Monterey Bay Aquarium

We took a trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium on Friday. The weather was much cooler than San Jose, which was a nice change.

The first thing we saw was the kelp forest with all of the cool fish and small sharks inside. Andrew loved how close they swam to the glass, especially the sharks.

Andrew loves Orcas. He always calls them Orcas, not killer whales.

The jellyfish are so amazing! Both Andrew and Claire thought they were fun to watch. Andrew really wanted to know how they swam. They look so graceful.

This was Claire about halfway through the day. She was done looking at fish and kept collapsing on the ground and laying int he middle of the walkways. Other people thought this was quite cute, and it was the first time. However, after repeated collapses it was not funny any more.

Claire was much more willing to touch the items than Andrew was. She actually pulled a starfish out of the water which didn't make the volunteer very happy. Here she has an abalone shell which she used to dump water out of the pool, which also did not make the volunteer happy.

Andrew really liked looking in the telescopes at the sea lions in the water. He thought that it was cool that you didn't have to put money in the telescopes. It was a fun day for everyone.

Family pictures

My mom had a photographer meet us at Vasona park on June 13th to take some family pictures. They were taken by Ivan Makarov and despite the sometimes unwilling subjects, he got several good pictures.

My parents and my siblings. I just noticed that we are in age order from right to left.

As usual, no smiles from Claire on this day. I still like the picture though.

The best shot of my siblings and I that we have had taken in a LONG time!

Here is the whole gang that gathered for the weekend. What a great picture to remember my Grandma's 90th birthday.

Fun Family Weekend

The whole family got together to celebrate my Grandma's 90th birthday - 23 in all. We had tons of fun together. We took all of the kids to the neighborhood pool for some swimming. Andrew, Landon, and Isabel insisted on goggles. They had fun swimming in both the kids pool and the big pool.

Claire, however, did not want to get in. She was content to sit in the stroller, watch, and eat snacks.

After swimming they all got baths and pajamas. Andrew and Landon have so much fun playing together.

Saturday morning my mom arranged for a photographer to meet us at Vasona park for family pictures. These are just some snapshots that my dad took. I'll post the other pictures shortly.

Claire was also not interested in getting pictures taken. She was fine sitting on the bench while everyone else was photographed.

My mom threw a tropical themed birthday for my grandma. The kids had their own table. Claire insisted on eating in the swing - you can see her feet at the top of the picture. Needless to say, there was a lot of playing and not a lot of eating happening at this table.

We also had two pinatas at the party. All of the kids had a great time trying to break the pinata. There was tons of candy to go around. Some of the candy had to be hidden afterwards because they were eating one thing after another.

Here is my Mom, Grandma, and my Aunt Rose. Yes - my mom put on and lit 90 candles! It was a lot of fun to spend time with my Grandma. We don't get to see her much because she lives in Hawaii. This was definitely a birthday to remember! Happy 90th Grandma!

Grandpa's Birthday

My dad's birthday was on June 2nd. We celebrated with the obligatory family carrot cake. Claire is really into birthday cakes or as she calls them "happy cakes". It's probably because in the spring there is a long string of birthdays: Elaina, Claire, Natalie Andrew, Grandma Larsen, Grandpa Larsen, Lisa, Rose and Mia. Happy cakes can be either cakes or cupcakes. When it was time to blow out the candles Claire and Andrew were right there helping out (Elaina does not like candles at all). My mom generously put the appropriate amount of candles on the cake.

Grandpa with four of the eight grand kids: Claire, Chris, Elaina, and Andrew.


Playing in the fountain at grandpa's house is a favorite pastime for Claire and Elaina. You can tell them no until you are blue in the face, but it won't matter. The will find a way to get in the water. They always end up wet, but they don't care - luckily grandma has a dryer!