Normally we fly out to Virginia every other year to visit cousins but we all decided that this year, cousins would fly out to visit us. Jared's kids had never been to California before so this was a very exciting trip. The kids couldn't wait for them to get here (okay, Kurt and I were a little excited too!). We only had them for a week so we had to cram in as much fun as possible! Here are our adventures:
Friday, Aug 5th
They arrived!!!! We were a little bit excited!
We picked them up from the airport, stopped by the house so we could drop off their luggage and then we headed out for dinner (April, Rick, Kaulana, Michelle and their kids joined us) and then Evan's basketball game. No rest for the tired travelers around here! After Evan's game, we went back home. I can't remember why but the boys ended up going down to our yard to get something and the boys each had to take a turn having fun in the bobcat.
Ryan
Michael
Uncle Jared
Saturday, Aug 6th
We got up and headed out for the beach. One thing Michael really wanted to do while they were in Cali was to camp on the beach and we were more than happy to oblige. We had the trailer all packed and ready to go. Kaulana, Michelle and their kids joined us on the trip too!
This day was a bit cooler than I thought it would be so the kids kept warm in the trailer playing games.
We braved the wind for a little bit because we couldn't go camping and not have smores! We have priorities after all.
Sunday, Aug 7th
This day was much more pleasant. We walked down the beach to the tide pools hoping to see some star fish or something. No such luck but it was still fun and beautiful.
Ryan climbed to the top of this rock. Since Jared and Dianne (his parents) were around the corner and couldn't see him, Kurt and I were a little bit nervous about him doing that on our watch but he made it down safely so all was good.
It was a great trip!
Monday, Aug 8th
We planned a little more quiet day and rested in the morning and then headed to the Jelly Belly Factory late morning.
Can I just say how much fun my boys had with their cousins. My boys look up to these awesome cousins of theirs and I am so grateful that they are such awesome role models for my boys!
Tuesday, Aug 9th
We planned another big out-ing day. We packed up the Teryx and headed for the mountains. We went to Cisco Grove and headed for this lake:
We made it!
In order to get everyone to the lake, we had to take the truck on the trail too. Let's just say that that was one rough ride. Dianne and I were like "what in the world did we get ourselves into?!!" The Teryx rides right over everything but the truck doesn't have the same shocks so we felt every single rock. We were so glad when we reached the lake! Dianne and I claimed dibs on driving the Teryx back out!
Everyone had a great day taking turns riding in the Teryx or chilling on the beach.
That night we met April and Rick for dinner again. The cousins had a great time talking with Auntie April!
Wednesday, Aug 10th
We planned another more relaxing day. We just hung out that morning and then went ice skating in the afternoon. We all had a great time!
We attempted a selfie.
Luckily Hailey came by and helped us out!
That night I had a party to go to so everyone else stayed home and played. Apparently they went back down to the yard and the girls got turns driving the bobcat too!
Dianne
Megan
Thursday, Aug 11th
Another big travel day - to San Fran we went!
Our first stop was "The Painted Ladies" which were the houses in the opening song of Full House. My kids had no idea what they were or what we were doing there. We tried to pull up the theme song on a phone and show them but I think they still thought we were weird.
Makana had the day off and so he was able to come with us!
And, of course, we had to drive them down Lombard Street!
We then headed to the Pier 39 area. We ate lunch at a really yummy restaurant (but I can't remember the name of it) and then headed out for a tour of the bay on a boat.
The sea lions were SO ACTIVE! Usually they are just laying there but this day they were playing and jumping in the water. It was so fun to watch them!
Pier 39 didn't disappoint with this crazy performer. He had some seriously incredible balance!
Friday, Aug 12th
To the lake we went!
This was the activity that I was the least excited about but it ended up being so much fun. No one, and I mean NO ONE, was on the lake. The lake level was really low and we were actually surprised that it was still open to normal speeds. We headed up the north fork and had a great time swimming, eating, tubing and even some wake boarding! (Turns out that the lake was only 4' above the speed-restriction level and 2 days after this the lake was changed to only 5 mph on the whole lake - we made it just in time!)
Can I just say that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this picture of the cousins!
It was another awesome day!
Then the very sad day of Saturday came and we had to say goodbye. We were all so sad but I think we crammed as much fun as possible in the days we had with them. Everyone was thoroughly exhausted so I think we did good.
Just about every day Evan asks "when are we going to see cousins again?" We sure wish these cousins lived closer!
