alan and enzo's visit

It was all a blur - staying up late before I left London to watch the US team play in the World Cup, getting up early to catch my trans-Atlantic flight, hanging out at a sports bar in JFK International Airport for 3 hours or so watching more World Cup action, then flying cross-country to arrive bleary-eyed in San Francisco shortly before midnight on June 17 (2014), a couple of hours after Alan arrived at SJC with Enzo.

The next day we pedaled off as a family to visit a couple of parks via some bike trails, stopping at Creekside Park and then Blackberry Farm, where Enzo enjoyed the playgrounds as well as the creek.

alan and me up a tree at creekside park...

with *somebody* snoozing on the bench below us

enzo making the most of the playgrounds

riding bikes

The next day we drove off to Monterey for a couple nights, fitting in tidepooling at Point Lobos, playground enjoyment at Dennis the Menace Park, and a perusal of the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

my parents, brother, and nephew tidepooling at point lobos

we spotted sea otters, crabs, anemones, pelicans, seals, and more

father and son at dennis the menace park

outside at the monterey bay aquarium

Alan and Enzo left Monterey separately from the rest of us, headed their own way for a couple of days, so I made my first trip home to Tahoe and spent my first night back in my own house.

el dorado beach/ lakeview commons

I only spent one night before going back to my parents' house - Alan and Enzo had also returned.  We made a trip to San Francisco where we saw Steve and Trudy (my hosts when I spent the summer in San Francisco) and Alan played in a session in an Irish pub.  We did encounter a small problem when Enzo wasn't allowed to be in the pub (because it's a bar!) so we found a bookstore down the road where my mother and I each spent some time with Enzo reading books and playing with Lego.

me, steve, trudy, parents, enzo hiding his face on alan

alan playing in a session

We went for a hike at Fremont Older Open Space with Janet Anvick and the Anvicks' yellow lab Cedar, both on the rolling grassy hills and in the wooded areas.  We were treated to a close-up view of a doe and fawn as well as views of the Santa Clara Valley from Hunters Point.

hiking with janet anvick (and cedar) at fremont older open space

family photo at hunters point

wildlife spotting (spotted wildlife?)

The night before Alan and Enzo flew back to Madison, we had a joint early birthday celebration for Scott Anvick (June 26 birthday) and my mother (June 27 birthday), celebrating with our family tradition of a homemade birthday cake, this time provided by the Anvicks.

joint celebration of mama and scott anvick's birthdays

June 25 marked both Alan and Enzo's trip home to Madison and my move back HOME to Tahoe...