Category: Travels and Day trips

I’d forgotten how truly stunning Lake Tahoe is! I grew up coming here and have treasured both the winter and summer vacations over the years. Summer has it’s own special dreaminess to it, but winter is pure magic! Walking up to a nearly 360° panorama of snow capped mountains surrounding the nearly still, crystal clear (ice…

We had such a good time stealing away a few days to visit with friends in Sacramento. We put our new car to the ultimate test (hello minivan!)

I’ve been a little on the brink of a cold, so I’m extremely thankful for James taking the kiddos for breakfast as I snoozed the morning away. Once we mustered our crew together, we drove up to Roaring Camp! It’s a nearby spot that takes you on a steam engine train, similar to that of…

This was a sweet day last month that I hadn’t gotten around to logging, but the kids and I were looking for a easy access beach to frolic on and came across this one in Carmel, which is about a 45 minute drive from us. We had the sweetest drive around the winding ocean front…

This day happened awhile back now but we had the best time with the kids and so I didn’t want to neglect writing it down. We love Gilroy gardens! This was the first time Kate has been able to enjoy rides and the magic of it all. Huge mushrooms, spinning garlic cloves and apple-and-worm themed…

Last weekend we drove up the coast to find pumpkins! We ended up getting there at a quiet moment and it was so nice not to battle the crowds. The morning had been a little past my crazy threshold so we were needing

Earlier this month, we spent time with friends in Central Oregon (Bend!). I was terrible at documenting this trip, which I blame on being 35/36 weeks pregnant at the time.. But it wasn’t for lack of being photogenic, Oregon is beautiful! And friendly! It’s about a nine hour drive from us with some really dramatic

Over the Thanksgiving break, we wandered our way up the salty, steep, winding coast with extra layers, blankets and plenty of fruit, yogurt and peanut butter and jellies to feed a small preschool. We have always loved the peace of a long picturesque drive to think or chat while children stare, chatter and hopefully sleep. Luke…

Our first family vacation to… Palm Springs! We were in search of a super warm/dry climate for Luke (so he would actually enjoy the pool with us) and we ended up falling in love with that dry desert heat. Warm weather and pools just shout vacation in our family.

This last week, we spent the day in Carmel with James mom (Luke’s grandma!) and godmother who were visiting from Southern California. We went out for lunch and then walked all over the quaint little Carmel (along with every tourist in town apparently!!). Even with the crowds, it was so special to catch up and…

A few weeks ago, we headed up to our favorite farm to pick strawberries and picnic with the rest of the people we live on our campus with. It was foggy, as it is in our town, but it was pleasant, because company outweighs weather in my opinion! I don’t “get out” into too much…

last weekend, we—along with a huge group of friends—took a double-decker tour bus through san francisco as a ‘christmas outing’ of sorts. how fun to see the city this way! it was also an easy way to be together and in the midst of a busy month, that’s pretty much the top of my priority…

on wednesday we took a special trip to the city to soak in everything christmas, shop and just hang out. we took a little bit different route than usual and decided to put off shopping too much and may i just say, best decision ever! it’s so much less stressful to simply browse around and…

we saw the snow and boy was it wonderful! these are a few snapshots from the weekend before halloween. i must mention the fact that there’s snow in october in certain places is just shocking to my california coast dwelling self. i don’t know if i could ever live in the snow, but it sure is…

i finally had some time to get some of our hawaii pics together!! and i must say, hawaii you were so so good to us! the only goal of this trip was rest, sweet sweet rest. we were in maui the last week of august and it was a dream. solid eighties, ocean breeze, ample…

on saturday we went with a few friends up to los altos hills to the most lovely poolside shpot! it was sooo hot and beautiful and my first official pool day of the summer. i’ve been swimming laps again a lot more lately but let’s just all agree now that that doesn’t constitute having a pool…

we spent wednesday of spring break at six flags in vallejo! i hadn’t been on a topsy turvy upside down rollercoaster in a very long time (lets say ten years??) and it was so fun to be the veteran for some jr highers who’d never gone. we had a blast..but my stamina for those sorts…

^^ my favorite picture from the weekend 🙂 we’ve been back for a day or so now but we’re still doing laundry, sleeping extra and trying to detox from all the in-n-out + the abundance of peanut butter filled pretzels we’ve eaten (and by detox i mean, miss thoroughly). i love doing camp with our youth…

let’s go camping!! woohoo!  we’re so elated to be whisking ourselves off to the mountains today! james and i and our fearless team of leaders will be headed to the edge of the stanislaus national forest with nearly 35 jr highers + high schoolers. and while i’d like to brag that we’re going ‘real’ camping, we’ll be in…

on saturday, we utilized our much awaited christmas gift—wicked tickets (ahh! thanks brad + amy!)—in sf! it was pretty abuzz as it was closing weekend so we made a day of it. first we jaunted around golden gate park cause duh it was such a beautiful day (along with a gazillion other people who thought so…

on saturday, we headed back up to san francisco again for more christmas activities, followed by an evening in downtown palo alto for classic movies at the stanford! it was the perfect crisp and sunny day.. so if you’re going to visit sf or the bay area…there are a few suggestions throughout this post, so…

we went to san francisco land yesterday; and according to frank sinatra, the magical place where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars…   i agree, frank..i agree 🙂 i love san francisco during the holidays. everything is decked out, lights are everywhere, even the little cable car poles are wrapped in ribbon and garland. the stink that rises out of…

because i could divy up this our mini-vacay into a thousand more posts, here’s just a taste of our time with the fam…can we go back already? we miss them! {see the rest of our trip here and here} highlights: +late night board games +slater’s 50/50 burger trip- yum! +watching kendall & newport mesa win…

last saturday, we attended a sweet little wedding for james roommate of three-and-a-half years {from back in the day}! nathan and melinda married at the sweetest little stone-adorned (with arches inside)  chapel in orange, ca—it reminded me of the church my cousin + his wife married in when i was in junior high…swoon.  it was so fun…

over our little weekend away, we spent a morning with sister vanessa walking around newport beach, playing in the water, basking in the especially warm weather, catching up, chomping some delicious food and adhering to scary warnings from the lifeguard**. my legs were literally blinding me at times. #northerncaliforniaproblems since i spent a few of…

on friday, james was in football heaven! a sweet couple in our church gave us tickets to the preseason opener 49er game!! (amazing seats, too) it was a huge surprise and such a fun kick-off to james birthday 🙂 he is, after all, a huge sports fan. huge i tell you! around the third quarter,…

Saturday was our day full with pumpkin-patch scouring, lunchtime beach explorations and a good ol fashioned pumpkin carving contest. James and I love the youth that we get to work with and days like this just reminds us of the little family we’ve become. These are just a few shots of our day. We were…