Beardshall Adventures

Steve and Roger have been so great about planning a Utah Extravaganza trip every year. Sadly I cannot remember the name of this place, because it was beautiful! It was very close to Manti. Ha, Steve would be so disappointed. 

We went on a bunch of trails and we ventured out, on one of the rainy days, to skyline drive. Let's just say Steve failed to mention the WARNING he read at the trailhead, "Warning! Skyline Drive should only be traveled by four-wheel-drive, high-clearence vehicles. Those hauling trailers or in a passenger car should not attempt the road. The road is treacherous slime in wet weather! If caught in a storm on the road, stop and wait for the road to dry out. Seriously!" So you think he would have mentioned that to us since we were driving it in wet weather. My life flashed before my eyes when we almost slid off the side! Other than almost losing our lives (seriously) I'd say it was a perfect trip as always!

Astalavista California

Our last day in California, we wanted to make it a good one. Save the best for last they say. I think the Monteray Bay Aquarium was a good way to end the trip. Although I was not sure we were going to make it there with the slippery stomaches and sick bugs going around. Katy was practicially in tears when we mentioned that it may be best to stay home. You could definatly tell that she was not feeling 100% but she still had a blast!

I can't say enough great things about this place. I have only been once when I was little but I still remember most of it. Hopefully it made a big impression on Katy as well.

There was so much to see and do, we were having a hard time just trying to squeeze it all in.

Katy found that she enjoyed making a book mark best, and riding in the stroller as well (not usually on the menu for this little girl), but I'm glad she still had fun.

When we got back I think most everyone crashed...and for those who didn't Rachel had reading time.

This house was just the bees knees. I really wish this picture did it better justice!

After dinner we headed down to the beach for smores.

I guess Will wasnt impressed so he promptly fell asleep.

I cant think of a better way to end our trip.

Love me some Carmel

Seeing that Rachey was the birthday girl, we let her decide how she wanted to spend her day. We had the option of going either to Point Lobos State Park or the aquarium. She opted for the more low key day of the park and the beach.

Wow what a sight, this was amazing. I don't recall ever actually going to this park, but I'm so glad we had the chance to. You could turn in your car keys for a set of binoculars, which Katy promptly took charge of. A nature natural for sure.

It felt like there were so many different "worlds" to explore with the trees and the rocky shore as well.

The ocean to me is completely amazing, and I wish I had better access to it. It's so vast and overwhelming to think about. I love it, and am totally afraid of it in the same breath. Today we were friends.

It was a super fun morning, the kids had so much fun exploring.

After we went home for lunch we walked down to the beach to do some more exploring. Katy and I walked up and down the shore looking for the perfect sea shells. Steve and Will went on a drive, so it was just us girls down there.

After a while Katy began to complain of her stomach hurting. I figured it was probably because she was hungry...she is a pretty picky eater and hadn't been eating much this trip.

Boy was I wrong because when we went back to the beach towel to grab something to eat she got sick everywhere. And that was not the first of it. While we were at the beach she threw up about 6 times, and didn't stop once we got home. Poor poor thing. I carried her back to the house...man she is getting big because my arms were jello by the time we got back.

We stayed in our room the rest of the night while the others went out to eat for Rachel's birthday. While everyone was gone Steve was hit by the bug and spent the night in the bathroom. This was all on top of Will having crazy blow outs still (I thought from the pineapple, but at this point I was starting to question whether he had a bug or not).

This was sweet Katy before she was so so sick.

When they returned from dinner I went up to have cake and ice cream with the birthday girl, curtsey of Andrew...he makes a mean funfetty cake!

Our family was not the only ones hit. That night Jon and Tommy got sick and Jane was not feeling so well the following night. Aside from the fact the Davis's told us that after there return Annie had a case of RSV and a double ear infection. I guess it's just a good thing we are so close of friends!

home away from home

 

I have a special place in my heart for the beach, ALWAYS! Even though Steve despises that place. Can you imagine not enjoying the beach? Well it's true folks, he is not a fan. He said that mostly it's the sand that gets him, he hates the stuff. But I'm thinking that when we went on our first "major" road trip as a married couple and I made him come swim in the ocean with me....while seaguls demolished our beach towels and lunch (let's just say POOP was everywhere)...did not help my cause. Oh that or the other time that I made him get in with me and his wedding ring went flying off his finger never to be seen again!

I am bound and determined to get Katy to like the beach, although I'm pretty sure I'm not going to have to even try at all! She had a blast. But that is not where our story today takes us....

