Camping on the Sonoma Coast

In May we went camping on the coast in Sonoma where the Russian River empties into the Pacific Ocean. Here are the girls enjoying the river at Goat Rock.


That night we put the girls to sleep in the tent each in their own little "beds." But when we came into the tent a little while later, this is what we found.

Beatrice's Birthday

Beatrice turned 2 in April. In celebration of the special day, we went on a 'big' hike to Chimney Rock at Pt. Reyes National Seashore.

The day really wore her out.

But after a good bath she was ready for cake.

Summer Garden

This spring, in addition to planting vegetables in the sunny backyard planter box, Jed built a new planter on the side of the house for 'shady' foods. Here are the girls helping him plant lettuce, green onions, and carrots.


Here is the lettuce after about a month when we picked our first batch.

Esther washes the lettuce very carefully.

Our first salad.

Seriously, do these kids have parents?

Hiking in Yosemite

Dad and Esther hiked from the Yosemite valley up to the top of the waterfall and then out to that point to the right of the waterfall and then back down to the valley. Here we are after the trip and ready to hear of the adentures of Mom and Bea.Here Esther is standing next to the river just before it drops over the edge forming Upper Yosemite Falls.That river down there at the top of the picture is the location of our finish line photo.

Green food

Mom was out for the evening so Dad and the ladies decided to have a green dinner.

Refining a few moves

This is the sort of thing that happens every evening at our house.

It's been a while

Yeah. We know. We haven't posted in some time. Since last December we have done a few things. Esther turned 3. We learned we are expecting Little Dean Lady #3 (sometime in the end of August). We spent a few days in Tahoe at Christmas with Tyson and family. We bought an old minivan. We spent a few days near Sequoia NP with Jerel and Chana and family. Esther got her hair chopped. 4 months pregnant Sara hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back on a backpacking trip. And the girls spun a lot of spins.

Here are a few videos from the last few months...

Umm..many things going on in this one

Crazy in Green

Hugging in Easter dresses

Free form dance in Easter dresses

Spinning sans Single Ladies

Spinning, or every night at the Deans'

Sisters

The girls love their new matching purple jackets. Here they are playing together. They are having so much fun together these days.

O Christmas Tree!

This year we inherited a train that goes around in circles under the tree. It has a light and and lets out puffs of steam. The girls could not be any happier.

The bunk beds are finished.

Does Esther seem excited to sleep up high?

Thanksgiving

Sara made the Turkey.
Jed made the pumpkin pie.
Johanna made just about everything else.
The girls wore their pajamas all day.

Yosemite in the Fall

Aunt Johanna came to visit in November and we took a trip to Yosemite.

Here's Esther at Glacier Point. Notice the blue hat hanging on the back of her head...
Here's where it ended up.

Jed, Johanna, and Esther hiking down from Glacier Point hatless. Esther looked and looked for her hat on the way down, but couldn't find it. She decided it was "in the riber."

Esther and Beatrice in the tent cabin at night snuggling up to stay warm

"I wan cuh-yer"

An artist must work close to her art.

Beatrice in her Canadian tuxedo

Blue Steel

Halloween

Pumpkin Patch

Esther's First Day of Pre-school

Beatrice wanted to be in her picture.

Bunk Beds

Jed is working on building the girls bunk beds. They aren't quite finished yet, but we'll post pictures when we have the final products. Here he is working with the new power tools he bought for the job.

Showing Esther how to sand:

Putting the girls to work:

Twenty Lakes Basin

In August we did an 8 mile backpacking trip at 20 lakes basin just outside of Yosemtie National Park. Esther walked about half of it on her own, and Beatrice probably covered a good mile on her little feet, too. They are pretty tough girls.

Backpacking with Esther and Beatrice

With Mom out of town at a wedding, Dad and the girls knew it was time to try something crazy. We decided to take a backpacking trip in Pescadero Creek County Park. Shaw Flat Trail Camp is 2.5 miles from the Hoffman Creek Trail Head and would be a formidable challenge for the gals.

The girls did well on the hike in. Esther hiked all but ~100 yards of the 2.5 miles and Bea hiked over half of it. Once we reached camp the girls were tired and hungry.

After dinner the girls put on their pajamas and prepared for sleeping in "tiny tent".

After a good night sleep, the girls were ready for breakfast and the hike out.

Unfortunatley, Dad spilled all four packs of Oatmeal on the forest floor. Here is a picture of the pile after we gobbled up all the oatmeal on top.

After eating breakfast and packing up the camp, the girls were quite dirty and ready for the hike out.

We were of mixed emotions as we broke camp.

The girls had a great time throwing rocks in the creek. Unfortunately for Esther this moment was caught on film.


The girls had lots of fun playing with sticks, tearing apart leaves, singing, yelling, walking backward, and drawing in the dirt.

Each day it took us about 3.5 hours to cover the 2.5 miles. This should give you an idea why.

Camping in Lassen Volcanic National Park

The girls celebrated the beauty of a high sierra lake by throwing rocks, sticks, and such into it.


Esther and Bea found a mule willing to carry them into Bumpass Hell so they could get a glimpse of the geothermal activity. Here they are next to a colorful pond near the fumaroles and mudpots.


The girls hiked most of the last mile, holding hands on the scary parts.


After the hike the girls went for a swim in Lake Helen at the foot of Lassen Peak (10457 ft). The lake is fed with melting snow so the water is quite cold. Esther saw Dad go for a quick swim underwater and asked if she could go too. She enjoyed her dunk underwater and then dried off in the sun on a blanket on the beach.


It seemed like the girls enjoyed their big trip to the mountains.

Esther's Big Day

Choo choo!

Esther and Beatrice love to ride the steam train through the redwood forest nearby.