ROAD TRIP!

After our overnighter in Skamakawa we piled into the cars and drove straight to San Francisco, O.K. maybe it wasn't STRAIGHT to San Francisco, but we made it by midnight the next day. Mom had all five big kids with her and Angela and I got lucky and had the babies with us. Mom can't stand it when one of the babies is crying and is trapped in a car seat, so that's how we ended up with both babies . But as you can see in the picture we CLEARLY got the better deal. They were so good! All the kids did remarkably well for it being such a long trip. Grandma had purchased new notebooks and a slew of freshly sharpened pencils at the Skamakawa store/post-office/hotel/restaurant for the kids and they spent a good portion of the day writing about their adventures there, and doodling etc. We had such a great time in the bay area. Mom and dad's house is beautiful and the pool is a constant babysitter. Angela and I had a lot of fun taking the kids to some of the spots we loved going to as kids. We went to Skipolinis pizza, browsed longs drug store, and went into the City . The traffic was CRAZY and we ended up getting separated from my mom due to a last minute SIX LANE lane change and a subsequent exit from the freeway on her part. Apparently she is a little rusty when it comes to navigating the turf there. We did eventually meet up again and enjoy the rest of the day lunching at Scomas on the wharf, crossing the Golden Gate bridge and enjoying a late afternoon treat at Ghirardelli Square. There was a lot we wanted to do, but because we were so outnumbered as adults we decided to save pier 39, cable cars, China Town etc. for another trip when our hubbies would be there to help keep and eye on everyone. One of the kids favorite parts of the trip was going to Build-A-Bear in Walnut Creek. It was a really spontaneous thing and Grandma was the hero of the day. ( Thanks Mom) The kids could not have been more excited, they have been wanting to make a bear for ages and everytime we pass the store they pine to go in and I hurry them along by saying something like "maybe sometime" . Well, their sometime finally arrived and it was fun to watch them truly enjoying themselves. A highlight of the trip for me was getting to re-connect with my good friend Emily from High School. She has a beautiful home in Elk Grove and a darling family of little boys. My boys were thrilled to be in a kid friendly space and had lots of fun jumping on the trampoline, swinging, and playing with all the toys (sorry we left such a mess, Em!) It's funny how time marches on and so much about us changes yet when we are able to connect with people we have a meaningful history with how time is just erased and we pick right back up where we left off. We were still the same girls of our youth just as comfortable as before only with more wisdom, more humility, more experience, more understanding, more joys and achievements, more sorrows and more scars. The visit was not nearly long enough, we really just scratched the surface of all we have to tell one another , but alas the life of a mother is not her own and both of our families needed our attention. There will be another time I'm sure, but I am glad we had the few hours we did to catch up.

The next night Ryan flew down and we had a couple more days of fun in the sun with the boys and then the long road home stretched out in front of us as our summer travels came to an end.