fun to have a picnic and watch it with our special glases.  And, in order to extend the time of the eclipse to 3 min, we drove about an hour and a half to Oroville, CA.  Tilly had her friend Olivia to play with as we convinced our friends Andy and Ashleigh to come along.  And if the picnic and eclipse weren't enough of a treat, we also got to see the oldest orange tree in California and drive across the tallest dam in the U.S.  All in all it was a pretty good day.  Read on to see some pictures of our awesome day in Oroville, CA.  Hi, I'm in Oroville.

Vivienne's Birthday!

After picnic day, we went over to celebrate Vivienne's first birthday.  Of course Tilly loves stuffed animals and tried to steal some of Vivienne's birthday presents!  We had fun hanging with the babies, and after watching Vivienne destroy her cake, the girls went for a swim.  It was a really fun and busy day!  Read more for all the pictures.

Pig Day

Matilda has been enjoying her weekly trips to the farmer's market, but this week it was extra special.  It was pig day and we celebrated all things pig!  Plus the weather was great and we got to see all of Tilly's friends.  "Read more" for more pictures.

Pumpkin Patch

The weekend before Halloween, Matilda went to her first pumpkin patch with her best friend Vivienne.  Not only did we get some good pumpkins, we got some good pictures as well.  They had a petting zoo, but we decided it cost too much and the girls had to just look at the animals from outside.  Such horrible parents.  We figured it would be boring anyway after having pet a giraffe in San Diego.  Click the link to see all the pictures of our little pumpkins in the patch.

Lake Berryessa Hike

Matilda went on her first hike at Lake Berryessa with her best friend Vivienne.  Because the location of the trail wasn't clearly marked, we decided to go with what we thought was the Smittle Creek Trail.  After following the lake shoreline for awhile, we realized we had come right back to where we started.  Eventually we found the real trail and continued our hike.  Tilly got to try out her awesome sunglasses and even rode backpack style in her carrier for the first time.  We stopped for lunch, and the girls got to enjoy their first taste of watermelon.  Tilly just licked at it, but Vivienne chowed down.  It was a hot day and the water levels were low, but it was a really fun little hike.  "Read more" for all the pictures of Tilly enjoying her first hike!

Tilly Goes to the Fair

Matilda wasn't too sure about corndogs.

Matilda went to her first fair, and it was a big one!  There isn't much to do at the California state fair except for look at things and eat fair food.  Matilda is a pro at looking at things, so we did all the eating.  She got to see all sorts of animals and really stared at the cows and baby piglets.  She didn't really notice the wallabies, kangaroo, or osterich, but she was totally checking out the parrots.  We had a great time with Auntie Monica as well as Mark, Alicia, and Vivienne.  They were even nice enough to watch Tilly so we could ride the Zipper!  The CA state fair is huge and a lot of fun.  Hopefully Tilly will still like our little Yolo county fair next month!  Check out more pictures on the post page.

Happy 4th of July!

Matilda celebrated American independence the way we all should, by putting on her stars and stripes socks and playing with fire.  Vivienne wanted to join the festivities and brought mom and dad (Mark and Alicia) with her so we could toss some cornbags.  And, what do you do with babies while everybody's outside playing cornhole?  Strap them to your chest and let them play too, of course.  The babies slept through the entire game, but woke up just in time for some fireworks.  "Read more" below for the rest of the pictures.

Tilly Loves Lovebirds

Tilly got to play on her first activity mat at Vivienne's house and she totally loved it.  We're such bad parents for not getting her one sooner!  She also got to hang out with Vivienne's birds, Rambo and ChubChub.  Mark and Alicia made a great dinner and the girls had as much fun as babies can have.

Old Friends, New Friends

Tilly demonstrating her 80th percentile height.

The drive home from Santa Barbara was a pretty long drive, so we decided to take a break in the middle.  Luckily, one of our old friends just happened to live almost exactly half way home in Lemoore, CA.  I went to school with Greg Boggs in Washington (he's the reason Leia and I are together... so technically the reason Tilly exists!) and since we haven't seen him for several years, we wanted to stop in and see Greg and his wife Allison.  Actually, a bonus reason to stop was so we could meet little Edward Boggs, who was born less than a week after Matilda.  We didn't even know they were expecting an addition to their family until after he was born, and we were super excited that Tilly would have a new friend so close in age.  We had a short visit, but it was fun and was a perfect way to break up the drive (even though little Eddie slept the whole time!).  Check out all the pictures of the two new friends from old friends on the post page.