The Kite Festival

My mom and I had every intention on picking up my cousins and heading to Berkeley with the girls to go see a Kite Festival.  As we made our exit, I quickly noticed that hundreds, if not thousands, of people also had that same idea.  So instead of turning left, we turned right and found ourselves in a quaint little area of Berkeley.  

There were shops for the older girls to enjoy...

and a great toy store for the little ones to enjoy (although I have to admit, I think I enjoyed it just as much as them)...

Lily got to spend some time with Tam Tam...

and the girls were able to stroll along the streets with us taking occasional breaks to rest their feet...

So although we did not make it to the Kite Festival like we had originally intended, we still made it another great day with the girls.  By the way, we were able to see some of the kites as we drove by.  That counts, right??

Lake Tahoe

One of the most wonderful things I have always loved while living, and now visiting Sacramento is it's vicinity to both the city and the mountains.  If you go in one direction for two hours, you will find yourself in San Francisco.  If you head in the opposite direction, you end up in Lake Tahoe.  We had already been to San Francisco a few times during this visit, so now it was as good a time as any to head to the mountains...

For a  picnic...

For some swimming...

For some sightseeing...

For some playing...

For some bird chasing...

For some photo opportunities...

for some laughter...

and most certainly, for some ice cream...

Simple Games, Solid Bonds

For the girls, the best thing about the farmer's market had to be the wonderfully big park across the street...

There were slides everywhere of various sizes, but Lily and Sophia chose this big one as their favorite.  An additional bonus on this warm day is that they picked the slide that was shaded...

The slide gave them more than just enjoyment.  It also gave them crazy hair...

This "crazy hair" bond seemed to bring the girls closer together...

They even took time to tiptoe across the balance beam together...

Sophia stopped to give me a pose straight out of Lily's book...

Then she resumed walking across the beam with an incredible amount of determination and concentration (notice the hands)...

Little did Lily know that in mere moments, her sitting at the end of the slide would turn into a game...

As Lily sat there, Sophia would slide down and her feet would hit Lily's bottom and then they would react like this...

Little did I know that this game of theirs would give me so much enjoyment to watch.  Their favorite slide quickly turned into my favorite slide, but for reasons different from theirs...

Although today we did something as simple as going to the park, I felt like something more magical happened.  I think you would have to be there to understand.  Today I saw a special bond form between my two girls and it warmed my heart immensely.