CALIFORNIA... san francisco to be exact!

Let me begin with some backround smigins to note. The last time I went to San Francisco I was knee high to a grasshopper. I also find it important to inform you that I was on the verge of diabetic attack, that is to say I had to pee every 5.3 minutes, not to mention after everything i ate or drank. We didn't know that I was contracting the disease. I was nine years old.

So this Christmas my parents announced that we would be going to san francisco this next summer! Yay! We were all so excited! So the time came and we rented this baby for the drive.

15 passenger van. luxury baby! So all ten of us (baby tucker included) took off on the 12 hour drive!

A. mazing. Our family vacations spent in cars are always so entertaining. I wish there was some way to explain it to you readers, but alas unless you have taken part, you just cannot possibly know... Arguments, tired people, frustrated drivers, snacks, pillows, garbage, and a car full of very stubborn people. I love my family.

 

First it was to the jelly belly factory :) They made us wear these funny hats, even Tuck man. They let us sample lots of yummy beans... honey is a new one. tastes really good... and my favorite dr pepper jelly beans... oh my. yum. They also had those harry potter beans...gross.. they had centipede.. seriously i would not dare even eat one tiny little bean of that flavor. gag.

Here we all are at six flags! It was so much fun. Roller coasters and my family, they just go well together.

Oh and we cant forget the reason we are all here my parents. Loree and Brian, the most wonderful people in the entire world. All cheesiness aside. I am dead serious. If you know them, you know I speak the indisputable truth. 

awe love.

We went on a segway tour around san fran. It was soooo much fun! This was monday, the 7th my honey's 22nd birthday :) anyway they made us put on helmets and these funny vests, then taught us to ride them and we were off cruising down the streets of san francisco! Right in with the traffic. We with out a doubt looked ridiculous. All of these peope were filming us from the side of the streets and pointing. They were all just jealous. Id just like to mention, all of our machines had names. Steves was "sparkly vampire" I know this is probably in reference to the twilight saga... ick but steve is cute so I cant say im surprised. Even funnier my dads was "pirates have needs too" haha

Me and Stephen embracing this look and my Dad here riding his segway. He is so tight!

Here we all are minus my mom who has a bad knee and stayed at the hotel with my nephew Tucker. We got to go out on a pier and race around (a whopping 10 miles an hour! surprisingly way fun)  If you ever go to San Francisco you have to do this! It was so awesome!

After the adventure on the segways we went and ate at a little 50s diner in Ghiridelli square. You know what that means :) CHOCOLATE!

Jenn and I are the chocolate lovers out of the bunch!

Then we were off to Alcatraz! We took a boat over (obviously) the view from the boat was spectacular! We had an excellent tour of the prison. I learned so much! They had some of the cells set up so you could go inside and some that had items in them showing what it would have been like. The tour had some of the people who were guards and prisoners there talking about their experiences. There was a lot I didn't know about the history of the island and prison!

Here we are with the lovely island behind us!

And this is one of the cells we had the pleasure of entering. I have to say for being a prison I did like the green walls. but it would have been awful in there. This is actually a very large cell....

               
this is what most of them looked like...

There was a tiny stairway that went to an overlook and a beautiful garden! I dont know why but i didnt think id see these sorts of things on the island. Pretty cool!

Look how awesome the city looks!

MUIR WOODS

The trees are beautiful! These pictures don't even come close to justifying the massive nature of these trees.

So you are thinking trees? really? Well these aren't just any trees, they are redwood trees. They are so beautiful! They are huge! As you can see with my nephew. It was so fun to hike through the woods. The smell...mmmm so good! Oh and I cant forget Tucker here eating some official Muir dirt. haha

We went and drove around Berkley and the campus where my dad went to law school! It is a pretty sweet little area with some amazing houses! I would love to live in some of the houses we saw. We stopped and ate at Zachary's pizza.. oh my gosh you haven't had pizza until you've had theres. Deep dish amazingness.. then being the Romriells we had to stop at at least one book store. Pegasus books right next door. Browsing in an old book store = heaven. (above) Here we are in front of the Oakland Temple! The landscaping is so beautiful! I have a pretty hilarious story id love to share with you personally about this trip to the temple grounds... no really you want to know... so ask and ill tell you ;) Anyway, you can go up on top of the temple and walk around the gardens up there, theres also an amazing view of San Francisco! Everything about this city is wonderful!

(check out this speed limit sign that was posted in front of the temple. So bizarre) 

So I guess I should have mentioned that the whole reason we went on this vacation. The Mary Webb exhibit. My mom LOVES Mary Webb, so we went to the Stanford library to check it out. Heres my mom in front of the sign. She is so cute! 

We went to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. Old fashioned roller coasters on the beach! It was so much fun! Here we all are playin in on the beach

Ok i know that this is a little much but seriously he is so freakin cute and I could not pic one of these over the other. So here you go Tuck man the first time at the beach! I just love him!

So here are the rest of us playin on the beach. We built an amazing sand castle like old times!

Cali baby!

We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. They had some pretty ginormous tanks with all sorts of fish and aquatic life. Ive never seen anything like it! And its right on the shore!

So Carmel. What a beautiful place! We went on the "17 mile drive" Its actually where they held the US Open this past week. There are some really weird houses up there. We stopped along the shoreline. the beach was beautiful! It was super windy! so when we got out of the car we were being blown away. 

This is the famous lone Cyprus tree along the drive.

We got here and decided to play in the huge waves. It was pretty scary at some points, but so much fun!

All of the siblings! we all ran from the gigantic waves on this beach! It was so much fun! We all got soaked.

My mom and her fav little boy Tucker chillin on the beach while we all play in the waves.

We went to the Grace Cathedral and walked the Labyrinth. The cathedral has a gorgeous rose window and stained glass windows running all down the sides. I love that sort of thing.. kinda nerdy i know. 

So on our way out we went to the Golden Gate Bridge! All of us kids decided we would make the journey across the entire thing. Its almost a mile long.. it was really fun! On the side we started it was super windy then by the time we got to the other side it was sweaty hot.

Here we are about to embark on our journey

My dad is the coolest, most amazing dad in the world!

They had these signs a couple of times along the way.. funny, but at the same time really sad! I cant imagine having the guts to try and jump off of this thing! it is freaky high!

Goodbye San Francisco!