lucky

I am lucky to be this little lady's mama...very lucky.

so much to see, so little time!

Two weeks ago we had great visit from another one of my brothers and his family--Scott had a conference in San Fran so he brought the fam and we were so excited to jam...like my rhyme?

This area of Cali has so much to do and see and I love it when people

 come so that we can go exploring with them.  

Scott and Andrea lived in the house next door to the house we are in now when he was a resident here at Stanford 5 years ago...funny, eh? Same street, same elementary school, same ward, some of the same friends and we even have a silver van like they did! Weird.

Here's a rundown of our weekend...

Saturday...

Scott, Andrea, Nathan, Luke, Max, Grace and little #5 on the way :)

We met them in the city and had fresh clam chowder, seafood pasta and then headed to Ghirardelli Square! 

Gracie and Andrea--cute girls!

this is not real chocolate (we asked)...but it sure looks yummy

the kids were SO EXCITED to see and play with their cousins--they were bursting out of the 

car when we first pulled up to meet them!

do you like Mia's snow suit? it is always chilly and windy in San Fran

Scott and Dave ordered "The Earthquake" --8 scoops, 8 toppings, fresh bananas, whipped cream, almonds, chocolate chips and cherries! It turned into ice cream soup but the first few bites were pretty awesome. 

Sunday...

On Sunday we watched Conference on THE MANSTAD (see post below) and it was so relaxing people couldn't keep their eyes open :)

Foothill Park-- a Palo Alto residents only park is Gorgeous! We went on a hike after Conference and loved the views, deer, lake and can't wait to go back

what a view!

Andrea's birthday was on Monday so we made roast and potatoes for dinner and her favorite cheesecake.  It's a recipe I grew up eating and loving, but have never made so I am so glad she requested it 'cause it's so easy and tasty.

We ended up keeping the boys for a sleepover that night and had all five kids cozily tucked in on The Manstad...we watched a movie, had brownies and made friendship bracelets.

Monday...

On Monday we skipped school and headed down to Monterey with Andrea and the kids.  We went to The Monterey Bay Aquarium and ended up joining  so we can now go all year long

the volunteers are great teachers and James especially loved listening to them-- one volunteer lady even saw him later in the day and said, "there's my buddy James"

Dave had the day off too so we were happy for dad time

We have a picture just like this from 9 years ago when we were first married and lived in Hollister, CA and went to the Aquarium. I would scan it and upload it but that would take a lot of effort right now....so you'll just have to believe me.  P.S. the jellyfish are AWESOME!

we loved the new seahorse exhibit and laying on the floor to watch the sardines

the kids were dying to swim in the ocean so we drove down to Carmel to find Carmel Beach State Park

we ended up here, which was gorgeous, but later found out it is one of the most dangerous beaches around because of the canyon and undertows...two people actually died here on the 4th of July.  

the kids loved being chased by the waves

Mia loved the wind

Nathan thought it was pretty chilly

Gracie loved the sand, until she got knocked over by a wave and drenched :(

Luke buried himself in the sand 

and I just love this one of James.

We dried off, headed to Denny's to have breakfast for dinner and REALLY good hot chocolate w/refils. What an awesome day and so fun to be with family again. 

PHEW! Another great trip--thanks guys, love ya :)

our first visitors...Matt, Courtnee and Isaiah!

 Matt (my little bro), Courtnee and Isaiah were a big hit with our kids and the neighborhood kids :)

the family on Stanford Campus

In front of the famous "Palm Drive" on Campus (the red flowers are in the shape of the Stanford "S")

Helping Isaiah roll down the hill on campus

 This little man is such an amazing talker and also really loves his fire trucks! We had a great time getting to know his fun personality and finding tunnels everywhere we went :)

 the bell tower

 creative Courtnee helping Zanna in her quest for accessories 

 we went out for pizza at "Pizza My Heart" on University and then found one of our favorite places...Red Mango--Matt got the parfait and it was the bomb

This is "The Manstad" from Ikea and we are loving it!! Our living room is quite small, so instead of pulling out the Aero bed (because it won't fit) when guests come we can now pull out our couch and it works beautifully.  It even has a huge storage compartment under the chaise for all the bedding.  The best thing about this couch-turned-bed is that we can all watch a movie very comfortably and we love hanging out as a family on it too...a fun new addition to the francis fam!

We ventured to see some of the famous Redwood Trees in the area and found some beauties at Henry Cowell State Park The tallest tree in the park is about 285 feet tall, and about 16 feet wide. The oldest trees in the park are about 1400 to 1800 years old.  

It's hard to capture how amazing these trees are!

After the redwoods we headed down to Monterey and hung out for a while at Dennis the Menace Park.  It has GREAT slides, a huge locomotive to climb on, a maze, rock climbing wall and is just an awesome park right across the street from the ocean.

 Mia loved the park too and played with Dad in her jammies since she had a huge blowout right as we pulled up :)

 On Saturday morning we woke up early (for us) and "hiked the dish" to help Matt and Courtnee feel like real Palo Altans. 

 then it was off to soccer for the little lady-- her first game of the season and it was finished off by nothing less than orange wedges and juice boxes

 We then headed into San Francisco where we rode our first Trolley... we weren't holding sourdough baguettes and hanging off the side, but maybe next time

 When we got off nobody was paying so Courtnee asked if we needed to pay and the guy said, "um...yeah, just if you want to."  We didn't really want to but it was a little awkward to just walk away so we gave the guy our money, but could have saved $20!  

 We saw the sea lions at Pier 39

 Rode the Carousel

 and introduced Matt and Court to Trish's Mini donuts-- a MUST HAVE if you ever visit Pier 39.  They are mini bites of goodness, hot off the conveyer, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar-- we get them everytime!

If you don't believe just read the reviews http://www.yelp.com/biz/trishs-mini-donuts-san-francisco-3

On Sunday we had a yummy dinner at home, walked to the park and then watched a movie (altogether on the The MANSTAD with plenty of room) and just had a great time hanging out.

Thanks for coming to see us guys--we love you and your little man!!!