The last time I was in California, LMS was 2 1/2 months old! Crazy that we went back almost exactly 8 years later. I can't believe it's been 8 years since I've seen my extended family and it was the first time I meet my aunt and cousin. It's been 4 years since I've seen my grandma, and that was the occasion we went out for this time - her 80th b-day! Longevity must run on my moms side, because another major highlight of our trip was going to see my great grandma. Unfourtunately because the boys mom "just couldn't go so long with out them", Mr S and the boys stayed in IA. He was also annoyed that we took such a long trip, but since this was my first trip since our honeymoon and the fact that I probably wouldn't be out to CA for another 8 years (I hope not), I decided to make the most of it. The girls and I had a great trip and it was good to have the mommy/daughter time.
Day 1: Travel - Traveling so far always sucks just because it seems like 1 whole day of your trip is traveling. It wasn't too bad though and we made it to San Francisco about lunch time (for us - it was still breakfast out there). Once we found my sister and got the rental car, we headed to Woodland where my grandmother lives. For the most part, we just hung out and visited, took the girls to the pool, took a walk, etc.
Day 2: Great Grandma and the Mountains - In the morning we went to visit my great grandma. She is (was) such an interesting lady. She played the organ and the accordian for the girls, we looked at pictures and chatted. We were suppossed to go to lunch, but my grandma said she must have forgotten because she fed us ice cream and cookies at about 10:30 in the morning. :)
There are SO many pictures of me and my sister in the exact same spot.
5 generations of beautiful women
The hat LMS "aquired" at my great grandma's house
In the afternoon we headed to the mountains to my uncle's house. They live in a really pretty place. Reminds me a lot of where we live, except for all the trees there and the lack of view (we have the exact opposite). I was so excited to go there. I spent a lot of summers with my aunt and her older daughter was my babydoll as a pre-teen. I think she was pretty upset I had my babies sine that meant I didn't have time with her anymore.
She's SO beautiful!
In addition to my grandma's birthday, it was also my cousin's
To my sister's disappointment - the NRA is very strongly supported in my family
The girls had a BLAST on this - they were out there both nights were were there until way past dark.
Day 3: The Birthday Party - My other aunt made a FABULOUS breakfast for all of us and then we all started getting ready for the party. It was SO GREAT to get to see so many family members that we hadn't seen in SO long! The kids all had a great time and got along well. JrMsS was so funny realizing what a large extended family she had.
YUM!
More yummy food!
Although Mr S won't admit it, I bet he's jealous of the grill.
Shooting range
At one point I think they had 20 kids on there!
Once everyone left, we hung out and took a walk to the lake.
She loved the kitties - she wanted Mr S to let her have some SO bad.
Swinging on the tire swing
Gourgous view
She's excited because she thinks she gets SUPER wishes.
Aww..
My aunt was so funny - we're not "allowed" to have chicken in our "subdivision" and she kept saying that was stupid and she was going to mail me some because the chickens are great to have around.
Day 4: The Beach - You can't go to California without going to the beach - it's just wrong - so since my sister had such a short time there, after heading down the mountian, we headed to the beach. Although we were only there a couple hours (and we had HORRIBLE traffic), it was a really beautiful day.
Pretty view
She's SOOOO excited.
Glamour girl
Day 5: Fourth of July - For the 4th we had a pretty laid-back day. My sister and mom made breakfast, went to lunch with my sister and then my parents took her to the airport. I bought some sparklers and poppers for the girls (I never knew my grandma really loved sparklers) and after my parents got back, we went to the movie Cars 2. In the evening the girls, my grandma, mom and I went to watch fireworks and play with theirs.
Day 6: Big Trees and the Boardwalk - Other than the beach, the other thing the girls REALLY wanted to do was to see the HUGE trees. We went to my parent's old college and walked around there so they could see the trees.
After seeing the trees, we headed down the hill to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. We met up with my uncle, aunt and cousin and rode rides and played on the beach. It was a REALLY fun afternoon.
Day 7: Fishies - One of the things I really wanted to do was go to Monterey and go to the auquarium. We spent about 2/3rds of the day there - it was so fun. For lunch we walked down Cannery Row and ate at an outdoor restaurant. Once we finished at the aquarium and were headed back to the car, I shopped my way back - :)
Waiting for the bat rays
We went to the beach for a while too and let the girls pick up a bunch of seashells (which I actually found the other day all moldy and gross - yuck!)
Day 8: The city by the sea - In addition to the aquarium, I really wanted to take the girls to San Francisco. We spent the majority of the day at Pier 39.
The girls being silly with the pictures on the side of the SF Aquarium
JR Ms S and her Krazy Cap
We caught a show - Captain Jack Spareribs - JrMsS LOVES Pirates of the Carribean.
She was so proud of her root "beer" bottle
Aww..the life of a sea lion
Calimari - I'm so surprised Jr Ms S loves this stuff so much - she gets this as a meal wherever she can.
Fish tacos
Being silly with the fake crabs
JrMsS has always talked about wanting to go to China or Chinatown in NYC, so I showed her Chinatown there (totally didn't remember it was right next to the Red light district - yikes).
Took pictures a the fine arts museum near the Golden Gate Bridge with the umbrellas bought in Chinatown.
Adorable
We did a lot of driving around and spent more time on the beach before dring over the Golden Gate and starting to head back to my aunt's house.
At Golden Gate Park (everyone else was being a wimp saying it was too cold out)
Those cables are huge!
We stopped in Sausalito for dinner (really cute town) and had a yummy Chinese dinner.
Day 9: Travel again - unfortunately it was time for us to head back. We at least had a later flight, so we got to get up slow and eat breakfast with everyone before heading out. Our plane was delayed in Phoenix, so the girls and I enjoyed a nice lunch at a Mexican Restaurant at the airport (and REALLY yummy margaritas). Once we got home though - it set in how much I had missed Mr S and home and I was glad to be back.
Did you take a summer vacation this year?
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