Justin and I just got back from our first vacation without the kids! Yeah! We went to San Fransisco where Justin was presenting at the annual Orthopaedic Conference. So it was five nights and six days by ourselves - plus the 25,000 other Orthopods who decided to go to the conference.
This is a shot of us out on a boat with the San Fran skyline in the back. Boy was it cold and windy out on that boat! I even had to steal Justin's sweatshirt to keep warm.
Justin was busy during the days with conference stuff, so thank goodness we were there with friends! The girls and I did lots of "tourist" things during the day. This is a shot of me at the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate park. We took a very "educational" bus ride to get there, but it was worth it. Other places we went during the day were China Town, Union Square, A farmers market at the pier.....let's just say we did lots of walking! And saw lots of crazy's! My favorite was Bag Lady Betty whom we met at Golden Gate Park, and if your wondering that really was what HE called himself and he also claimed to know everything there is about the Grateful Dead.....hmmmmm.
On Friday, Justin and the other fellows took a break from the confrence to spend a day in Napa Valley. It was a gorgeous day! And the scenery couldn't have been better. This first place was my favorite. It was a champagne vineyard (or as they say "sparkling wine" because we're not in France) and we were able to have drinks and artisinal cheese plates out on the veranda that you see in the picture. It was great! I honestly could've just sat there all day - but the rest of the group had other plans.
We decided to do one tour and that was out the Rutherford Hill Wine Caves. We thought this one sounded the coolest because of the caves. The caves were pretty neat, but unfortunately we weren't in them for very long. The doors you see in the background are set into the mountain and are the entrance to the wine caves. Pretty spectacular! We did a few other stops to round out the day and then Justin drove us all back to the hotel in the big excursion!
This was probably my favorite thing we did! We took a night tour of Alcatraz and it was cool! I had the insight to buy the tickets online about a week ahead of time and boy am I glad I did! They were completely sold out by the time we got to San Fransisco! This is a picture of Justin in one of the cell block rows. It was amazing to see just how tiny the cells really are! It was also neat to hear the stories of all the infamous people who were imprisoned there.
And that was our trip in a nut shell!! The kids and I are now back in Ohio and adjusting to the daily routine again after being out of town for a month! Justin did say however, that I can't do anymore of these month long trips......we'll see.
It sure didn't feel like spring outside this Easter sunday, but regardless, we put the kids in their easter outfits and off to church we went. The Easter bunny brought Cameron some underware which he refuses to wear and Anna's favorite was a fairy wand from the Easter bunny. And every night since Easter she's asked us if the Easter bunny is coming that night --- again! We went over a friends house for Easter dinner and then came home and relaxed. It was a good day all around!
