Nor Cal

How do you sum up seven lovely days and over 200 pictures, in a quick blog post about a fabulous vacation with your boyfriend to Northern California? I'll do my best to do it justice.  I'll have to put all the pictures in another book though.

We drove from the airport all the way down highway 1 and the Pacific Coast Highway to San Simeon Valley; Hearst Castle, and back to Napa, Muir Woods and to San Francisco.  We stayed a few days in Monterey where we enjoyed the Aquarium and visiting areas nearby.  We got "toasted" on $12 bottles of grape juice at a winery in Napa and had nearly the entire Muir Woods to ourselves.  We saw baby seals, lots of sea lions, 1,000's of elephant seals, and a few sea otters in their natural environments.  We took a lovely boat ride in the bay under the Golden Gate Bridge.  We ate new and delicious foods, saw an old high school friend, saw beautiful beaches and fascinating surfers. We drove a lot and spent quality time together.  It'd been three years since we left our kids for more than six hours due to foster care.  This trip was worth it and much needed.  Now, when do we go again?!

It should be noted, that Kathy and Reggie rule!  They came out for Alex's birthday and stayed with the kids the week we were gone.  We tried to make it an easy week on them, but it's almost impossible with four kids! So grateful for their willingness to love on our kids.

Our trip was awesome.  My boyfriend is even better and we can proudly say that we conquered Nor Cal. Oh, and couldn't have done it quite as well without our "selfie stick!"