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 :)