Our Mini CA Vacation

Even though the drive was way too long and our trip seemed to go by way too quickly, our visit to California last week was just wonderful.  Since we planned the trip with pretty short notice-- Chris was there for four weeks for work, and the kids and I decided to visit him when he got the assignment-- and because we weren't there for much longer than an extended weekend, we didn't really do anything really touristy.  We were mostly just excited to be with Chris and to enjoy a little bit of warm weather. 

Here's the abbreviated travel log:

Friday-- early, early, early getting on the road.  My mom came along, so there were two adult drivers, but the kids still had to quiz us on what either of us would do if we felt tired.  We had an uneventful drive, including a safe but snowy passage over the Sierras.  The most annoying part of the trip was being stuck in traffic when we were just five minutes away from my grandparents' house.  We dropped my mom off at her dad's, then drove to Livermore to meet Chris at last!  Hooray!

Saturday-- rainy and chilly.  We dropped the boys off with my mom and Poppa and Sue, then Chris and I went up to Folsom to the Sacramento Temple.  It is absolutely beautiful and I'm so glad we got to go.  Unfortunately, the weather wasn't cooperating, so I missed getting a nice shot of the two of us there.  Still, I think this one is kind of cool.

After a short but sweet visit with my mom and grandparents, we took the kids and headed South on I-5, where we made a very sweet little stop.

Mmmm... Ghirardelli.  They have an outlet just south of Stockton, so we stopped for sundaes and a pound of those yummy chocolate squares.  Thomas discovered his new favorite candy:  Ghirardelli milk and caramel squares.

Saturday night-- pizza and root beer in our hotel room, just the five of us.  It was so fun.

Sunday-- church with the Myers family, a delicious dinner from Heidi, and cousins, cousins, cousins.  We're lucky to have such great kids in our family!

Monday-- Sunshine!  Capri Pants!  Hooray!!!

It was such a beautiful day, so we spent a lot of time outside.  We had a delicious breakfast with Heidi and her boys at Denica's, then took our boys to Oakland to see the Oakland Temple.  We toured the visitor's center and enjoyed the beautiful view of the city and the bay.

 

My parents were married in the Oakland Temple in 1978, so it's kind of cool to visit.  

It was so lovely outside, so we decided to have lunch at a park in Danville.  It was perfectly warm, without being hot, and everyone was in a good mood.  The boys played for more than an hour and I took picture after picture of warm, smiley faces.  It doesn't get much better than this.

We spent Monday afternoon and evening with the Myers family and went to a cool shopping center in Danville with a pond and lots of ducks.  Heidi had containers of bird seed for everyone and the kids had a great time.  It made me excited for summer, when it's warm enough to feed the ducks on the riverbank here in Idaho Falls.

Tuesday-- time to head home.  We said our good-byes to Chris (luckily for only a few days!) and headed to Elk Grove to pick up my mom.  It was fun to spend a little bit more time with Poppa and Sue and we took some fun pictures of everyone together.

I was able to meet up with some of my Creative Team members for lunch in Roseville, then we drove to Elko, NV for the night, then back to Idaho.  The warm weather had melted nearly all of the snow, so our passage through Northern CA and Nevada was smooth. 

So, there you go-- our short but fun trip.  Luckily, we're planning another visit in July for my grandpa's 80th birthday and a lot more cousin time.  We can't wait!

Chris flew home on Friday and we spent a lovely relaxing weekend together.  It's so nice to have him back.