Home Sweet Ithaca

After Jeremy finished his internship. we packed up the cars and he made the long cross country drive one more time. The boys and I flew to Boise for a quick visit, and then my mom joined us for the trip to Ithaca. It was so nice of her to fly with us back to Ithaca, it would have been miserable without her. It was so great to have her here to help us get unpacked and organized. She made sure we were in good shape before she left. Coming back to Ithaca really did feel like coming home. There are a few things that I miss about San Francisco...the endless sunny days, the amazing restaurants, the washing machine. But it's really been nice being back in our little apartment. I love being back in a small town. I can always find parking, there's not a lot of traffic, and we have lots of friends close by...and Wegmans :) This year we have an "Ithaca Bucket List" and we've crossed a few things off already. Some things I have had to do solo, because it's looking to be a really busy semester for Jeremy.  I took the boys blueberry picking at Grisamore Farms.

Carter had such a great time. We have been reading Blueberries for Sal a lot, and the whole time we were picking berries, Carter kept saying, "I've got to store these for the winter." It melted my heart. We also picked peaches at Indian Creek Farm. 

Carter also needed to "store these for the winter." Carter has been very opposed to me taking his picture lately, so I had to sneak one.

Last weekend, Jeremy had a little bit of time off of school and so we went camping with a couple of other families, the Strykers, Hogges, and Currans, to Watkins Glen. We tried out tent camping and it actually went a lot better than I expected. Carter had a blast playing in the tents with his buddies, roasting marshmallows, and sleeping in his very own sleeping bag.

The Stryker's were nice enough to let us use their tent for the night so we were able to fit our pack and play for Logan.  We had so much fun hanging out by the campfire, eating cobbler. We really do love our Ithaca family.

The next morning, we all hiked the Gorge Trail of Watkins Glen State park. It was gorgeous! Carter was a trooper for the hike, he actually walked most of the way.

On labor day, we went swimming at Tremen falls. The water was pretty cold, but it was a really hot day, so it was the perfect time to go. Places like Tremen falls are what make Ithaca such a unique place

After living in California all summer with the drought, it just seems like there is water everywhere in Ithaca! Everything is so green. Carter has been especially enjoying all the water, whether it's playing in the river, or just jumping in a puddle.

Hopefully we will get to do all of the items on our bucket list this year!

"If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair..." and bring a buttload of cash

After a hellish two hour flight on our own, we made it to San Francisco. We rented a little furnished townhouse near the outskirts of the city for the summer, you can see them in the picture below.

It was great for what we needed it to be, it was just really expensive and not very kid friendly (i.e there were too many things that were not ours for Carter to destroy in various ways).

Our first weekend in the bay, we met up with our friends, the Strykers and Hogges in Santa Cruz. It so great to be able to spend some time relaxing at the beach. Carter LOVED playing in the sand, seeing the sea lions on the pier, and hanging out with his buddies

It really was lucky for us (especially me) that we had friends that were interning in the bay area as well this summer.  Everyone in our ward was nice, they just never really talked to us again once they heard we were only there for 10 weeks. Can't say that I blame them. The days felt pretty long to me while Jeremy was at work, so we met up with Strykers and Hogges as often as we could. Some of our favorite places to go over the summer were Curioddesy, which is a little zoo/discovery center

 (checking out a beehive)

Happy Hollow (which is essentially toddler paradise)

Visiting all of the great parks (we especially loved Golden Gate Park)

and last but not least, chilling at the beach

Carter and I also did a fair amount of adventuring our our own. We tried to go into the city as much as we could. Carter and I developed a daily ritual, every night before he would ask me, "what we doing tomorrow mama?" We especially loved visiting Dolores Park,

the creativity museum,

and the Discovery Museum of the Bay

No matter how much fun we had while Jeremy was at work, these two boys were always thrilled to see their Daddy.

Every weekend, we tried to do something fun as a family. One of my favorite things that we did, was taking a bus tour of the city. It was a great way to see a lot in a very short amount of time. I was really nervous with how the kids would do, but they did great. We had an amazing day

we saw the painted ladies and postcard row

Lombard Street

visited china town and a fortune cookie factory, and got amazing egg custards at Golden Gate Bakery

and explored fisherman's wharf

one of the coolest places on fisherman's wharf is an old fashioned arcade. Jeremy impressed everyone (mostly Logan) with his arm wrestling prowess.

On another weekend, we took the boys "camping" to Yosemite Valley. We stayed in a little one room cabin in Curry Village for the night. Yosemite Valley was incredible, it was one of the most beautiful places that I have ever visited.

On our first day in Yosemite, we hiked to lower falls and mirror lake

the next day, we went swimming at Curry Village

and then hiked Vernal Falls. The hike to Vernal falls was a little bit steeper and more challenging than we expected. It was a little bit embarrassing, Jeremy wore Logan in the Bjorn, and pushed Carter in the stroller, and I still had a hard time keeping up. Jeremy got a lot of adoring looks from women along the trail...

On our way out of the park, we stopped to see a giant Sequoia grove. I think these seeing these trees was my favorite park of the trip.

This one was named "Big Red"

I'd love to go back and spend a lot more time in Yosemite someday.

Near the end of the summer, we got a few visitors. First, Jeremy's mom came to spend a couple of days. We went to Happy Hollow,

fisherman's wharf and the Exploratorium,

Pacifica Beach

The boys loved having her here

The next weekend, my parents came for a quick visit. On the Saturday they were here, Roaring Camp Railroad (a steam railroad that goes through the redwood trees) was hosting "A Day out With Thomas." Riding on Thomas the Train was definitely one of the highlights of Carter's life!

While my parents were here, we were also able to walk the trail at Land's End, and see the ruins of the Sutro Baths. It was the perfect day for a walk

we also visited the Discovery Museum of the Bay

and went to the beach (we even saw a whale, it was awesome!!)

The last weekend before we left the bay, Jeremy's brother Brandon, and his wife, Jessica came for a visit. It was so great to be able to spend some time with them. We especially loved visiting Muir Woods with them.

Well, those were our adventures this summer, in a nutshell. I'm pretty sure this post reads like one long, run on sentence, but at least it's documented :)