Lazy 5 Ranch

We decided to check the local wildlife park, Lazy 5 Ranch where we got to see a lot of African animals and feed them!

 A horse drawn wagon took us around the huge ranch.

 Look...an animal.

 Maya gets ready to feed them.

 More animals!

 Looking at hungry little guys.  

 Now a hungry bigger guy.

 Dexter approves.

 Papa enjoys not feeding the animals.

 Especially this guy.

 Getting up close with some giraffes.

 Maya feeds one.

 Then Mama.

 Then Dex. 

 Daddy just gets a selfie...

 ...or two. 

Our final evening calls for brownies...yum!!

Gardens and Fire

We took a nice trip to some botanical gardens at the local university campus.

 Papa with his son.

Grammy with her son.

 Hot but fun trails in the woods.

 Dexter loving the bridges.

 Grammy and Momma.

 Photo time.

 Circle time.

 After the garden visit, we found ourselves quite accidentally at a Benihana type place for lunch.  Dexter is a little nervous because of... 

...this.  Maya should be between Mommy and Daddy but she is hiding.

It's Hot!

North Carolina was in the middle of a bizarre heat wave when we arrived so the temps were rising to about 100 degrees every day.  Good thing there was a pool and air conditioning!

 Breakfast with Grammy.

These two are pretty close.

 Pool time.

 Fun!

Walking back to the house in sweltering heat!!

 All that heat inspired treats of a colder nature.

Penguin snacks...yes, please!!

 Persian dinner.  Heaven!!

 Tadig.  Yum.

North Carolina Bound

We couldn't wait to visit Grammy and Papa's new home right near Uncle Boyd's family.  Lots of family fun in our first few days.

 Maya was our pilot on the way there.

Maya does a drawing for a contest:  A crab in front of a sun.

Connor ends up drawing the same thing.  It's like they are related.

Cousins play ping pong in the basement.

Maya is cooking with Grammy while Papa dances with Dex.

Dex and Chase.

I think these two must be related.

Maya, Dex, Connor and Chase.

They Multiply

On our last day with Leigh and her family, a bunch of the ladies got together for pizza with kids.  It was mayhem, but amazing to see just how many new humans there are.

Notably missing are Maxine, Leo, and Sam as their mom had to leave before the photo.  Also, baby Kate was also not pictured.  

Jordie, Mason, Scarlet, Emma, Phoebe, Lucy, Atty, Dexter and Maya.

Giants!

Thanks to winning a school auction, we got these AMAZING seats at the Giants game.  We could get used to this, but I don't know when we will ever have seats three rows behind the Giants dugout again.

 The delightful surprise of realizing how insanely good our seats were.

 Getting close to game time.

 The wide view.

 You can hear them talking!

 Maya contemplates life and the wonders of baseball.

 Watching the game.

 We also quickly realized that players finishing innings would throw the balls into the stands right by us.  A boy in front of us had already gotten a ball and gave the second one he got to Maya.  Wow!!

 Game ball!!

 Best day ever!

 Lemonade.

 Yum!!!

 Happiest dad.

Ferry ride home.  San Francisco is a pretty swell place to live.