everyone needs to take a weekday off and just relax, and that’s just what we did this weekend. leith and i piled in the car and drove out to half moon bay for walks on the beach, exploration in the tidal pools and a fabulous dinner at pasta moon.

roller coasters! or at least, that’s what i kept referring to this day as, in my conversations with kristine. we spent the day at great america riding coasters until i got motion sickness and it was a BLAST.

when most people go to napa valley, they head out on sunny days and taste wine all day. we stop in oakland for beignets on a cold, rainy day, and rush out to this food museum on the last weekend of an art exhibit. no wine, no sun, but lots of fun.

sarah and i headed out to the beach for the weekend at her family’s beach house in aptos. we expected boogie boarding and lots of sun, but instead enjoyed long walks on the cool, foggy beach. our weekend consisted of reading, sleeping and cooking warm meals–it was so relaxing!

for the second year in a row, keith came to stay with us for a couple of weeks. this time, he got the true college experience, going to camp and exploring the area on his own. we took him around the bay area and had a great time; trust me, he was busy. he did chores, went to camp almost every day, wrote letters, ran and we visited a few cities. he was practically a college student!

we only drove out for one day, but it was a gorgeous drive through tall trees and a beautiful, sunny day. what a way to spend on a three-day weekend!

these few pictures are from our weekend trip out to sacramento. we finally made it out there before the end of the year to redeem the hotel stay and gift certificates that i won from their convention and visitors bureau.

I’ve been in California for three weeks and now my sister and mom came up for a visit. We had a great five days together, despite the need to use maps and make calls to figure out how to get everywhere. I’m still a newbie in this area.

What a big campus it is!

Leith and I took a trip out to Palo Alto to check out Stanford, ride the trains and walk a whole lot.