San Francisco

Child-free vacation, Summer 2010

For memorable purposes, I wanted to post about our trip to San Francisco this summer. My parents in Oregon were able to keep the girls for a week while Chris and I jetted off. The kids and I had already been there for a month so they were very used to all of our Oregon family and were in a great routine.

After a fun 4th of July weekend in Vale and 2 1/2 hours of sleep, Chris and I drove to the Boise, ID airport at 2:30 in the morning to make our flight. I think that was were my first mistake was.....lack of sleep! Chris will tell you.....I was beyond crabby when we arrived. :) This started day 1 of being sick. By the end of the week I was super sick with 2 ear infections. Another week after that it was determined (after 3 doctors and multiple medicines) that I would need to have my ears surgically drained and tubes put in.

The happy part is all the pictures you see below. We had a wonderful trip and were able to really explore this great city and it's surroundings. Every Mom, Dad, couple......everyone with kiddos needs a chance to break free from that routine and just relax. Thanks to my family we were able to do just that.

A fun boat ride in the bay.

Ghirardelli square was very close to where we stayed at the wharf and we were here multiple times!

The Golden Gate Bridge was amazing.

Muir woods was neat. It was made of HUGE trees and beautiful forest.

Chris took this picture and was so proud of himself. We laughed forever!

Chris is 6'4".......if that puts this picture in perspective!

Alcatraz

Union Square

1 of MANY monstrous hills that make up the city

Chinatown

The "painted ladies" where Full-House was filmed

Yosemite Nation Park

SOOOOO glad we took the 4 hour drive to get to Yosemite. It was breathtaking!

Next we went North to Wine Country and the Napa Valley

All the vineyards were beautiful

Here we are at the Castello di Amorosa, the castle of love. A man traveled all over the world hand selecting different materials to construct his castle. Ever seen The Bachelor??? (LOVE IT!) This is where Jake, Vienna and Gia all ate and stayed the night at. :)

My most favorite part of the trip was WICKED! I LOVED IT! Ironically, my cousins, who live in Sacramento went to the exact same show and we were able to have a fun afternoon and dinner with them!

I am so grateful for such great experiences and especially for a husband who makes sure we are able to do these fun things together and spend some time alone.

HOWEVER, be sure to take a jacket! We did no research and had no idea that San Fran was a giant Air Conditioner. :)

Our Exciting NEWS!!!!

From the title of this post I am sure you can guess what has happened in our house......YES, Katie has lost her first tooth! I was shocked that she even had a loose tooth, and Chris was panicked! LOL

It wiggled around for 10 days and then 2 days ago she "pulled" it out as it hung by a thread. She was soooo excited for the tooth fairy to come.

She was actually playing at a friends house when it happened so she brought it home in a ziploc. She immediately asked me for a glue stick and some glitter to make her tooth "shiny" for the Tooth Fairy. That night it was her turn to say family prayer and she said a lengthy prayer concerning her tooth and the Tooth Fairy. It was so sincere and cute! The one right next to it is already loose too!
Our other ENORMOUSLY great news is that Aunt Kara is ENGAGED! Pres surprised her on her birthday, August 15th, and popped the question. We are SOOOO excited for them and this new phase of their lives. "Kara Crawford," Isn't that cute!

And of course the bling!