San Jose

California Vacation Coming to an End

/ stlmaryland / Leave a comment
Having brunch with Aunt Sherie and the kids at Leo & Lily in Woodland Hills, CA.
Beautiful day at Seacliff Beach in Aptos, CA.
At Will Rogers State Beach in Malibu, CA

Our California vacation is coming to a close here shortly. We started off in Aptos, spending a few days relaxing at the beach and celebrating my brother’s 50th birthday. The ocean was calm and peaceful, and it gave us a chance to just slow down and enjoy some family time.

From there, I rented a car and we made the drive down to Los Angeles to see Grandma, who is turning 101 years old on Sunday. We stayed with our Aunt while we were there, which made it feel even more like family time.

Then today was the big drive up to my dad’s house in San Jose. What should have been a 5.5 hour drive turned into a long, tiring 7.5 hours instead. And of course, after all that driving, I still had to cook dinner for eight people because family still needs to eat.

Now it’s almost time to head back to Maryland, get the kids ready for school, and settle back into daily life. It’s been a full trip—long drives, family meals, celebrations, and plenty of memories to take home with us.

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Back in the Bay Area

/ stlmaryland / Leave a comment

The kids and I are back in the Bay Area for some fun in the sun before the kids head back to school in a few weeks. We will be in town for a couple of weeks and are going to try and have as much fun as we can.

We arrived on Monday and have been just relaxing since. My parents have a pool so the kids have been having pool days every day since we have been here and loving every minute.

I will have to squeeze in a beach day, though, cause you can’t travel to the Bay Area and not go to the Beach. That would just be sacrilege otherwise.

Tonight my mother, daughter and I are attending a bridal shower at my aunt’s home for her daughter-in-law to be. My cousin is getting married next month and we were included in on the festivities to help celebrate the union. I hadn’t been to a Bridal Shower in years and thought it was quite fun shopping yesterday for gifts. I really hope she likes what we got her.

My mom and I are taking the kids to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo tomorrow (Friday) and I am kinda excited since none of us have ever been there before. I noticed on the map they have a butterfly habitat… now that totally got my attention and I can’t wait to see that!

If you have been to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom before, what would you recommend seeing for an 8, 6 and 4 year old?

Then a week from Saturday my brother is having a 40th birthday party that I will get to see many family members and a lot of friends that I don’t normally see due to me living in Nevada. So I can’t wait to see everyone. My husband will be driving up to attend the party as well and then as a family we will be driving back home together the next day.

Nevertheless… I am gonna try to have as much fun as we can while we are here. Will post photos later!