Back to Cali! Family vacation 2010!

Well we made it. 6 people, all the way across the country for a week-long visit. And we all made it back in once piece. Success!

We had a great vacation this year back to Sacramento to visit family and friends. It was so awesome to see everyone...and my apologies to everyone that we did not get to see while we were there. Just know that our door is always open for you to come visit us here in VA!

We started our trip early Wednesday morning as the 6 of us boarded a non-stop flight to San Francisco! 5 hours was just long enough on the plane to make the kids slightly stir crazy. But everyone traveled well, and we made it to CA with no troubles at all.
Nana and Aunt Karen met us there in the city and we enjoyed the day with lunch at In&Out Burger, and playing tourist through Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39, seeing the Golden Gate Bridge, the Bay Bridge, Ghirardelli Square, etc. We even saw many of the San Francisco natives...like the Bush Man, the painted people, one man bands, jugglers, musicians, etc. The Bush man was the favorite of course, as we watched people jump in horror off of the sidewalk! I think Chris could have stayed there for hours!
Once we made it to Sacramento, we enjoyed a nice dinner with Aunt Karen, Uncle Derek, Nana and Papa and got the kids all settled in. Our vacation had officially begun!

Thursday began pool-season! The kids were in the pool from the moment the sun rose, until we forced them to get out. We hit a few stores...Jimboys for lunch...and then headed to the Sacramento Zoo for Twilight Thursdays. Now while the zoo leaves a lot to be desired (especially compared to the National Zoo here in DC)...add in hotrods and beer and it makes for a perfect evening. Not to mention, Morgan, Sam and Jenna were able to join us and we all had a great time!
This was the first time that Caden and Cavin have seen Jenna and have been old enough to remember it. And this was the first time for them all to meet Jacie. Jenna was an awesome 'big sister' to her, and I cannot wait until we can all live in the same state again! :)

Friday - When I grew up, it was Marine World. Lots of animal shows and parks. Throw in some Roller Coasters and a new ownership by Six Flags and we had an amazing theme park to visit for the day on Friday. Nana and Papa joined us, as well as my cousin Aly, which made for a great group! And by lunchtime...my cousin Nichole and Marissa and Chris and Seth were there too. We had a great time! We saw many shows...the kids' favorite was Shuka the Killer Whale. And rode a ton of rides. Jacie even went on her first roller coaster. She screamed of course, but still talks about how fun it was to go up and down and around and up and down and around... Even Nana and Papa rode a few rides.
We closed down the park with nothing by smiles on everyone's faces. Followed by a great dinner out and it was a fantastic day!

Saturday -

Sunday - Happy 4th of July! Thank you so much to my mom and dad (Nana and Papa) for putting on such a great barbecue! It was great to see so many of my family and friends come together in one place, swim, relax and just spend time together celebrating this great nation. And the kids LOVED the fireworks to end the night. Although giving Jacie sparklers could have been dangerous!

Monday - In 1959, FairyTale town opened its gates...under a somewhat low-bridge! Nana and Papa ran around there as children. In the 80s...I ran around there as children. And now...50 years later, all three of my children have walked the crooked mile, slid down the old woman's shoe, climbed through the cheese standing alone...
We spend Monday morning in FairyTale town. And while Caden and Cavin had been there before...this was Jacie's first time, and she loved every second of it. Her favorite - the Pumpkin Coach. It wasn't a slide, didn't go anywhere...be she sure loved to sit there and pretend to be on her way to a fancy party somewhere!
Then we continued over through William Land Park to the pond to feed the ducks.

Tuesday - Another busy day! Our first stop was the California Auto Museum, which directly let to a stop at the SoCal Speed Shop. (Can you tell that Jacie and I are outnumbered??) After cleaning up the drool from the guys and the cars, we headed to Scandia for some batting cages and mini-golf. Then for a great family dinner at Texas Roadhouse and some amazing Ice Cream Sundaes at Uncle Russ & Aunt Suzanne's house!
Then as the sun went down and the kids all went to bed...Chris and I headed to downtown Sacramento for a night on the town with Morgan and Sam. Wish I would have gotten some pictures then, as the night was full of laughs! But we all had a great time. Makes me really miss my best friend! We were truly lucky to have our vacations to Sac overlap this time around.

Wednesday morning came way too fast and way too early! We had breakfast, scoured the house for all of our belongings, packed up the van and headed down to Fairfield, CA for some outlet shopping, lunch, and a tour of the Jelly Belly Factory! We sampled some great jelly beans - and laughed at the kids trying the bad ones. The worst try of the day: Canned Dog Food. Cameron nearly threw up just trying to taste it. A Jelly Bean shouldn't taste like that!
Then it was back down to San Francisco, dinner at the Hard Rock Café, and some final sightseeing before heading to the airport!

It was an exhausting trip - but a ton of fun! The only thing missing - Jamba Juice. :( How did we spend 8 days there, hit In&Out twice, Jimboys 3 times, and never made it to Jamba Juice. Oh well...guess a Robeks will have to do.

I'm still not 100% sure that we will never move back to CA...but I do know that we wont be back for a while. So it was good to get out there to visit, and I really hope all of you will come to visit us here in Virginia really soon!

As for all of the pictures...there is no way I am going to get them all uploaded on here in the rapid speed you guys are expecting. so for now, just visit this FaceBook album to see them! It's as good as I can get so i dont get too far behind. Maybe one day I will come back here and get everything caught up. Wish me luck!

PICTURES !!!