If you're going to San Francisco...

Make sure you clean out your rental car well.

We got in to San Francisco late that afternoon and went straight to the airport to turn in the sweet mustang. There's something about the airport that always makes you feel anxious and rushed. Mom dropped us off at arrivals and we hurriedly got our suitcases and bags out. She would go turn the car in and then meet us at the hotel shuttle stop. She was back with us in record time and we rode the shuttle in to downtown, to our hotel near Fisherman's Wharf. As we settled in the hotel room, I realized I couldn't find the redwood earrings I'd just bought anywhere. Mom had wrapped several pairs in napkins and I remembered laying mine on the floorboard in the front seat. And that's where they still were. I was a little bit heart-broken. We called the rental center, but got a message that they were closed for the day. The next day we got in touch, but of course, the car had been cleaned and "no earrings in a napkin" had been found.

I made my peace with the loss and we walked down to Fisherman's Wharf to sight see and find some place for dinner. We ended up eating at a little place called Chowder's on Pier 39 and I had some very rubbery calamari. I'm sure the chowder was delicious. The calamari was not. But Elle and I rode the double carousel, we watched the sea lions, admired Alcatraz and just enjoyed the sights. It did get very chilly as the night wore on and we walked briskly back to the hotel for a good night's sleep!

That's a WWII liberty ship in the background next to a WWII submarine!

Elle is a lefty!

California, Day 3-Part 1

We took our time the next morning, getting breakfast and packing up to start our trek to San Francisco. Mom and Maddie rented a sweet convertible mustang, mainly for their scenic drive up the Pacific Coast from LA to Monterey. But now that convertible had to get two more passengers, plus suitcases a little further up the roads. We crammed in, and started with the top down, but that didn't last long. It's much cooler in the back than in the front and the back seat two were shivering. We planned to take a small detour to Big Basin Redwood State Park near Santa Cruz. And even though "all roads in to Big Basin are curvy", Mom was a champion driver and we made it without any more sickness. 

Don't Mom and I look cute with our heads slightly tilted to opposite sides?!

I think this is one of those times where the pictures just cannot do it justice. They are so magnificent and breath-taking. We walked along one of the trails, then had lunch at the Snack Bar. We found a few more fun souvenirs in the camp store--a bag of rocks for Elle and some really pretty redwood stud earrings for me. 

This one was called the Chimney tree. The tree is still living and growing, but is entirely hollow from base to top. I learned that redwoods are able to resist many of the effects of fires and the Chimney tree is one that has lived to tell about it. 

This is what they call "redwood burl". Most experts say burl wood is composed of dormant buds. Elle was busy trying to make a walking stick. 

It was gorgeous weather and the warmest we would be. I even took my sweater off briefly and just had on a long sleeve shirt! I drove the windy leg out of the forest and down the mountains until we stopped for gas. Then we headed to San Francisco! 

California, Day 2

I had high hopes for Day 2. On the agenda was something I wasn't sure I'd ever have the opportunity to do in my life. We were going to see whales in the Pacific Ocean. We started with a delicious breakfast at the hotel restaurant. Elle and I shared pancakes topped with beautiful berries and homemade whipped cream. She had hot chocolate while I had a much needed latte. 

Then we were off to Fisherman's Wharf to get our whale-watching on! Something happened to my equilibrium after I had children and I tend to get motion sick whereas before, I never did. I seriously cannot get on a backyard swing without feeling unsettled. I'm not sure why I thought going out on a boat a few miles in to the Pacific Ocean would be ok. My desire to see whales was overpowering my common sense. Now, I had purchased Dramamine before we left Alabama and could not find it anywhere in our stuff that morning. 

