Aaron's spring break

Aaron was on spring break this week. It was a chill week and we had some fun together while the kids were in school and Jeff was in Utah. This day we took a bike ride to the park for a picnic lunch. And then on to ice cream. When I was growing up, that is one thing I remember - bike rides to get ice cream. And when you are hauling 40+ pounds of kid plus 20 pounds of trailer in hilly terrain, ice cream is definitely warranted! And Aaron certainly did not mind!

Spring Break Day 9: Irvine and home

We woke up this morning, had breakfast and went for another swim. We were in a hotel after all. Around lunch time, we headed over to my friend Wendy's house. Wendy and I both studied abroad together in England in college. We have seen each other a few times since we left England. Last time was in Boston a few years ago when Kyle & Emily were very young and before she had her kids. So it was fun to meet her sweet kids, a 4 year old and a 4 month old. We had a great barbeque together, the kids all got to run around together and we enjoyed catching up. We spent most of our time together in England so it was fun to reflect back on that time and see just how different our lives are now than 15 years ago! 

The kids, minus the baby

After a fun afternoon, we headed back down to San Diego and the end of our spring break, coastal road trip. It was a fantastic trip and was very reminiscent of my childhood road trips with my family. It was fun giving our kids memories of family vacations together. 

Spring Break Day 8: Modesto to Irvine

We stayed with our friends in Modesto for the evening and had the morning to play. The kids went for a nice swim before we headed the 5.5 hours south to Irvine. 

Aaron passed out

All the kids together

The drive was a bit of a challenge once we got to LA and the traffic that goes along with that area. Aaron did not like sitting in traffic. And neither did we. He had a pretty horrible scream fest for 45 minutes while we crawled along. Thankfully, we started to move eventually and made our way down to our hotel in Irvine. 

Happy Hour at Embassy Suites. Nothing like Shirley Temples, cherries in your juice and fake cheese nachos for a pre-dinner dinner. 

Nothing like going for a swim after a long drive

We pretty much arrived at 6pm, went to happy hour, went swimming and then returned to our hotel room to order pizza for a very late dinner. Oh and we got to watch the end of one of the Final Four games. Yes, bedtime was late. The kids were very happy though and we had a lot of fun. 

Spring Break Day 7: Golden Gate Park and Modesto

On our last day in San Francisco, the kids and I visited Golden Gate Park for the morning before leaving for Modesto. Jeff was with Nick and Brian for the start of their festivities. We checked out the botanic gardens to start (after taking the trolley there first, of course, and much to Aaron's delight). Then we headed over to the children's playground and carousel to burn off some energy. Unfortunately, I didn't know just how far apart these two places were within the same "park". About .5 - .75 miles later with a sleeping Aaron on me, we made it to the park. Kyle and Emily spent an hour just climbing on a pretty awesome climbing structure while Aaron continued to sleep. 

We had to have some ice cream since it was lunch time and we needed something to eat (and to make sure the kids would mostly happily walk over to the trolley station which was a few blocks away and up a small hill). This is the San Francisco ice cream treat, It's It. 

Riding the trolley

Around 3pm, we left San Francisco to drive to Modesto to see our friends who used to live in San Diego. Our 1.5 - 2 hour drive according to Google Maps turned out to be 3+. Apparently getting out of downtown San Francisco on a Friday afternoon is particularly slow. After the first hour going about 1 mile to get to the bridge, we were on our way. 

We had a great time visiting with Tricia, Scott, Dax, Rowan and their new little sister, Zara. 

Spring Break Day 6: Golden Gate Bridge, Muir Woods, Napa Valley & Ad Hoc

Today was our ten year wedding anniversary. To celebrate, we drove over the Golden Gate Bridge and up to Muir Woods to start our adventure.

The entrance to Muir Woods. Jeff learned about a fun little treasure hunt the kids could do while going through Muir Woods. They had to find the answers to clever poetic and educational clues that were all around the park. Of course Muir Woods is pretty amazing on its own, this kept the kids even more engaged in learning about Muir Woods. 

Some really tall trees!

10 years of marriage and 3 beautiful kiddies

We copied another dad who took a similar photo with his kids. 

Bear with a bear

Banana slug

After several hours at Muir Woods, we headed up to the Napa area, well further north, to the Rombauer winery to taste some delicious wines. We tried the classics that we know we love, but also tasted some new varieties to enjoy. 

After our reasonably quick wine tasting, headed down to Napa for our dinner at Ad Hoc. 

The drive is stunning

All dressed up for our dinner at Ad Hoc. They were great there. Kyle & Emily were great through dinner and Aaron even did a reasonably good job. He sat in his chair, ate very well and got to color. He also got to watch his video from Alice of her coloring a balloon picture for him which got him through any thoughts of acting out or being too loud at the table. This was a great cap off to a wonderful 10 year anniversary day. 

Spring Break Day 5: San Francisco

Our first full day in San Francisco, we decided to be true tourists. We all wanted to ride a cable car so that was first on the agenda. And on many other people's agenda as well. Nonetheless, we got a spot on a car and took it for a ride down to Fisherman's Wharf. Aaron LOVED riding the cable cars and any other bus, trolley, public transportation for that matter. 

On the cable car

Aaron kept saying "more" whenever we would stop. We rode it to the end of the line at the wharf.

For those of you who know San Francisco, Fisherman's Wharf is not close to the Exploratorium. It was the cable car that we caught without really caring where it took us. We walked along the wharf for a little bit and then found the trolley to take us to the Exploratorium. It was certainly nice to just wander and enjoy the city. 

On to the Exploratorium. What an amazing museum. Kyle and Emily were so engaged there all day. Aaron and I stayed just until lunch time. Jeff, Kyle & Emily went to an amazing Greek lunch and then returned for more exploring there. 

The toilet water fountain. Don't worry, it's clean and was never used for toilet purposes. It's about how we have a hard time overcoming our preconceived notions. 

Foggy bridge

After spending the rest of the day at the museum while Aaron slept, we all reconvened to meet up my friend Nicole from college for dinner. We met up over in her neighborhood where all the restaurants are and had a fun Indian food dinner while we got to catch up. It had been about 4 years since I last saw her when she was in San Diego for a conference. 

Some more train rides. 

The kids finished the evening with a little reading and then it was lights out on a busy day.