Merry Christmas from Monterey!

Wishing everyone the merriest of Christmases, the happiest of Hanukkahs and the happiest of New Years!

Christmas Eve Morning Walk on the Rec Trail

Merry Christmas Eve, Love Ben

SCU Holiday Party, Part 2

It always sounds like a great idea to line all the sweet little kids up on the couch for a picture. Sure, great idea... until...

 Ben Bolger decides to dive bomb the rest of the quiet little couch sitters. Yep, his Dad was so proud that Ben has picked up crowd surfing early. This pic below doesn't quite capture the full dive but it was quite the spectacle. None of the other kids had any clue what was about to happen.

 Our favorite doctor in the whole world, Dr. Koontz!

 Mama Koontz and Khloe, both blonde beauties for sure :)

 Just back from their Hawaiian honeymoon, Katie & Ben were still glowing and tanned... perfect for the stormy, grey weather in the Bay Area.

Fabulous friends and Amazing Memories = Happy Bolgers

Annual SCU Holiday Party

This Sunday was our annual holiday party and gift exchange with our SCU besties! A few faces were missing but we had such fun at the Drogin's amazing new home in San Mateo.

 It was such a change to have the adults nearly outnumbered by toddlers. Just a few years back, there were no babies to speak of... yet. We met the most wonderful life long friends at Santa Clara and always so look forward to our annual holiday get together.

 Baby Khloe Koontz and Big Boy Jake Goines are going to be some of Ben's besties down the line... perhaps when they all go to SCU for college?! (hint hint)

 Bro-mance??? (Both Ben & Khloe look thrilled, don't they?)

Ben was beyond enamoured with Mama Beck in a major way. She does have two little boys and definitely has good baby ju-ju. Plus, he has a thing for tall blondes...

Stay tuned for more pics tomorrow...

Rainy Day Weekend

The rain was relentless this weekend and there aren't too many indoor activities to keep an active boy interested. Lucky for us, My Museum is just down the street. It is this great interactive kid's museum with different 'scenes' based on living in the Monterey Peninsula.

One of Ben's favorite areas is the farmer's market/farming area. It's always pretty tough to get him off of the tractor.

 Here Ben's playing in the video store waiting in the check in area for people to return their videos.

 Just what every mother wants... a doctor for a son! All kidding aside, this is a life sized version of the game operation with the buzzing and all. All in a days work!

Rain Rain, Go Away! Please...

Summertime in December

Hey there Bolger Blog followers, Jeff here. (No these are not pictures from last summer, this was last weekend...). The weather today was amazing. Near 70 degrees, Blue Skies... So we decided to take Ben to the beach. We rarely get days like this, even in the summer!     

Stairclimber

Ben has now mastered climbing & descending the stairs and he is now trying to master speed and agility.

Fun with Milk

At least one of us found this amusing...

Final Zoo Pics

SF Zoo - Part 3,

More Pictures from The Zoo!

Ben was more interested in riding the tractor than the mangy sheep behind him...

 

PRAIRE DOGS!! 

African Safari Animals!

The zoo had a steam engine train and Jake had never been on a train so we all had to hop aboard and take a whirl around the park. The boys loved it... until they had to get off...

 Here the boys are saying good bye... until the holiday party next weekend! Too sweet for words.

 Beyond exhausted and an hour-ish past nap time, Ben fell asleep the minute he got back in the car. Proof of a fun and fabulous first trip to the zoo!



That's What Little Boys Do...

San Francisco Zoo, Part 2

So... we're at this awesome zoo. We've driven 2 hours to get here and see the Goineses and see the animals. But what do the boys have the most fun with during the day? Yep, as you can see from the pics below... splashing in the puddles and getting themselves pretty wet. They were laughing hysterically having the best time ever.

Way to go, boys.

Yep. That's their feet, hands and soon to be bodies in the water puddle.

Talk about cheap thrills.

Lions, Tigers and Penguins, Oh My!

We had a great Saturday at the San Francisco Zoo with the fabulous as always Goines Family! We always love seeing our favorite Goineses :) We had never been to the SF Zoo and in fact, Ben has never been to any zoo anywhere so we were pretty excited to see his reactions. We walk in through the entry and who's sitting there and welcoming all of the visitors but good Ol' Saint Nick! So, of course, we thought Ben would just love to see Santa Claus. But, as you can see, Ben was not really having fun, he was more confused and just not thrilled with the idea of being left on some big random man's lap.

 So, Santa didn't go so well... on to a definite crowd please, the petting farm!

 Ben & Jake looved the goats, sheep and other critters running around.

 You can buy goat and sheep food there and the tots loved feeding the hoofed wonders. Ben, being a true Bolger boy, tried to eat the goat food. Lovely, Ben. This pic below is when the intuitive goats started to surround Jenny while she was getting their food from the dispenser. The white goat pictured was a pretty gutsy goat and actually nipped Jenny in hopes of getting the nibbles.

More zoo pics to come, stay tunned!

Thanksgiving, Part 3, Grand Finale

Since it was raining back home, we did as much as possible outside including croquet and golf.

 The area that Jeff's parents live in has a real croquet court, not just a lawn that they transform but a course that stays up all year long.

 Ben had no interest in playing croquet, go figure! True to his personality, he was literally running around the entire court and moving people's balls and whacking the mallot wherever he felt needed a good whack.

 And true to Olivia's personality, she was content just taking the beauty of the location, playing quietly with her Mom and watching Ben go nuts moving everyone's balls.

 All the Bolger Boys (minus the littlest one) went golfing on Thanksgiving morning.

 We came out a cheered on Dad and Uncle Pat for a little bit.

 Ben wasn't aware of the rules and had no intention of being quiet while the golfers were teeing off so we made a quick exit.

 Bolger men deep in thought.

 Pat hasn't golfed in years so golfing with his twin, younger brother and Dad was a real treat for Jeff.

 Good bye, Palm Desert and Vacation.

 We sure did love the time off and the chance to relax with family.

Cheerio!

Thanksgiving, Part 2

Swimming & playing were Ben & Olivia's favorite parts of Thanksgiving in the desert. Every morning they'd swim and then they'd play all afternoon. Not a bad vacation!

 Jeff & Ben

 Pat & Olivia

 No more pool time. Time to unwind in the hot tub because, you know, it's probably about 9:30/10:00am and the kids are exhausted from playing and swimming and being excellent vacationers... 

 Fast forward to after morning nap & we're at play time.

 Who doesn't love play time?!?

Ben can't decide what todo next... Chase the dog or chase Olivia??? 

 Yep, we brought the trusty Huggies box down with us. Once again, it provided loads of fun for the kids.

 Olivia and Ben have very different personalities but they did have such fun together. Ben is more 'out there' and into EVERYTHING and wants to know what's going on with anything and everyone. Olivia is more calm (I'm told that's the difference between boys and girls) and tends to stay in one place much longer than Ben. She is also more cuddly and a little more thoughtful. Such sweet babies :)