Friday & Saturday

I don't know why this has taken so long to finish this trip! At least I will have finished Thanksgiving pictures before Christmas.

Friday- The attempt.....

A Family Photo

It is a toss up.

My Sister-in-laws....Some marry in spite of the family....some for the family. Brian is great but his sisters are awesome!

Saturday - Muir Woods

It was a cold day but worth it to see the giant redwoods.

Brian carried Brayden and his binki the entire time. Good thing we have a stroller! Maybe we just need a heated stroller.....

I know there aren't any great pictures of people standing in giant trees but our camera died because it is a battery guzzler. Anyway I think Santa is bringing a new one for Christmas. I will let you know...

The End

Wednesday & Thursday

Wednesday- San Francisco Exploratorium - http://www.exploratorium.edu/

Everyone enjoyed this museum. Hailey's two favorite displays where the least scientific but no matter. When your five what could be better than having a conversation with a fish or drinking out of toilet fountain?

This exhibit was all about the mind and exploring out it works. I could not bring myself to take a drink. Hailey has never cleaned a toilet so it came a little easier to her.

Here you can ask the fish a yes or no question and it would respond with pre-recorded answers. Hailey really thought the fish was talking to her so it was very cute. Unfortunately the fish had some response that Hailey now uses when I ask her a question like, " You are crazy! I am NOT going to answer that question!"

The fam at the Golden Gate.

Thursday - Thanksgiving dinner in Capitola and pie at Natural Bridges State Beach. To get to the restaurant from the parking lot you could take the hillavator or small tram instead of the stairs. The kids are wondering where are all of the other hillavaters are. The elevator has definitely gone down in the rankings.

At the beach there was a seaweed jump rope contest to work off the pie. I did not participate but Brian did surprisingly well. However, the gold metal went to Hailey's cousin Jessica. I stole this picture from Melinda's blog. Just carrying Brayden around is a challenge, jump roping with him, now that is love.

Thanks to Brett and Michelle for planning such a wonderful day.

California Trip Cont.

Tuesday - Cailfornia State Railroad Museum in Sacramento(http://www.csrmf.org/default.asp )

Many of the trains were open to tour the inside. The kids favorite were the sleeper cars. The train vibrated so as to feel realistic. The windows were dark with flashing lights passing by complete with sound. It was actually a little spooky the first time through.

Nothing beats a day at the train museum followed by taking home a Thomas watch.

Thanksgiving in California

We had a fun-filled week in California with the Brimhalls. It started off with a long, so long drive. The kids were actually pretty good. Brayden had a melt down in Reno, but a trip to the park made it all better.

Sunday - The Oakland Temple

The view was amazing!

If my camera was better it would have been really amazing!

Brayden, hamming it up with a sucker in his mouth.

Cute Hailey

Here are the kids with their cousin, Nathan. They thoroughly enjoyed spending so much time with their cousins.

Monday -The Oakland Zoo

The best part of the Oakland Zoo, according to Hailey, was that they have hyenas. She has known the lyrics to the Lion King since she was 2 yet we have never seen a real hyena. We can confirm that they are uuuugly!

Cousins

While I was purchasing tickets for the train ride, Brayden spotted this car merry-go-round ride that he has been on before at fairs etc. So as the gate opened for the children to exit he didn't mind pushing through the flow of traffic. He ran right in and helped himseld to the firetruck. As you can see, I ended up buying a ticket for this ride as well.

To be continued....