All Karli wanted for Christmas was some of our summer pictures cleaned up and shared ... shows pretty clearly how on top of keeping up to date I have been.

Oh well, I am hoping 2014 will be a year with a little less stress and that I have the time to reflect and share stuff a little more regularly.

Well here it is, Summer 2013 - just in time for 2014.

A great deal of the summer was spent exploring my new zip code,kitesurfing, camping, hiking, and just enjoying the space.  People have been very welcoming to us here in California and we continue to have more to be thankful for then we are deserved.  If you're the kind of person who gets a little twitchy when the wind hits twelve knots - you can watch this video (which I had nothing to do with) of a summer and the choice spots in, on, and around the Bay.

As for the kids, I'm workin on them:

the kids enjoying America's Cup race @ Crissy Field

Ollie's First Windsurf Lesson @ Sherman

Take me out to the ball game...

Going to a Giants game is an amazing experience from Marin ... especially your first time.  Ella and Ollie took the boat into the game, watched the middle school choir sing the anthem, then enjoyed all there was to enjoy while the hometown team beat up on the visitors - an amazing time.  Can't wait for the next one!

i guess i can't easily pop in a slideshow here anymore?? so for that click:

https://plus.google.com/photos/117821601113140945919/albums/5880664469029948033?authkey=CPL8kPrykr-LlwE

We continue to enjoy and choose our own adventure in la vida americana...

Life continues to zip by without relent, times are very good - and very busy as well.

We've recently celebrated Ella's fifth with a trip to Cabo, a visit from Granny and Boppy, and more laughs then could be fairly ours, but don't take my word for it:

A glance over the shoulder:

Ella's Fourth
Ella's Third
Ella's Second
Ella's First (stills - video)
Picketts 4.0 Official Release

So, in the event we haven't updated you ... we live in California these days, and have enjoyed some truly amazing times, Northern California is filled with countless wonders - natural, human, and manmade - for us to explore.  We're enjoying our new playground.
It sure has done a good job at keeping us busy - as evidenced by the complete lack of information I have shared here.  Last Saturday we did sit in bed and watch videos of Ollie's previous birthdays; to celebrate our ... gulp ... seven year old - and celebrate we did.

We celebrated with his amigos at the bowling alley, then with Aba & Karl over Mexican food, before heading south to celebrate with Craig, Gretchen, & Landon around Santa Cruz and its boardwalk before wandering through the incredible beauty that surrounds the infamous highway one, enjoy:

Thanks to everyone who came to one of the celebrations, and to those that celebrated with us from afar, and of course to Craig, Gretchen & Landon for such a fun time in Santa Cruz - we continue to be very blessed with amazing friends the world over.

the annual trip down memory lane...

• sixth
• fifth
• fourth
• third
• second
• first
• the beginning

the pile of footage in the "to do" pile - is incredibly large ... and growing - but know we are having fun and we hope you are too.  Here's the dynamic duo exploring the bunkers around the Marin headlands just north of the GoldenGate:

2.9.2013