Devyn in line at the Cars ride at California Adventure.
Devyn at California Adventure
Posts tagged with Devyn
Labor Day Boogie Boarding
Devyn with her charcoal covered hands @ Haskell’s Beach.
It has been hot here in Santa Barbara for the past couple of weeks. I know, I know. I’ve been rubbing it in how nice it is down here for months, but when it’s always 73, you get used to it. Anything hotter, like 85-90 and it suddenly feels like it’s the end of the world.
Well, it wasn’t obviously. But it was hot enough that it was a great excuse to go find a different beach. Typically, we head south about 20 miles to Padaro Beach, my personal favorite in the area. But this weekend, some friends encouraged us to drive north about 5 miles to Haskell’s Beach. It was so nice there, we went two days in a row over the Labor Day weekend.
If you get there early, it’s great. There is very limited parking which totally regulates how crowded the beach will get, so as long as you get there early, you’re in for a relaxing day with nobody crowding you out.
As you can see from the picture above, Miss Devyn (and one of her friends) found a big rock that had been in a camp fire. As such, it was coated in soot and the girls decided it would be fun to get it all over their hands. A quick dip in the ocean and it was all gone.
Nathan wasting no time in getting back out into the surf.
Nathan has really taken to boogie boarding. Once he goes in, you can’t get him out. Here he is above running back out for the next set of waves. Here are two more photos of Nathan on his boogie board.
All those swimming lessons are paying off. Nathan is using a double stroke to get on top of a wave. He’s a very strong swimmer these days.
Nathan is very happy in the water as you can see.
Haskell’s Beach in Goleta, CA
In the photo above, that’s Devyn in the right corner and Nathan standing right in the middle of the small wave. Such a nice beach. We’re totally getting spoiled.
More Parade Photos
Here are some additional photos that I took on the 4th of July parade here in Santa Barbara.
Miss Devyn and her flag.
My two gals.
Standing near the Porsche contingent.
This dog was just hanging out on the front of a jeep. It was hilarious.
Can’t believe the dog just sat there.
Devyn was thrilled to actually be in the parade.
One last one of Devyn.
We’re very proud of our kids!
Devyn and Kate
Devyn and Kate chatting it up.
The other day, Devyn’s friend (and across the street neighbor) Kate came over to play for a little bit. After a while, the girls ended up on the patio out back chatting it up. This was my attempt to be stealthy and photograph them.
Something was funny! But I have no idea what they were talking about.
I have no idea what they said, but something sure cracked the girls up!
Classic Devyn laugh.
Devyn just kept on laughing. It was awesome.
Posing!
In the end, the girls caught me trying to be sneaky and were gracious enough to pose for this photo.
Day at the Beach
Enjoying a day at the beach!
It was a bit of a hot day by Santa Barbara standards, so we took to Padaro Beach. Of all the beaches we could go to, this is one of the furthest, but it’s also one of the nicest. The sand in the water feels like you’re walking on carpet and packs of Dolphins regularly swim by.
San Francisco
Chris and Melanie at the Marin Headlands.
Getting out of Dodge
For Memorial Day weekend, we decided to get out of Santa Barbara for a few days. So we packed up the kids and the car and drove 5 hours north to San Francisco! We were fortunate enough to be able to visit with our very good friend Melanie, who was gracious enough to let us stay with her family for a couple of nights and to serve as tour guide!
Marin Headlands
I just sold my 4 year old Canon 5D Mk II camera and picked up a new Canon 6D so I was really looking forward to getting some shots of the Golden Gate Bridge. I really wanted to shoot it from Kirby Cove. But was too much of a hike for the kids we had in tow.
Instead, we were able to find a parking spot up at the top of the Marin Headlands (Hawk Hill?) and that is where I took the photo above of Chris and Melanie. I have a couple of other photos, but I’m not entirely excited about them. Maybe I’ll post those later. We did walk through one of the tunnels on the hill though and we were treated to this beautiful view. I’m sure this road has been in a zillion car commercials.
View from the backside of the Marin Headlands.
Dinner with Friends
After hitting the Golden Gate bridge and driving down Lombard Street, we headed back out towards the suburbs and went to Walnut Grove for dinner. Here are some pictures from dinner.
Devyn and Macy.
Eli.
Macy.
Day 2
On our second day, we spent the early afternoon on Alcatraz Island where the kids had a lot of fun exploring. Actually, we all had a really good time! I’d highly recommend going and doing the guided audio tour. It’s included in the price of admission and it was very informative. After Alcatraz, we were able to meet up with Chris’ step-sister Inger and her mom Signa and Inger’s two kids. After hitting Ben & Jerry’s for some ice cream, we went up to Coit Tower and then out to dinner.
Quick note if you go up to the top of Coit Tower, it’s a long line and crowded elevator ride to get to the top. Once there, it can be tricky getting a photo because they have very reflective plexiglass installed for safety. I like this picture of the tower at night and from the ground.
Coit Tower at night.
Here’s a family shot taken around 9pm. I used a trick I learned from Joe McNally to light this. Rather than pointing the flash at everybody directly, I crouched down in front of a white garage door, turned the flash so it pointed at the door and then took the picture. The light reflects off of the garage and provides a much nicer source of light for the group photo. Try it sometime!
On a side note, this photo was taken after an utterly amazing and fantastic dinner at Original U.S. Restaurant. I had no idea how good or bad it would be going in. It was packed with customers which is always a good sign, but the food was beyond what I had expected. Get the Ravioli with Bolognese sauce. You won’t be disappointed.
The whole gang!
Day 3
For our last day in San Francisco, we wanted to take the kids on the Cable Cars. We tried to outsmart everybody by catching the trolly up a few stops from the start of the line, but we went too far and each car was too full. So we went back down to the beginning of the line and the line there was 45 minutes. So…we walked up 2 blocks and got on the next car no problem!
Devyn sees the next Cable Car coming!
Nathan waiting patiently for the next Cable Car.
Kids on the Cable Car!
Wrapping Up
We wrapped up the day down at the end of the Cable Car line in Fisherman’s Wharf and swung by Ghirardelli Square. Honestly, I wasn’t all that impressed with Ghiradelli Square. I can say I’ve been there, but I can say that I won’t be rushing to go back. Maybe if we were going to hit the Maritime Museum, but otherwise, I don’t think so.
All and all, it was a great trip. Great seeing family and friends!