California stole our hearts

When asked if myself and the boys would like to join James out in California (he was out there for business) there was no way we could turn the opportunity down. California has always been on our list of places we would like to see; James has never been. I have been to southern Cali but never San Fran. It also is the first vacation we have taken just the four of us.

Let me start by saying we fell in love with California and will absolutely be going back in the future. The climate, the outdoor lifestyle, the laid back approach to life are all things we ate up during out time there.

We stayed in the town of Campbell, just outside of Santa Clara and San Jose. Adorable little town with the best breakfast place called Stacks. Even the boys approved as they were served Mickey Mouse pancakes both mornings.

Our trip was brief (Friday to Monday) but we packed a whole lot in. I traveled by myself with both boys and we had a layover. The boys did so well but about 7 hours into the trip they were done. If it had been a direct flight, there wouldn't have been any break downs or tantrums but we managed. We grabbed dinner in downtown San Jose and headed to the hotel as everyone was exhausted.

Yay for jet lag..Asher was wide awake at 3am, the up side was we skipped any lines at breakfast. Saturday we headed to Santa Cruz, a beach community. After spending the day there, it is a wonder I got on the plane to head home. We all know I'm a beach bum and that town just screamed my name. We spent some time on the beach and had a paddle in the freezing water. We then checked out the pier, or wharf as the locals called it and watched the seals and sea lions. While the boys took a nice nap James and I drove a along the coastline and then into Big Basin Redwood State Park. The trees there was unlike anything I've ever seen and the smell was divine. I so wish I could have bottled it and bought it home.

Sunday was spent the day in San Francisco. We took a bus tour, which while it was nice was a tad long while having the 2 boys with us. I kind of wished we have toured the city by ourselves but there is always next time. We did get to go over the Golden Gate Bridge and the views were astounding. The photos I took do not do it justice. We were sat on the top of the double decker bus for the tour and it was open air. The boys were loving sitting up there, until we got onto the highway and were going 55mph across the bridge! It was a tad windy and Asher completely lost it lol. We did the rest of the tour from the inside of the lower level bus.

We ended our time in San Francisco by having a nice dinner on Pier 39 at sunset to celebrate James passing his CCIE. He has been studying for this certification for the past 4 years. We have all sacrificed by lack of time as a family together so its an unreal feeling to know we have the main man in our lives back full time.