Well our Northern California trip started out by renting a home in Mill Valley which is just over the Golden Gate Bridge. Unfortunately every time we crossed and got you both all excited it was foggy. But the first day we spent in San Francisco was beautiful. You can see the fog just resting in the background wanting to crawl in to us. We went down to Fisherman's warf with my dear friends from college and walked all around. A favorite of yours was watching the seals on Pier 39. I agree I could have watched them for hours. We had lunch after and Emme you sat with your new friend Beatrice (my friend Julia's daughter).
We took a trolley all over from Union Square to Fishermans Warf passing through the streets and culture of the city. Emme you loved the trolley so much that we had to go buy a miniature pink one. We ended the day at my favorite children's boutique and Zackary found some new dragon.
The next day we were able to take some great shots of the Golden Gate at the look out point with you two. That was breathtaking.
You two and Daddy went hiking in the famous Muir Woods. The pictures looked breathtaking, and you both made friends with chipmunks. I was home in bed with food poisoning sadly but your Dad was jammed packed with hiking!
We took a day to spend the morning at the Presidio just over the bridge checking out all the war canon's that were built a long time ago, hiking all over to find old discoveries. We spent the afternoon hiking around the Golden Gate park. We met some police on their horses along the way and found a hidden fort and a fishing spot.
The redwoods in Mill Valley were very tall. One day we played at a park in the middle of the redwoods where hide and seek became the fun game of choice. When the seeker stopped counting you felt like you were the only one there. Kind of spooky for Emme. But you always found me right away, I made sure of it.
One of my favorite things we did was explore the Marin Headlands. These are just over the GG Bridge, as you can see above we got some great pictures high above. We also visited the Marine Mammal Center which rescues and rehabilitates animals from all over...mostly seals, sea lions and such. Seeing and watching all the sick pups made us really grateful for a place like this and for all the volunteers that take time out of their lives to help these animals. The animals have different stories of need. One had a gunshot wound, many were abandoned from their moms and starving and some lost from their families. They all had such personalities, just like you two!
Peek-A-Boo!
After 5 days up North we were on our way to Tahoe. GG's side of the family had a reunion so we all went up and spent time with her/our family! Dennis (my second cousin) lives there and is very close to the Lake. We would go on a short 5-10 min hike and be at the Lake, which is were we spent most of our time. It was a very hot couple of days so we would get sunned out and come back to the home we were staying in.
The rocks were super slippery and hard to walk on. Remember next time...bring our water shoes. Didn't stop you though Zackary, you walked way out. The following day we hiked further down the lake and actually found a beach. That was fun the water was cold coming down from the mountain spring...and there were dogs all over the beach.
Next and Last stop on our way home was Mammoth. There we just really rested, went in the pool and to our favorite park! We had a nice dinner at the Westin, slept great and headed home the following day! We were gone 11 days but you two saw a lot and were champs the whole trip! I am so glad I saw San Francisco through your eyes. That was a delight!
