Butano!

One of our FAVORITE things to do as a family is go to Butano with Noah's family. The "Butano House," as Keira is now calling it, is in a canyon of redwood trees on the North Coast, in between Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay. It is very beautiful and peaceful, away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, with no internet or cell phone access, which makes it a great place to relax and spend time together as a family! This summer was no exception!

One of the BIG highlights is always the swing!
These pictures do not show an accurate view of just how far out/high Keira was swinging, but it was HIGH and she LOVED it!

While we were swinging, Jonathan made some jumps for his mountain bike!

He and Noah got to go mountain bike riding a couple times, which they enjoyed.

Willy is a huge fan of the swing!

He loves to run up the platform and then will turn around half-way and try to come back down while you're still going up! Then, he will chase the swing back and forth as it swings. Silly Willy!

Keira wanted to swing from all the way on top of the platform!

Ready, set, GOOOOOOO!

Minnie Mouse wanted to come along too!

Taking a hike to the waterfall

Made it!

Time to throw some rocks!

Happy!

Professional rock-skipper

Keira getting a rock-skipping lesson from Aunt Laura

Now she gives it a try!

Jack is in heaven!

The falls

Family!!!!

On the way back from the hike, we stopped off to shoot some hoops

Yes, Willy is playing too!

In fact, he wasn't just playing, he was the MVP!

He may have rebounded the ball a couple times and he even stole it too!

He still needs to work on his dunking though!

Junior MVP!

An MVP gets tired...

...and works up quite a thirst!

Keira loves playing with Nana!

An intense game of ping-pong between Jonathan and Laura's friend, Yi-Jen.

More fun with drawing!

We spent some time in the tiny town of Pescadero and visited the downtown shops and goat farm.

The goat cheese was super yummy!

Baking a cake with Nana is the best!

And getting to lick the beaters is a close second!

My two loves

A typical afternoon of relaxing!

We took a day trip to Monterey and ate some delicious clam chowder at Fisherman's Wharf and then it was on to the Monterey Bay Aquarium!

Unfortunately, it was super crowded that day, but nevertheless, we got to see some pretty amazing creatures in the exhibits. Here is a sampling of some amazing creatures (and, of course, a sampling of Noah's sweet photography skills!).

Sunset from Pescadero Beach

Swimming  = FUN!

We got to have a date-night and had some good Chinese food at a restaurant in Half-Moon Bay and then watched the sunset at the beach!

Squeezing in some more play-time with Aunt Laura before starting the long drive home

Traditional family shot before everyone parts ways!

We love our family!!

Can't wait to do it again next summer!!