Enough of the Stanford sweatshirts!

This is a long over-due post but we had a fabulous time with Grma and Grpa Francis in October! We visited the Stanford bookstore and scored some sweet sweatshirts that we pretty much wore all weekend...so don't mind that almost every picture in sporting some sort of Stanford attire.  

we saw the huge Redwoods...one of my favorite things about going to this place (Henry Cowell State Park) is the smell of Nature...you just step out the car, take a deep breath and are instantly relaxed!

one of my favorites of these three crazies

this one's a framer

Marianne's in Santa Cruz--the Horchata ice cream was one probably the best ice cream I've ever had...and I've had A LOT of ice cream!

We also ventured up to San Fran and explored Union Square for the first time.  The kids and I rode the awesome escalators at the Nordstrom mall, we rode the trolley, ate at Cheesecake Factory and explored Britax--the most amazing fabric store I've ever seen! I wish I was an seamstress and I learned that women spend days and days in there conjuring up creative goodies.  We got some grosgrain ribbon and flowers to make zanna a new headband and new silky fabric for her to sleep with :)

We also went to our first Stanford football game against my hometown WSU Cougs!

It was a little rainy but fun to be there together and explain the game to the kids.

Zanna loved the cheerleaders and James talked about getting cotton candy the whole time...it was more about the experience than the game!

Zanna had an 8am soccer game--she scored a few goals for her special fans!

Stanford Memorial Church--so beautiful that I almost feel bad posting this picture because it does not even do it any justice!

We loved our time with Grma and Grpa and they were such sports to sleep on the MANSTAD (with an awesome mattress topper) and just go, go, go! Jean stayed for a few extra days with the kids while Dave and I went to an interview in Idaho Falls and they LOVED having grandma all to themselves.  They made lip gloss and airplanes, ate pizza and McDonald's and read lots of new great books.  

Thanks for a great trip and taking great care of us and the kids---we love you!