I can remember as a little kid watching Full House and dreaming of one day seeing the Golden Gate Bridge for myself. It's been a life long dream to travel and this year we were finally given the opportunity to visit Northern California. I have a cousin (by marriage) who lives just outside of San Fransisco that invited us for a visit, so we made it happen...FINALLY! I was very anxious in the beginning about traveling with a little one, but I must say, Simon was a trooper! Not one tear on the airplane either way and pretty much slept the whole flight. He was awake for take off, so he will tell you all about the lights and the stars and how we were up in the sky. After that, he was out!
Day 1 (Tuesday):
We pretty much rested and tried to catch our breath. California is 3 hours behind so when it's midnight here, it's only 9pm their time. Let's just say the first few days, Simon and I were ready for bed by 5pm California time, 8pm our time. Yes, that meant getting up at 4:30am their time.
That evening, I walked outside to take the trash out (dirty diaper) and I heard music. I was overjoyed to see the ice-cream truck drive by. We were able to flag the truck down and everyone enjoyed an ice-cream from the truck. We also made a trip to Walmart for some Simon friendly food. Yep, they have Walmarts there!
Day 2 (Wednesday):
We had all caught up on some much needed sleep and decided to venture out to see what Northern California had in store for us. Sacramento, here we come! We walked around Old Sacramento. There was an old school building we walked through, as well as shops and a train station where (had it been opened) you got to ride a train and tour the area. We also toured the Old Sacramento Train Museum.
Tower Bridge going into Sacramento
Government building in Sacramento
An old school house in the middle of Old Sacramento
A bed and breakfast boat on the Sac River
Ziggurat Building off the Sacramento River
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Enjoying his Whistle Pop Sucker in the Candy Store
We stopped for dinner but Simon wasn't too interested in eating, after-all, he had a sucker from a candy shop in Old Sac.
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| Was going to clean his plate, even if it meant shoving it all off onto the table... |
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| Feeding his daddy b/c he wasn't interested in eating his food. |
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Day 3 (Thursday): We ventured out to the Jelly Belly Factory.
During the 20 minute tour, we had to wear the hats, as pictured above. Simon wasn't a huge fan but he did thoroughly enjoy the jelly bean tasting during the tour. I think they handed out a total of 6 different flavored jelly beans. The three pictures following this paragraph were all made out of different colored jelly beans. There were a ton of these hanging around the place but these seemed to be the ones David took pics of.
After the tour, we were given a bag of jelly beans, all different flavors. David and Madison were feeling a little on the edge and decided they both wanted to try the 'dog food' flavored jelly bean (gag). Later on, David and I tried the vomit flavored jelly bean. Let's just say it really tastes like vomit. I'm not sure why anyone decided how or why to make that flavor.
Day 4 (Friday): I believe this way a good solid day of rest for the girls and Simon. David and Tony toured the Budweiser Factory but I don't have any pictures of that :/.
Day 5 (Saturday): If you've ever visited northern California, there are a ton of hills. Well, I guess you call them hills. They look super easy to climb and are covered in yellow/tan grass. David was dying to hike these so Tony took him to hike. This was the beginning of his hike. Seems pretty easy, huh. No tall grass, no steep hills.
Now we see what that yellow/tan grass really is...
And we have another trail.
And another...
A view of the beautiful hills from a little higher up.
Above: A view of Vacaville, CA from the top of the hill David climbed.
Isn't that such an awesome picture? I wish now I had gone with him on this hike.
If you'll look closely at the picture below, you'll see a row of windmills. Those windmills provide power for several nearby towns.
A few other views of Vacaville, CA. Love the rows of houses he pictured below.
After his hike, we all piled up in the van and headed west for Dillon Beach, CA which is in the Marin County area. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:
Day 6 (Sunday): We had another rest and recoup day. Madison, David, Si and I did go hang out at the local water park/pool but Si played on their playground instead of getting in the water.
Day 7 (Monday): Monday came around way too fast. I'm pretty sure we all adjusted to the time change and were pretty much settled when it was time to leave again. Instead of dwelling on the fact we would be flying out later that evening, we embraced our last day and took off to see the city of San Fransisco and tour Alcatraz. I will say, once you've seen a prison cell, you've seen them all but it was very interesting to hear the stories that happened behind those cell walls.
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| Pier 39 |
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| SEALS!!!!! |
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| This was actually a man built island/restaurant floating by the dock |
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| Golden Gate |
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| The Rock |
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| Approaching the Rock |
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| I guess if they made it to Alcatraz, they didn't deserve a bed |
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| Their play yard |
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| Madison, Tony, Amy and Brooklyn |
We really enjoyed our (short) trip and were sad to say goodbye but it was so good to be back home in our own beds, on our schedules, and back to our lives. This trip wouldn't have happened without Amy and Tony Crawford. They sacrificed their home and busy schedules to accommodate us and we will forever be grateful for them allowing us this opportunity!
