Gilroy Gardens: Water Fun

Gilroy Gardens: Artichoke Ride with Daddy

Being Silly!

Last Day at Daycare

California Mid-State Fair: Lunch!

Morro Rock: Climbing rocks & sand.....I love this place!

First Day of Preschool

Happy Hollow Park & Zoo: Merry-Go-Round Fun!

With all of that fun it’s no wonder that I am worn out!  At my 32 week appointment I also did a glucose test and a blood test.  The results said I was not suffering from gestational diabetes – yay! but, that I was anemic – boo!  I’ve been taking an iron supplement, but with the stress of re-painting & re-carepeting our house plus going back to work, I am just so tired.  Usually I have a hard time sleeping that first week back because I keep thinking of all of the things I need to do, but not this year.  I’m also feeling big…

First Day of School: 29 weeks

They say the second baby can do that to ya – and I’m feeling it.  I can only hope that means that the baby girl in there is going to be bigger than the 4 pounds 11 ounces that Carina was.  I can’t believe I still have 10 weeks to go (hopefully!).  I’ve also started monitoring my blood pressure and baby movement at home to watch for a possible return of the pre-eclampsia I had while pregnant with Carina.  The doctor wants to see my bp stay under 140/90.  So far, so good!  The kid can definitely move too!  She seems much more active than Carina did and Carina loves it.  She likes to come feel the baby when she’s wiggling around in there!

Check this out!

She is very excited and is telling us about all of the things she’s going to teach her little sister.  So far she’s also feeling generous and tells us about how the baby can use all of her old “baby” stuff.  How sweet!  Let’s hope that lasts when the baby actually gets here!

5 Months Pregnant

Speaking of that little lady, she’s doing well in there.  Kicking like crazy and so far keeping her Mommy’s blood pressure normal.  Yay!!

The following day we headed to Moran Lake Beach in Santa Cruz with our friends the Streepers.  It was COLD!  That didn’t stop Carina and her friend from putting on their swimsuits and playing in the sand though!

It's a Little Chilly!

And, the cold didn’t stop us from stopping by our favorite ice cream place, Marianne’s, on the way out of town!

…and I know how to use it!

We had a great time!  Our first hike was to Bridalveil Falls.  We knew we’d get a little wet from the spray off the falls, but we weren’t really expecting this….

That's not really what I had in mind when I said I wanted to see waterfalls.

I think it was on this first hike that Carina discovered her newest passion in life though: rock climbing.  We have a pretty strict “No Carrying” rule while we hike.  This means that hiking takes awhile since we have to slow down for Carina’s breaks and dawdle time.  On this hike it was all about the rocks….every one she could find, she climbed up.  She was pretty good at it too.  Next, we did our best to dry our clothes and we headed over to Yosemite Falls.  The hike out to Lower Yosemite Falls is nice and has lots of rocks…

Rock Climbing with Daddy

The waterfall is beautiful, and luckily for Carina, the spray was not quite as dramatic…

Family Photo

We had worked up quite an appetite, so we found a nice spot to have our picnic lunch.  Carina was a little worn out so we decided to drive up to Glacier Point so she could have a bit of a nap in the car (and maybe Mommy had a bit of a nap too).  The view from Glacier Point was amazing…

Yosemite Valley from Glacier Point

After a visit to the small museum and gift shop, we headed back to the yurt for hotdogs and s’mores.  Yum!  The following morning we headed over to the Happy Isles Nature Center.  There is another little museum and nature center with lots of interesting information.  My fourth graders finished up the year with our unit that covers rocks, minerals, and erosion.  I kept thinking about what amazing natural forces shaped the valley and was happy to learn more about it.  Then we did the Happy Isles hike which was the best place yet for toddler rock climbing…

So happy!

The hike covers two small islands in the Merced River.  The river was running very fast, but we found a small alcove perfect for playing in.  Carina had fun taking off her shoes and socks and playing in the mud…

That's some COLD water!

After that it was time for lunch.  We found a nice little spot in the woods and ate…

Yum!

We made a final stop at the Tunnel View lookout area and then started the drive back home.  Carina passed out pretty quickly in the car and slept for quite awhile.  Overall, we had an amazing time and are already looking forward to a return trip!

Day 0 (Thursday):  We arrived Thursday afternoon around 3:30.  After investigating the available wilderness permits and deciding to just camp outside the park, we drove into the valley.  We most just checked out the area, but we did stop at Bridalveil Fall for a quick look.

Bridalveil Fall

Day 1 (Friday):  On Friday morning we started with a quick trip up to Lower Yosemite Falls before starting the longer hike up to Upper Yosemite Falls.  It was a good day for a long climb (3000 foot elevation gain).  We stopped about 3/4 of the way up for a sandwich and then continued up to the lookout point over the falls.  The view was spectacular.

