Spring Break - California

As a family we decided that for Spring Break we would travel to the Bay Area to spend some time in Hayward. Maurice had an injection in his elbow just before leaving, but we didn't let that stop us.

We got on the road early Saturday morning.

We stopped in a town called Battle Mountain for gas and food.

While at McDonalds, we thought the manager looked familiar, so we asked if she had ever lived in Henderson. She did, and so it became obvious that this woman had once been Max's pre-school teacher, Mrs. Leslie. What a fun connection!

We stopped again in Reno for bathroom breaks and slurpees. While in Reno we also decided to drive by the temple because we could.

Finally we arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We were happy to have the company of some of Reece's brothers and sisters and their families.

Sunday was General conference, so Isabel had the opportunity to comb and style Grandma's hair.

After Conference Scott and Whitney came over, and then the rest of Reece's family. We enjoyed dinner, and visiting for the rest of the evening.

Monday morning the boys went with Grandpa and their dad to the barber shop.

Here are some before and after shots,

After the hair cuts, we decided to go to the city with Auntie "Cactus," and her boys.

 Our destination were these tiled stairs in the middle of the city near the Golden Gate.

This is the view from the top

That was exhausting!

But, after climbing a few more steps we came to a look out point that was really cool!

When we finally reached the bottom of the stairs, we started talking with a lady about how awesome they were. She kindly informed us that there were more stairs like this just down the road.

AWESOME!!!

We started walking down the street. Along the way, we passed some of the most beautiful landscape. Had to snag a few pic.'s.

 These stairs were even cooler! Not as tall, but the colors were more vibrant, and the design was pretty amazing.

Found a monkey in the tree on the way back to the car

Next we headed to Baker Beach.

We found that the skies were clear, and the water was just the right temperature for a little splashing around.

 And what do you think the perfect end to a near perfect day would look like?

Toto's!

So, this is the end of my family spring break pictures because I took a little vacation in a vacation with my good friend. We decided to go explore Big Sur. 

I know that when I left the kids had too much fun for their own good. They got to go wrestle in Tracy with their cousins, and they also took a trip back to the beach with aunt Holly and some other family, including Grandpa :)  Reece was also able to hold a concealed weapon class for his family on Friday night. I heard they had a good time, and that Reece is an amazing teacher.

On Saturday they finished up some paperwork, and headed down to Fresno to pick me up. We of course went to Dog House for dinner, 

and then got on the road early Sunday morning to travel home.

Along the way, we stopped at my parents. Reece figured out that he would need to go back to LasVegas on Monday to renew a permit, so we all decided to take one more day of vacation. So glad we did! We kidnapped Maley and Lauric from school so we could have lunch with them. We ate cheese and bread and fruit for lunch, and then rode quads, and then got to go for a short adventure. 

(If you look closely, you can see Joe and Mayley at the top of the rock in the middle of the picture.)

 They played outside all day, and after dinner and a movie in the evening, Reece finally made it back. We started back home a 9:30.

Joseph was having trouble getting comfortable and asked if I wouldn't mind crawling into the very back of the van to rub his legs.

Of course I didn't mind.

 I got to drive at around midnight, and we made it home at about 1:30 a.m.

The next day, I realized that we came home to beautiful blossoms on trees, 

and amazing blue skies with puffy white clouds.
The sun was so warm that I was temped to lay out on my front porch.

 Looks like I couldn't resist the temptation :)