Gold Rush Days

For a couple weeks now, my family had been planning a visit up to Sacramento to visit our extended family.

Growing up, we would have a family reunion over Labor Day weekend which included river rafting and a bbq at my Uncle's house. As time passed and kids got older, the reunion fizzled out and for several years, there was no event.

I think it started the year we got married, a few families got together again and headed down the river, like old times. With 3 babies in the mix this year, rafting wasn't an option but we still wanted to head up and pay a visit.

My mom found out that Old Sacramento was hosting a Gold Rush Days event. The roads were lined with dirt, wagons carried people from here to there, actors were dressed in the traditional clothing of that time and the city was transformed.

These actors were admiring the remote the The Lime has claimed as a toy.

I loved the color of this wagon. A nice sea foam green.

After lunch, breaking the rules and taking the stroller down the escalator.

The cool tour.

Crazy lady that kept trying to touch The Lime. I can call her crazy because she said she was.

Grand Pop & The Lime. We were sitting next to a donkey that no matter what, always ended up with its rear right next to these two.

We decided to stop by the Mormon Battalion tent, for obvious reasons. Yikes...big mistake! The man that was representing the Mormon Battalion would not.stop.talking! My dad loves to talk and even HE was trying to inch his way towards the exit.

Eureka!

The Lime had been strapped into his stroller all day. He finally got the chance to be free and could hardly contain himself.

We were lucky enough to enjoy dinner with my Grandma Mary. We're blessed to be able to spend time with such a great lady. She's the queen of advice :o)

And Many More...On Channel 4

Yesterday was Zac's birthday.

We brought him a sign, sang happy birthday, laughed and cried.

The grounds crew was just up the hill from us, doing some work on the lawn. They happened to stop their work, as well as their conversation, at the same time that I got emotional. I don't know if they could tell I was having a "moment" but I appreciated the silence.


Zac's mom adorns everything with darling ribbons. Even the precious flowers.


LaVor taught the lesson in YM on Sunday and shared a story about Zac to the boys. It just so happened that while he was telling the story, The Lime got super excited and started kicking his feet while making sweet noises.

I know they were buds. I know because when I turn the computer off at night and The Lime sees Zac's picture on our desktop, he smiles.

I also know that yesterday, Zac had the most delicious slice of cake he's ever tasted.

Decisions, Decisions

I can't decide which is cuter.

Fully clothed?

Or just in a diaper?

Dream A Little Dream Of Me

99.9% of the time, if The Lime does something in his sleep, it's suckling. It's pretty obvious that he's dreaming about eating.

Here, I can only assume that he's dreaming about riding California Screamin' at Disney's California Adventure. All I can say, he's braver than I am because I keep my hands securely wrapped around the bar in front of me.

Welcome, Little One

A year ago today, we found out that a little boy would be joining our family.

LaVor was talking to The Lime tonight, while we were getting ready, and expressed to him how grateful we were that Heavenly Father chose us to be his parents.

I heard on the news last week that babies smile this crazy amount of times per day and adults hardly smile. Consider us babies because with The Lime around, we can't do anything but grin from ear to ear.

Making It A Tradition

I think we've been to San Francisco more in the last 6 weeks than we have in the last 6 months.

Our friends were coming into town for an A's game and wanted to meet up for breakfast. We couldn't pass up the invitation when we found out they were going to Mama's! We went to Mama's for my birthday last year and absolutely loved it! The only downside is the crazy line that forms outside, before the store even opens. In order to avoid this line, Jim & Karen wanted to be there first thing. Ack! You mean get up early on a Saturday?! If it meant eating delicious food, we were willing to sacrifice some sleep. The Lime just happened to wake up 15 minutes before my alarm was set to go off at 5:15. We got ready and headed into the City only to arrive seconds before they opened the restaurant doors.

Cool thing? They have stroller valet! We were a bit nervous about bringing the stroller since Mama's is anything but spacious. We were relieved when the host graciously took our stroller to a secret & safe location, while we enjoyed our breakfast.

We had a great time visiting with Jim & Karen but once again, failed to take a picture! Next time!

After breakfast, LaVor asked what, if anything, I wanted to do while we were there. It was a little after 9 and we had no plans until later that night.

Every time we come into San Francisco, I always want to visit the house that was in Mrs. Doubtfire. So that's what we did.

On the corner of Broadway & Steiner, here she is! I won't get my hopes up and think it looks the same on the inside as it did in the movie (made that mistake with Big Business) but the outside is identical!

After snapping a few pictures, we drove around Pacific Heights, with our jaws down to our toes. Talk about houses! We knew Nancy Pelosi lives in that area and tried Googling her address but were unsuccessful. Just for the record, we're not fans of Ms. Pelosi.

Our next destination? Lombard Street! We were on a roll with the houses so I convinced LaVor to let me take a picture of the Real World house. Unfortunately, as we were approaching the house and I'm yelling, "It's the next one!", the car somehow just kept on going. That's all that will be said about that.

On our way from Pacific Heights, we passed a home that reminded us of Europe!

I've walked up Lombard street but never driven down. We try to stay away from the tourist attractions but I wanted to take pictures of the lovely hydrangeas that adorn the most crookedest street in the world.

(View from the top of Lombard. Coit Tower with the Bay Bridge in the background. North Beach is in the bottom right corner)

Gorgeous! And they still had the morning dew on them!

On our way back to the Bay Bridge, we drove through North Beach and the outskirts of China Town. What do you think I said when I saw this sign?

Give yourself a pat on the back if you said, "Chandler Bing! HAHAHAHAHA!"

Found 'Em!

Thank you Pleasanton Farmer's Market, for providing me with sunflowers.

I've been enjoying their cheerfulness all week! They must have taken on the personality of the cute woman that sold them to me. She told me about 3 times that I looked like a Japanese doll. I re-assured her that I wasn't Japanese, a doll, or a Japanese doll.