Yosemite Falls

Upper Yosemite Fall

Don't Feed the Squirrels

Day 2 (Saturday):  On Saturday morning we drove up to Glacier Point which has some of the best view in the park.  From there, we hiked to Sentinel Dome (a 360 degree view) and then to Taft Point.  I’m not big on heights, so I stayed a pretty good distance from the cliffs, but some of the other folks scooted up for a closer look.  The then made our way back past Sentinel Dome to our car waiting at Glacier Point.

The Crew on Sentinel Dome

Taft Point

Day 3 (Sunday):  We decided to get out of the valley on Sunday so we took Tioga road up to Tuolomne Meadows, stopping at Olmstead point and Tenaya Lake on the way.  From the Tuolumne, we hiked out to Dog Lake where we sat an the bank and ate our lunch.  There was a fair amount of snow on the ground and the trail was hard to find in places, but we used our compass and map and reached the lake successfully.  After hiking we decided to drive down to Mono Lake and have a look around.  We had dinner in Lee Vining before driving back up to Olmsted Point to watch the sunset and do a little stargazing.

Lunch View on Dog Lake

The Moon and Venus from Olmsted Point

Day 4 (Sunday):  We wanted to get on the road home by mid-afternoon, so we decided to take the short hike up to Vernal Fall via the Mist Trail.  It was wet, as you would expect, but it felt good on the warm day.  After the hike, we hit the store for a few minutes and then drove back to civilization.

Matt and Vernal Vall

Beginning of Trail

We were worried Carina would do a lot of whining and not much hiking, but she did a great job.  Yes, she asked for us to carry her a lot, but she was very good when we told her that on hikes everyone walks on their own.  She liked “keeping her eyes peeled” for wildlife and even enjoyed looking at the plant life.  The only bummer was about 2/3 of the way through when we discovered the bridge was out and had to turn around.

At the end of the hike….

I loved hiking!

Then we grabbed our sandwiches and had a little picnic lunch before heading home with a napping toddler!  A great day!

Watching Grandpa

Well, Carina just LOVED fishing.  Yes, she took a few breaks to play on the rocks, check out the birds, and play in the dirt, but she really enjoyed it!

Fishing!

She got two bites on her line and was super excited each time…. unfortunately, no fish were caught.  After two and a half hours, it was time to go get some lunch, but Carina didn’t want to go.  I had to really convince her to get back in the car.  So, we’ll definitely be going fishing again soon – maybe even get out to Santa Margarita Lake!

Dave was at home that weekend and went on a hike to the North Peak of Montara Mountain.  The view from the top was pretty nice.

Looking NE from Montara Mountain's North Peak

In Fetus 2.0 news…I had my first regular doctor’s appointment this past week.  Everything is going well!  I’m trying not to be paranoid about my blood pressure, but seeing a normal reading on the machine makes me feel good.  The doctor says I do have a chance of preeclampsia with this pregnancy also, but that it would probably be similar (or better) in terms of timing and severity.  This is good news!  I got to hear the heartbeat which is always fun.  My weekly pregnancy update e-mails tell me that the baby is 3.5 inches tall – hard to believe that is all considering how defined everything looks on the ultrasound.  Three and a half inches is definitely big enough to make my clothes not fit!  I had to pull out my bin of maternity wear this week.  Luckily, I had a pretty good selection of non-maternity wear that is just a size up from normal.  These should hold me over for awhile.  I also started feeling the baby move this week.  My first instinct was to reach down to my tummy, but then I remembered that in the beginning you can only feel it on the inside.  Still exciting!  Next up:  the big ultrasound on June 2 where we find out the sex.

Another Reuterskiold on the Way!

We’ll be adding another little Reuterskiold to the world around late October/early November.  This pregnancy has been similar to my first – no nausea, but VERY tired!!  Just starting to get a little energy back in the last week.  We haven’t told Carina yet – we figure we’ll hold out as long as we can…six months is an eternity to a three-year-old.  We are very excited – check the blog for pregnancy and Carina updates!

Carina’s birthday party was a ton of fun.  She picked the orange/pink theme all by herself – complete with pink cupcakes and orange frosting.  We had the kids make door hangers with foam stickers and we played with the bubble machine outside.  She loved having all of her friends over to help her celebrate her special day!

Getting ready to blow out the candles!

Another big milestone: the dentist.  Carina had her first trip to the dentist.  She did such a great job and Dr. Natalie said she was fantastic.  Here she is taking a picture with her new tooth brush for her special dentist book.

Carina's first trip to the dentist!

A few other highlights from the last couple of months:

Helping Mommy make brownies…

Licking the spoon!

Disney on Ice with the Streepers….

After the show.

Easter morning looking for eggs….

Finding chocolate inside a plastic egg.

Carina continues to delight us with her vocabulary, smarts, and overall cuteness.  She likes to play games now which is fun!  She loves to play I Spy in the car, but at home we even have a couple of board games that she enjoys.  We’re looking forward to a fun spring!