Saturday, August 18, 2007

Wish we all could be California girls (...and boy)

Just to inform everyone, we've officially moved to California. We picked a nice little suburb of San Jose called Los Gatos. It's cute; it's quaint. It has awesome weather and a spectacular view. There are amazing parks, great shopping, good food....AHHHHH.....just relax as you picture it with me. Perfect summer weather (and DRY at that....ahhh, no humidity) All.Year.Long!, a quick drive to the Pacific (although it's a bit chilly), and so many things to do!
Well, to be honest, we've moved there in our hearts.....some day!!!! For now we're still in Indiana with the humidity, the HEAT, the same old same old....

Here's an update on our vacation to California.....We went to San Jose to visit my Uncle Paul and Aunt Linda. While Josh spent days volunteering at a dental clinic, Mara and I saw the sights, hung out, and...shopped!
Our first full day there, Saturday, we headed to San Francisco. It was cold and windy, though, so we didn't take many pictures there.
The Golden Gate Bridge... Thankfully, we didn't drive over it! I HATE bridges!
Alcatraz....You can tell it was cold by what the crazy surfers were wearing!

Fisherman's Wharf was fun...if you look at the dock, you can see all the sealions piled up soaking up the sun! They were HUGE!



This is one of the many parks we went to. This play area was in the shape of a ship, and it was surrounded by sand. Mara had fun playing and trying to share sand toys with other kids.



This is the three of us (it's a little dark) on a perfect day! We had tons of fun just hanging out at parks!

I took this picture from the top of one hill. It was on one morning while Josh was working, and I was searching for a park to take Mara to. I just found one on the GPS in the car, and it was way out there...tons of scenery along the way!

I had to stop and take some pictures of us with these cows! As you may know, Mara loves cows (and many other animals). She loves to say that cows say, "mOOO!" It was hard juggling the camera, making sure she didn't get cut on the barbed wire, and watching that she didn't put her little fingers in the cows' mouths!



One afternoon, we drove down to Monterrey. It was even chillier, but it was a nice drive. It was a quaint little town. Next time we'd like to see the aquarium. We didn't have time that day, but we've heard it's great!


Needless to say, we LOVED California! This is just a picture back at home for some people catching up on Mara.

One of her cute funny faces that she likes to do to make us laugh.


Just a quick, funny story before I go back to work (I'm at lunch right now). On Sunday in church, Mara started saying, "Potty, potty, potty, potty," so I grabbed her and booked it out of there. She made it, and I was so proud that she was able to hold it that long! When she got back to our seat, she picked up a crayon right away and said, "Daddy, wanna color?" It was so funny because that's been one of her first full sentences. She's done phrases and tons of words, but that one just came out so clearly and easily. It's like she just decided to finally ask.
Have a great day!



5 comments:

Ghost Girl (aka, Mary Ann) said...

Holy smokes! Mara is getting so big so fast! It sounds like a great holiday...I 've forgotten what those look like! I had my first day of teaching third grade today, and what a trip it was. Of course story-telling was the best part of the day, but painting was pretty fabulous, too. I'll email you soon with all the news, Nicole.

Glad everyone is safe and sound.

Mary Ann S.

Tiffany said...

OH my, I to had read the first couple sentences of your entry about 3 times. I was so confused that you had moved to California. Duh, Tiff! It does look enticing. Mara is getting so big! And she is so darn cute! I miss you guys. Keep the posts coming. I love it. Tiff

Erika @ Andover ClOthing said...

I too was fooled, so even though I never see you, I'm glad you're still in humid Indy with me :)

Mara is such a big girl now!

Mindy said...

I can't believe we were in California, in the same area, at the same time! Your pictures look a lot like the ones we took! We also did San Francisco and Monterrey (we went to the aquarium--it was great), and we drove by Los Gatos on our way to Santa Cruz.

Wasn't the weather so incredible? No wonder people pay so much to live there!

I loved your pictures. Mara is so beautiful and is growing so much! You all look radiantly happy.

I didn't know that Josh was preparing for the MCAT--is he taking it this year or next? My bro-in-law is having his first med school interview tomorrow. It brings back memories. We wish you luck--Josh is the one taking the test, but the whole package is certainly a team effort. Good for you guys.

Dani said...

Nicole,

I love that Mara has your gorgeous eyes! This is the first time I have seen pictures of her and she's so beautiful! You 3 make a handsome family. So happy to hear you had a great summer! Love ya!

Danielle Haines