Thanksgiving Vacation

It's not often that we take a vacation. No, let me rephrase that: We have NEVER taken a vacation with our kids! Whenever we take a trip it is to visit Grandparents, but we have never taken a vaction with the kids, until now! This past week we took a vacation to Danville, California to visit Brett's sister, Becky, and her family. Now even though we were visiting family, we've decided that this still qualifies as a vacation. We had a great time! Here's the low-down on our trip:

Day 1: We travelled from Boise to Winnemucca, NV where we stayed in a hotel. This is significant because it was the first time any of the kids had stayed in a hotel! They thought it was quite thrilling. There's nothing like watching TV in a hotel room . . .

Day 2: The kids woke up super early and were in their swimming suits and down at the pool before 7am. Unfortunately, the pool heater was broken and the door in the pool room had been left open to the frigid outdoor air all night. It was freezing cold and the kids just stuck their legs in and splashed. Dicie jumped in right at the end, but jumped right out again before hypothermia could set in! They had fun anyway. Afterwards we went down for the hotel's continental breakfast. I wouldn't normally mention such a boring detail, but the kids thought it was so much fun! They always get excited when there is lots of food and they have free reign to choose and eat whatever they want. The rest of the day was spent travelling to the Brouwer's.

Day 3: Thanksgiving Day! We woke up to the smell of Becky cooking! She made a delicious Thanksgiving feast which we really enjoyed. The kids also enjoyed playing all day with each other. Dicie and Ashlee were the closest of pals the entire time we were there.

Day 4: This was such a fun day. We drove into San Francisco for some sight-seeing. We started out at the Golden Gate bridge. Dallin had a blast chasing pigeons and we got lots of great pictures, many of which are courtesy of Becky's fabulous camera and artistic eye.

After the bridge, we went to the beach nearby. It was a GORGEOUS day! We took a billion more pictures and the kids had a blast. They all started out totally dry, and by the end they all had soaking wet clothes. Unfortunately we hadn't come prepared for that scenario, so they had to wear them the rest of the day!

After the beach, we went to Fisherman's Wharf where we had our clam chowder in sourdough breadbowls. Mmmm, yummy! The kids had fun watching the bakers make a huge loaf of bread in the shape of an alligator. The baker handed out little sourdough turtles to all the kids! We walked around the wharf, watched some of the street artists, and went and saw the sea lions by the dock.

Day 5: We took the kids to the movie, "Enchanted," which had just come out. Dicie later proclaimed that this was her favorite part of our vacation. Good thing we went all the way to California to do it!

Day 6: We drove ALL the way home! And survived! The 10 hour trip was actually not too bad. I was really surprised, and grateful, by how well the kids did in the car. They were SO good. Let me just say, thank goodness for the portable DVD player!

We had such a wonderful time on our trip to California. It was so fun to spend time with the Brouwers - they treated us so well! We made many memories and I'm sure this will be a vacation that we will all look back on fondly.