USCGC BERTHOLF

While Matthew's dad was here for Christmas, we went to visit the ship and took some pictures.  I have always wanted to take pictures of the boys on the ship, but I always forget while I am there.  I finally remembered, and I brought the good camera.

In this picture, you can see the ships that are stationed at ISC Alameda.  The one in the front is the BERTHOLF (Matthew's ship), and you can see the other three in the background.  It is very rare that they are all in port at the same time, so Matthew snapped a picture while he had the chance.

These pictures were taken in the Engineering Control Room where Matthew used to work.  

Joshua and Poppy...taken from the view of the Captain

The boys next to the ship

It has been a while since I have posted, so I have quite a few pictures to post.  I am going to break them up into several posts just to make it easier.  

We recently went to Lake Tahoe where the Coast Guard owns two A-frame cabins that you can rent.  You will be surprised to see that there are no pictures of the lake, but we spent most of the time inside relaxing because it was very cold.  It did not snow while we were there, but a few days later it snowed a couple of feet...go figure.  This is a picture of Benjamin climbing the ladder to the bunk beds.  He is not even 14 months here, and he made it all the way to the top. (Don't worry, we stayed close to him.)  Every time that he found the door open to the bedroom, he headed up the ladder again.  It was very difficult to convince Joshua to keep the door closed.

One day, we drove to Carson City, Nevada to visit the train museum.  

I just thought that this picture was funny.  Benjamin decided to help himself to more pizza from the box.  Doesn't he look guilty? 

Random Pictures

This is their new favorite game...hide inside the cabinet or lock each other in the cabinet.  This time, Benjamin went in there on to hide from Joshua.

Benjamin playing with the top part of the Christmas tree before Matthew put it together

Decorating the tree

Rodeo Beach

Last Saturday we went to Rodeo Beach which is just on the north side of The Golden Gate Bridge at Fort Cronkite.  I was amazed at the difference between this beach and the one at Golden Gate Park.  Golden Gate Park is just a few miles south of The Golden Gate Bridge, so they are not very far away from each other, but they are completely different.  Rodeo Beach has much larger waves, dark brown sand, and is surrounded by mountains.  I have never been to a beach that was this beautiful, and I couldn't help taking a lot of pictures of the landscape.  The fact that I took these pictures with my cheap camera shows you that it is not fancy photography, but natural beauty.

This is the view looking north.  The buildings on the right 

are Fort Cronkite which was used during World War II to defend the Bay Area when the government thought that Japan might try to attack here. 

This is the view looking south.  The Golden Gate Bridge is

 on the other side of the mountain off to the left, but you can't see it from the beach because of the mountain.

Southwest view

Golden Gate Park

Matthew got home last Sunday, and we have enjoyed spending the week together.  We went to Golden Gate Park on Monday and visited the windmill and beach.  On Saturday, we went to the zoo, but somehow I managed to get zero pictures there.  

The first two pictures are from the windmill area at Golden Gate Park.  There is a small grassy area and garden where the boys played.

Pictures of the beach:

We had a science lesson about tracks and studied the animal tracks, vehicle tracks, and our tracks.

Looking at the ocean with Papa.  Joshua has now touched the water at all three of America's coasts...first the Gulf Coast, then the Atlantic Coast, and finally the Pacific Coast.  He's pretty well travelled for a 2 year old.

Benjamin playing in the sand

It's not very clear, but I wanted to include one of him;  I was holding him while I took most of the pictures, so he wasn't in very many.

Pictures

The boys wore their hats and gloves around the house for the next two days.

These are their holiday pajamas.  I know that it is early to wear them, but I want them to get good use out of them.

I have been looking everywhere for a robe for Joshua because he likes to walk around wrapped in his towel after his bath.  I finally found one that didn't cost a fortune, and it even has Thomas the Train on it.  It doesn't get any better than that.

Just a random picture:  We now have two boys who like to climb.

A Visit to the Firestation

Yesterday our playgroup went to the Coast Guard training base in Petaluma to visit the firestation.  You can imagine the excitement of a bunch of 2 and 3 year olds at the firestation.  They behaved really well, but you could feel the energy in the air.  They were able to sit in the fire truck which Joshua was very exited about.  All week he asked if he could ride the fire truck, and all week I tried to convince him that he would not be able to, so he settled on touching the truck.  Then we get there, and they let them on the truck.  I am sure that he was thinking, "See, Mom.  I told you I could ride on the fire truck."

Smokey did a few tricks for the kids.  You can see that they had a hard time staying focused in between tricks.

Pictures

While I watched the election results last night, the boys decided to entertain themselves with a game of Peek a Boo.  I had to include all four pictures because it is almost like a slideshow of their game.

Benjamin's turn

Joshua's turn

Benjamin getting Joshua's foot

I don't know why but the boys have really been into their stuffed animals the last few days.  Here Joshua is reading them a story.  He also sang them a few songs, but I wasn't fast enough to get a video.

Both of the boys are sick right now, and they have had a hard time sleeping.  During his nap the past few days, Benjamin has cried forever before going to sleep.  This day he kept pointing to the stuffed animals hanging in his room.  I finally got one down for him.  (Anything to get him to stop crying and go to sleep.)  I handed him the kangaroo which he liked for a minute, but he kept pointing to the other animals.  I could tell that he wanted a specific one, but I didn't know which one.  When I handed him the lion, he hugged it, got in his bed, and went to sleep.  He has never slept with a toy or stuffed animal before, but this day he decided he was not going to sleep without it.

Happy Halloween!

Here are some pictures of our Halloween festivities.  Most of the pictures are from our party with the playgroup.  They had so much fun!  

This is our best group picture.  Of course Joshua is behind the fireman, but at least most of the kids are in one place.

I figured that I better snap a picture of the boys while they were being still.

We had the party in the room above the CG Housing office, and the kids went trick or treating to the offices downstairs.  We took them small toys to hand out, but they were so nice and bought candy for the kids too.  That is a kazoo in Joshua's mouth. (I know it looks like a cigar.)

Kristen read the kids a story and played "Ghost, Ghost, Boo."  (Like Duck, Duck, Goose)  It was so cute!  

They also decorated cookies, colored, decorated their trick or treat bags, and ate snacks.

Instead of trick or treating, we went for a walk before supper, ate outside, and handed out candy.   We tried to sit outside all evening, but I had to hold Benjamin because he kept climbing up the concrete steps and getting into the candy, and he is just too heavy to carry around for that long.  I convinced Joshua that it would be more exciting inside because people would ring the doorbell, and he was happy to go inside.  This picture is of Benjamin eating at his new picnic table that we bought with his birthday money.  They really liked eating outside, and it was a lot easier to clean up.