Spring Break part 1

I have wanted to go to San Francisco ever since I watched Full House as a kid.  The Golden Gate Bridge and the trolley were always novelty to me.  When my cousin, Rachel, moved to Moraga, a suburb of San Francisco, while her husband completed a fellowship at Berkeley, I knew we had to make a trip.  Our kids spring break aligned this year so I figured it was a great time to go.

We flew out on Saturday morning and headed to Fairyland, in Oakland.  

That night we ate pizza on the patio.  The men went to the Priesthood session of General Conference and we took the kids to get ice cream. The weather was amazing and the kids played in the backyard nonstop.  The kids were excited to all sleep in the same room.  They were even fighting over who got to sleep on the mats, no one wanted the bed.

On Sunday we watched the morning session of General Conference and then headed to sightsee.  We stopped at a look outpoint where you could see the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz.  The girls loved playing on the rocks.

The kids were beat from staying up late Saturday night; they all fell asleep on their way to Muirwood.

My first time crossing Golden Gate Bridge!

The Redwood trees were huge! It did not disappoint!

The kids climbing in the trees.

I've always wanted to see these trees and I'm so glad I got to.  It was a great afternoon enjoying nature. 

Then we went to a beach, it was windy and chilly so we thought the kids would just put their feet in.  But they had so much fun and were all soaking wet, by the end.  We weren't prepared with towels or a change of clothes, so it was a cold ride home.

We went to a look out point that had World War II shelters.  The kids thought it was fun to climb down in them.

On Monday, Rachel had to student teach in the morning. I got in a quick workout and then went to the grocery store with the girls, while Brielle took her morning nap.

Of course, they needed a do-nut!

 Then we took all 5 girls to the Oakland Temple.  They loved all being together and running around.  The temple was gorgeous and the views were breathtaking.

Then we ate lunch at Ann and Ruth's in Berkeley.  Having 5 kids, got lots of comments from people.

After lunch we headed to Timbleden Park, they had an animal farm and then we went to a hike. It was fun watching the kids run around in the woods and enjoy nature.  Mike said while we were driving home, watching the kids play reminded him of his childhood.  Monday was Joey's birthday so we celebrated that night with red velvet cake and ice cream.

That night we went to their friend's house to take care of their chickens. 

The kids had so much fun on Sunday and were begging to go to the beach again so on Tuesday, we headed to the Alameda Beach.  This time we were prepared and had bathing suits and towels.  They enjoyed building sand castles and racing into the water.

Brielle's first time in the sand!

That night Rachel had a sitter and we headed to Berkeley for dinner and a baseball game.  We ate some yummy Mexican food at Cancun and then headed to the Cal vs Standford game.  Ironically, Mike knew a player on Stanford who played on the Gulls last summer.  He was the closer for the game and got the W!

On Wednesday, Mike had a conference in San Francisco so we headed into town.  We stayed at the Scarlet Huntington.  There was a park across the street so the kids played there while Mike was in meetings.  Rachel, Joey and her kids met us there in the afternoon and we headed to the Wharf.  We walked around, ate dinner, and had dessert at Ghiradellis.  Then it was time to say good-bye.  We had such a great time with Rachel and her family.  The kids played together so well; it was so much fun watching them.  The 4 girls remind me of Suzette, myself, Rachel, and Rosanne when we were kids.

Swinging at the park.

Walking along the wharf.

Getting in some drum action.

Izzy randomly ran into one of her kindergarten classmates, Kiley, while we were walking around the Wharf.  What are the odds?

Love this cousin of mine, we should have been sisters!  It was so great to spend time with her and her cute family.  I loved our late night talks, the laughs and the memories that were created. 

Brielle getting a ride from Daddy.

Brielle's first ice cream cone. 

It might have been a little squishy driving to the wharf.

Thursday morning, Mike had meetings so I headed out with the girls for breakfast.  We walked to The Honey pancake house.  The girls enjoyed their pancakes and I had eggs and bacon.  The walk back up to the hotel was straight up 4 blocks of hills.  The girls did great and didn't complain too much and I got my exercise pushing the stroller. Brielle took her nap and then we headed out again.  This time we went to China Town for some shopping.  On the way back, Cambry wanted nothing to do with walking up hills again, so we jumped on the bus and headed back to the hotel.  When we got off Cambry said, "Thanks boss!" to the bus driver, he started laughing and gave us a honk as he drove off.  Then we packed up and headed to Monterey for the next part of our adventure.