Big Trip: Part 1

We took a nice family trip this summer to the Bay Area and to visit Tyler's family. It was our first big road trip in a long time and we were a little nervous. We feared our sad car wouldn't make it all the way so we bought a new car for the trip! Okay, so not just for the trip. We really did need a new car and we ended up with a newer used car that works awesome!

Anyway, we loaded up our car with plenty of suitcases, pack and plays and strollers and headed up to our first stop: SAN FRANCISCO!!



We planned to do the drive all in one shot and stay one night in the city and do some sight seeing the next day before we met up with the rest of the family in Oakland for Andy's wedding which was on the following day (the wedding being the main reason we were crazy enough to pack our kids in the car and drive 10 hours).

We decided to stop in Berkeley first for some cheap dinner. And boy were we happy to have some of the old stand-bys. I of course got the Thai Fried Rice from Thai Basil in the Food Ghetto and Tyler, got some Gypsy's.





We got Max and Lia some classic Top Dogs. Man I miss Top Dog. I can't tell you how fun it was to take my own kids to this place. Some of my favorite memories are eating Top Dog, a bag of chips and drinking root beer at like 1 in the morning with my roommate Alice. Sigh, good times!





And even after all that food Tyler still found the room for a slice of Fat Slice. I'm still not quite sure how he did it.



We then headed over to San Francisco to spend the night.



Let's just say the first night did NOT go as planned. That's putting it lightly. It was really a disaster. Our hotel room was not what we thought it would be. Sure, it was unique and cute and fancy but it was so small that we thought we'd have to put the kids in the same pack and play until we realized we might not even be able to fit that in the room.







A lot of things went badly that night. By the time we got everyone to bed it was after 10. And of course the kids were up BRIGHT and early the next morning. We spent WAY to long trying to find a place to eat breakfast and by the time we got in line for the cable cars something had broken down and the power was out so we didn't even get to ride on them. I was pretty sad for Max. He was so excited to get to do all this stuff and most things just ended up falling through. He at least got his picture standing on one.









Apparently this side of if was scarier than the other sides because it set off some unknown tantrum. Oh, it could have been that he wasn't feeling good and he was tired from getting about 6 hours of sleep (his usual is 12) and he was hungry.



Our next stop was the Golden Gate Bridge. Max has been talking and learning about the Golden Gate Bridge for at least 2 years. He sees pictures on our wall of it and knows it's in San Francisco and is fascinated by it. He was SO SO excited to get to see it and even more excited that he could WALK on it and TOUCH it.





This is what you get when you ask him to smile.



This, too.



After that we really only had time for one more stop so we decided to head over to Kara's Cupcakes for a treat. Okay, so mostly I just wanted one of their chocolate peanut butter cupcakes but everyone else seemed to be on board. It was a big hit. We even got some to share with select and special family members.





These cupcakes are seriously delicious. Whoever got to try some at the hotel should feel very very lucky I didn't eat them all before they had the chance.



Max thought they were pretty dang good.



He took the tropicana approach at one point. And then decided it didn't work as well as licking it to death.



After San Francisco we headed over to the East Bay for some naps at our hotel in Oakland. Since Tyler's sister Andrea was getting married the next day in Oakland the whole family was staying in a hotel there. Max and I actually napped together in the same bed for the first time in both of our lives. It took him a good hour to settle down and actually fall asleep, but after that we both slept great. When everyone was awake and ready to go we headed over to Berkeley.








Max was pretty excited to be in Berkeley. We showed him Memorial Stadium. He LOVES Cal football and was so happy that he got to see them practicing in Memorial Stadium. He got to see the Campanile and do some shopping for some Cal shirts. It's pretty neat that he loves Berkeley so much. Tyler and I have a very special place in our hearts for this place and it's fun to share it with our kids. I hope he keeps liking it as he grows older.



After that we headed back to our hotel in Oakland to meet up with the family. There were a lot of extended family visiting for Andrea's wedding, including Andy's new hubby's family. It was fun to meet them and see some of Tyler's family that we hadn't seen in years. It was nice to get to know Levi a little better, too. It was kind of a big happy Family Home Evening. Everyone that was there got to share a special memory they had of Andy or Levi and it was pretty awesome to hear what everyone had to say.







And that concludes Part 1 of our Big Trip.