Things were so smooth as we headed out of Monterey Bay. There were all kinds of birds, sea lions playing on bouys, and boats everywhere. Beautiful, pleasant scenery. We kept going out and kept going out and the swells got bigger and bigger and bigger. We were already at the back of the boat where our guide had so graciously pointed out was the calmest and best place to be if you started feeling sick.  There was a kid sitting down on the steps to the upper deck. I shared my "gin-gins" (a natural remedy I purchased back at the dock) with him.  I was keeping my eyes on the wake of the boat and trying to stay optimistic. When we reached the point and whales were spotted, they stopped the boat. The motion was too much for me. I could hear the guide, "And there it is folks, 11:00 on the left of the boat!" and she keeps on talking about the humpback whales. I am leaning as far over the back of the boat as I can get, losing that delicious breakfast. At one point, my mom came over and I forced myself to get to the side of the boat and look at the whale surfacing for air. Then I resumed my position at the back. 

Elle and Mom (and Maddie and I, even more briefly!) had gone inside the boat for a few minutes when we were almost to the viewing point. It was so hot in there compared to the outside temperature and Elle came back out feeling bad herself. She sat down on the other step where the boy had been sitting and put her head down. I sat with her for awhile but then had to get to the back of the boat and Maddie sat there with her. I'm not sure she ever saw the whale:(. Once we were moving back in, it was better, but I still managed to get in one more good episode. I wasn't the only one who got sick, but I was the first and the last:). I'm certain I've never been happier to get on solid ground.  Even though it was a bit disappointing, I can say I've seen humpback whales in the Pacific!    
            

                            

The day got much better thankfully. We went back to the hotel to recuperate for a few minutes, then walked down to Johnny Rockets for lunch. I had fries and root beer and it was so good! 

Then we walked just a bit in the other direction to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. This was the largest before the Georgia Aquarium was built. They had a really cool sea horse and jellyfish exhibit. There was also a place to scuba dive in a tide pool right on the bay. That's something Atlanta doesn't have:).

We stayed at the aquarium until close to closing time. Elle scoured the aquarium shops until she found a shark's tooth mood necklace. She was thrilled with her souvenir and would check it at least 347 times over the next several days to assess her mood. 

We went across the street from our hotel to Bubba Gump's for dinner. I think our waitress was surprised that we were from Alabama and Georgia. Not Greenbow, but Alabama nonetheless. There was only one trivia question we couldn't answer! We turned in kind of early, took showers and watched We Bought A Zoo in our hotel room. A relaxing way to end a somewhat turbulent day?!

California trip, Day 1

Last Saturday (the 21st), Elle and I headed to Montgomery bright and early for an 11:00 flight to Monterey, California. My mom and sister had been in LA for about 5 days and were driving up the coast to meet us there. We would spend 2 days in Monterey, drive to San Francisco for 3 more days before flying back home. Elle had flown twice before, but both times before she was 3. We were both very excited about the trip. The boys were back home with Steven for the weekend, then his mom for the first part of the week, followed by a couple of days with my dad and Sandi while he was at work those days. We had a very smooth trip over. We flew from Montgomery to Dallas, then Dallas to LA, then a short hop up to Monterey. We were literally the only people going through security in Montgomery. LAX was a little bit difficult to navigate but we managed to find our way and not see any famous people at all. 

Getting on the first plane

Landing in Monterey about 30 degrees cooler!

We stayed in a hotel on Cannery Row with a decent view:). We walked around that night, grabbed some dinner at a Mexican restaurant, then called it a night. We had had a long day of traveling and were beat!

Summer of Birthdays

The weekend before July 4th, we had a little family get-together at my aunt and uncle's house in Troy. We were celebrating my grandmother, who turns 80 tomorrow! She loves to play BINGO, so we played a rigged game of bingo where she won every round and every prize. I truly think she thought it was her lucky day:). 

We have a few other summer birthdays in the family and we celebrated those as well. My aunt Patti made these cute name tags (and Granny's birthday banner!) for our May, June and July birthday cakes. We were missing a few, but those present posed with their respective cakes. My uncle grilled some tasty burgers, my brother brought delicious ribs and we had chips and watermelon.

And we spent a lot of time in the pool!

That night, Elle was brushing her teeth and lost her 5th tooth! Pardon the toothpaste mouth, but she was so excited, we had to take pictures immediately!