Spring Break 2012 Days #7 and 8

We drove all day Saturday from San Jose to Flagstaff, AZ.  It was a twelve hour drive and the kids were amazing!  They were so good.  Maybe they were worn out from a week of playing with cousins and seeing so many things that they were happy just sitting in the car.
When we checked into our hotel we went swimming in the hotel pool.  Then we went to bed.

The next morning was Easter Sunday.  The kids each got to find 3 Easter eggs that were hidden around the hotel room.  For some reason, I forgot to take pictures of Jack.  Sorry bud!

We went to Sacrament meeting at a church in Flagstaff, then we drove the 5 1/2 hours home.  The first thing that Ty asked me when we got home was, "Can we get the train out?"  His favorite thing to play with. 

It was a really fun Spring Break!  Totally worth all the driving and hours in the van.  We loved being with Norm and Melinda and their boys and Derek and Meagan and their kids.  We got to see beautiful things and be with fun people.  It was great! 

Spring Break 2012 Day #6 San Francisco

Friday we spent all day in San Francisco.  Meagan and her kids got to come spend the day with us too. 
We parked near the piers are headed towards Pier 39 to get some clam chowder in sourdough breadbowls for lunch.  The kids had yet another peanut butter sandwich.  They didn't care though. 

Then we went to see the sea lions. 

Kate, Brooklyn and Jack got a great spot to see the sea lions.  They stayed there for a while watching them.

 

Sweet Jake...

I loved watching these girls take pictures of Jake and Emma...

 The kids listened to a volunteer tell them all about sea lions (and about not throwing garbage in the ocean).

 Trying out our zoom lense to see Alcatraz.

 Kate loved all the sourdough animals that they made at Boudin.

 Jack loved seeing this ship.  He took lots of pictures of it.

 Ethan and Uncle Dave...

We went to Ghiradelli and got a piece of chocolate.  Ty was sweet and shared his piece of chocolate with me.

 Then each family ordered an $8 sundae to share.  Patient Dave only got to eat the hot fudge in the bottom of the cup.  The kids ate it fast!  It was good.

At dinnertime we headed back to San Jose and met Derek for dinner.  We loved staying with Derek and Meagan.  Our kids loved playing with their cousins. 

Spring Break 2012 Day #5 Big Basin Redwoods State Park

Wednesday night we drove to Derek and Meagan's house in San Jose.  We spent the next few nights at their house.  Thursday morning all 9 of the cousins played together.  Dave and I took all nine of them on a walk to see Brooklyn's school.  It was quite the parade of blond-haired kids. 

Thursday afternoon we went to Big Bason Redwoods State Park near Santa Cruz to go an a hike.

 The kids loved playing in the base of this huge tree.  There were at least four holes in it. 

 Eight of the nine cousins -- Jake was on Meagan's back. 

Jack, Ethan, Brooklyn, Ben, Kate, Jack, Emma, Anders

 Ty didn't want to ride in the backpack, so he walked with Dave most of the way.  Then he decided to sit down in the middle of the trail and not walk anymore.  

We ate a lot of snacks on our trip.  We dried apples and jerky at home before we drove to CA.  It was all gobbled up fast.  The kids ran around a lot and were always hungry.

 

This waterfall was our hike destination.  It was a couple miles from the vans.  

Dave, Melinda and I ran down the road and got the cars and then picked up the kids who were hungry and cold. 

After our hike, we went to Sunnyvale to visit my aunt Diane and her family.  Her son, Ewan is the exact same age as Jack.  They hadn't met before. 

Spring Break 2012 Day #4 Point Lobos State Natural Reserve

We spent all day #4 at Point Lobos State Natural Reserve.  First we went to Whaler's Cove.  There were sea otters and seals in the water.  This sea otter was munching (loudly) on a crab pretty close by.

 Watching the otters...

 Ready to hike...

 We went on a hike along a shore trail. 

 Ty decided that he wanted to stop here and take a nap with Dad on a bench. 

 The rest of us hiked to this point where we could see the sea lions on the rocks. 

 Jack in a cave...

 Then we had another lunch of peanut butters...

After lunch we went to some tide pools.   The kids had a lot of fun even though it was a bit chilly and windy.

They loved throwing rocks...

 Anders caught lots of hermit crabs...

 Going barefoot (Ty hates shoes sometimes)...

 Climbing on rocks...

 Jumping off of rocks...

 Hanging on rocks...

 Being buried in the rocks...Ethan's turn.

 Jack's turn...

 Anders' turn...

 Climbing up and sliding down (Jack did this for a long time with all the boys)...

When we got in the car, Ty gave me a big smile and said, "Aah, I'm warm!"  It was chilly towards the end.  I packed swimsuits and extra clothes, but not extra jackets.  

We told the kids that we'd try to go to the beach, so they could get in the water.  On the way back from Point Lobos we stopped at another beach in Monterey near the Aquarium.  It was super windy and cold. It wasn't quite as windy down by the beach, but it wasn't warm enough to get wet.

The kids dug in the sand...

 And climbed on the rocks...

 The waves were big enough that a few people were surfing.