Kid Friendly Fireworks

4th of July is almost here again. Just four more days away.

We had originally thought that we'd be spending this 4th of July holiday in Canada waiting for our new visas to be issued. As it turns out, the recent floods in Calgary (where we were booked in for our visa appointment) caused the US Consulate to close down for over a week - right when our visa appointment was booked. For now we're waiting to hear back from the consulate with a new visa appointment. Unless the consulate can squeeze us in early this week (and we can manage to rebook flights, accommodation and car hire at such short notice), it looks like we'll be here in Berkeley to celebrate 4th of July. 

In preparation for celebrating 4th of July the girls and I spent this afternoon up on our roof deck creating some red, white and blue crafts.

Our projects for today: kid friendly fireworks...

Ava with one of her fireworks creations

Fun at Strawberry Canyon Pool

Summer is definitely here in the Bay Area now and I've got the sunburn to prove it!

Yesterday was such a lovely warm day. The girls and I made the most of the warm weather by catching up with friends at Strawberry Canyon Pool high up in the hills above the university.

Fun in the pool on a sunny day

Playing Tourist in San Francisco

One of the great things about living in the San Francisco Bay Area is that there's just so much to see and do here. We're always finding new places to visit and we love sharing our discoveries with friends and family here on Little Hiccups.

Having friends and family actually visit us in person (rather than just online!) is such a great opportunity to get out and about and explore San Francisco a little more. Kim's sister and her family recently visited from Australia and we had a great time playing tourist with them.

We spent an afternoon in Dolores Park, ate the most delicious ice cream from Bi-Rite, took in a Giants game at AT&T Park, ate too much chocolate at Ghirardelli Square, walked down Lombard Street, took in the sights of the city from Coit Tower, rode a carousel in Yerba Buena Gardens, made wishes throwing pennies in fountains, ate too much chocolate again and walked and walked and walked all over the city. So much fun packed into just a few short days.

The girls were so excited to see their cousins and had so much fun playing with them. They were both pretty upset when they had to say goodbye. In fact, a teary Ava asked if we could move back to Australia so she can see her cousins more often. Aww...

Here's a look at some of the fun we had playing tourist in our own backyard...

On our first day of playing tourist we met up in Union Square. The girls were a little shy at first when we met up with their cousins but they warmed to them pretty quickly. Lola has been telling everyone about "my cousin Grace" after speaking to her on Skype a few weeks back so she was excited to meet her in person.

Our meeting point on the first day and such a great San Francisco landmark

Children's Fairyland

Last Monday Kim took the girls to a Bay Area family institution - Children's Fairyland in Oakland. 

This got me thinking about the fact that I had a half written post about our first visit to Children's Fairyland back in March. Time to get around to finishing it and posting it I think!

So here it is. A little delayed, but better late than never. A look at our first visit to Children's Fairyland...

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Pretty much every person who has grown up in the Bay Area has spent many a fun day at Children's Fairyland and I'm pleased to say that our kids can now say the same.

Ava at the entrance to Children's Fairyland

Father's Day in Golden Gate Park

Yesterday was Father's Day here in America. We started the day off with the girls giving Kim gifts and cards that they made for him. As you can see, Lola's drawing skills are starting to improve and she's finally drawing people. Ava loves pointing out how much better she is at drawing than Lola because she could draw people before she turned two. Not at all competitive that one!

Showing off the handmade cards

Happy Father's Day USA

It's Father's Day again here in the USA.

It feels like only yesterday that we were celebrating Father's Day but I guess seeing as Kim gets two of them a year (June for USA and September for Australia) it really wasn't that long ago.

Here's a look at the card I made for Kim using photos from our recent trip to the redwoods.

Have a tree-mendous Father's Day

Wishing all the Dads out there a "tree-mendous" Father's Day!

School's out for Summer...

Cue the cheesy Alice Cooper music... School's out for Summer!

Today was Ava's last day of Kindergarten at Berkeley Arts Magnet. Come the end of August she'll be a big First Grader.

Much like the rest of the week today was a day of fun activities at school. The kids had a slide show in the morning to look back on the fun things they've done throughout the year and the new friends they've made. This was followed by a pot luck picnic in the school yard and an extended lunch recess break. This in turn was followed up with a movie; "Ratatouille" I believe from Ava's description.

Here's a look at Ava's last day of Kindergarten...

Arriving at school in the morning as a Kindergartener for the last time