We got to carmel pretty late. Let's just say that after getting stuck in traffic, and having the Davis's getting backed into...we were ready to get there. Oh but that is not the best part of the story. You see their car completely died on the way to California in Reno (that may actually be the armpit of America....sorry) of all places and they were in a rental car. Lucliky no damage was done and we arrived safely.

Also of note was how we kicked this trip off. Michelle made the BEST fish tacos and pretty much had them almost waiting for us when we arrived. After driving for a bit they really hit the spot. She also had another one of my favorites, pineapple. I didnt think much of it and fed some to Will, until I started to think that his stomach probably was not going to like it. Well we were cleaning up dinner and lo and behold Will was under the table eating all the dropped pieces of pineapple. He woke up crying that night pretty early in the morning and had thrown up and had a blowout. Poor kido! He continued having pineapple blowouts the whole trip. Which made church interesting!

After church and lunch we headed down to the main house (we all stayed in the guest house down the street). Jon and Michelle cooked this whole trip up because Jon's grandparents have a house there in Carmel. Yes that is right, Grandpa is currently living in Utah...so for the most part this sit's empty.

It was beautiful. If I remember correctly it sits on 9 acres pretty much in the pebble beach subdivision. We had a hard time getting there because there was a golf tournament going on that day, and everyone wanted to see if we had "clearance" to get to the house.

Jon gave us a tour and we had fun exploring the property. When we made it back to the house most everyone ended up taking a nap. When Jon and Johnny were the only ones up they decided to head down to the golf course to see if they could get in. Johnny is a big fan. I think Jane said he even records golf to catch up on later if he has to miss it, so you can imagine how exciting it was when they got in! Jon said the key is to just act like you belong there.

After they got back and we had dinner we headed down to the beach to explore the tide pools.

As you can imagine, our evening was pretty stellar! Katy was not a huge fan of the tide pools once she discovered they have crabs in them! But she did love the water and the ocean. I'm also suprised at the fact that Will did not totally stuff his face with sand. Mostly he was just trying to figure out what the stuff is. It was the perfect way to end our first day in Carmel.

i left my heart in san francisco

The following day we found ourselves in the heart of san francisco. The Davis's were there the day before and asked us what we wanted to do...since we have been before we opted to do less touristy things like pier 39 and the trolly's (although I'm sure we'll be back one day because Katy would love that!), so the Davis's did that the day before. 

Rachel did some research and found that we needed to visit the Golden Gate Park. I would venture to say that this is San Francisco's answer to New York's Central Park. It was so fun. We got the biggest kick out of the cement slides. Steve and Andrew were worth a few laughs when they "slid" down the slide. Not so smooth of a ride as it was for a little kid I guess. 

Unfortunately Katy fell down and scraped her leg really good which put her in a sour mood. She makes me laugh because lately the only thing that can make her feel better is a band-aid. Which we didn't have with us at the time.

Which is why she was not in the mood for a "surfing" picture. This was her best effort. Luckily we were able to find a band-aid at a hot dog stand and also a carousel ride....which always seems to smiles on kids faces.

And the faces of Steve's as well.

The ride attendant was so cute, he saw me taking a picture and he rush over to ask if he could take one for us.

And then he offered to take one of all of us. Katy's "smile" face kills me! Actually all the adults look more excited than the kids!

I was sure to snag one of the Davis family. Annie had a good time.

After lunch I made us scour China Town so I could purchase my lucky beckoning cat. Ha, I wanted to get one last time we were here when Steve made me walk from the Giants stadium to Pier 39 in an effort to save on parking. We walked through China Town on the way and I wanted a cat so bad but never picked one up because I didn't want to carry it all day and we never made it back to get one. Also of note, make sure if you go on the Alcatraz tour you take the night tour....that's a must in my book.

Although we have seen and been on the bridge before we needed to stop and snap a shot on our way out of town to Carmel. So we did.

I remember going to San Francisco with my family growing up. I must have been about 13 or so. It was the coolest thing I had seen up to that point (in my mind). I instantly fell in love and have always enjoyed a good visit to the city. Not sure if the kids will actually remember being there, but hopefully these pictures will always be special to them.

It was sure fun being able to spend the day there with Rachel, Andrew and Annie. I know Katy had a fun time.

Katy and I in our attempt to do a "jumping" picture in front of a famous landmark or point of interest on our trip.

As always, I left my heart in San Francisco, that is until we went to Carmel.....