Halloween

I know it's almost Christmas but I just have to post a few cute pictures of Halloween so I can move on to the Christmas pictures. Here we go!

This next photo is of a pumpkin Wells preschool teacher carved. I had to include it because it has braces!  So cute. 

San Francisco getaway

For our golden anniversary (7 years on the 7th of October) Wade gave me this sweet card:

Yup. You read it right. "Pack your bags. We're going to San Fransisco." He gave me two weeks to prepare and wean Chandler. 

We left on October 25th and we came home on the 27th.  It was a short trip but we had such a good time. It started off a little rocky with our flight being cancelled because of mechanical problems while we were sitting on the plane.  After talking with customer service we found another flight that left about four hours later. But to be honest we didn't let that get us down. Even though we were stuck in the airport we had so much fun laughing and catching up on our everyday lives without being interrupted by the kids.  We really do enjoy each other's company. 

Once we got to San Francisco we hopped on the BART (Bus And Rail Transit) that took us downtown. There we bought tickets to ride the trolley to China Town. 

Oh by the way when I way "WE", I really mean Wade. He did all the navigating, buying the tickets, figuring were to eat, and where to go to get the best experience. He even held my license and tickets for me so all I had to do was follow him and enjoy the city. He really is a gem. 

We hopped off the trolly in China Town and did what you're suppose to do... shopped. Then we went to a really good Chinese restaurant and ate Peking Duck. It was a first for me, and it was really good.

After china town we went to our hotel. Wade using is magic powers of persuasion got us an upgraded room with an amazing view.

Then after dropping of our backpacks at the hotel we walked to Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory and had a really good, very rich ice cream sunday.  Mmmmm I could go for one right now.  Then we walked around the little shops on Ghirardelli's Square.

The next morning we headed to our Alcatraz tour.  This was the boat that took us the mile and a quarter of shore to the island.

While we were there they let a hand full of us in to one of the cells to see what solitary confinement would feel like.  After filing in they shut the big metal door and it was pitch black!  You couldn't even see your hand right in front of your face.  They said some prisoners would stay there for up to TWO MONTHS!!!  All you had was your thoughts.

This next picture is the court yard that the prisoners used for exercise.  I thought it was an interesting view because in the distance you can see the Golden Gate Bridge and the city of San Fransisco.  It was just in sight for them to see real life that it was like torture for them.

After spending the whole morning at Alcatraz we were pretty hungry, so we stopped in for a San Fransisco staple.  Clam chowder in a sour dough bowl.  Very good.

After lunch we were ready to bike across the Golden Gate Bridge.  It took us two and a half hours round trip.  On our way we looked at all the beautiful homes on the shore line, we took a lot of pictures, we walked up the huge hills, we stopped in at the warming hut for some hot chocolate, we looked down at the water and took in the view once we reached the middle of the bridge, we watched the wind boarders on the water, and we took our time just soaking up the people, sights, and smells. 

After we dropped off the bikes we headed over to see the famous Lombard Street.

At this point we were pretty hungry from all the biking and walking around.  A few weeks before we left Wade made some reservations at this really good seafood restaurant on Pier 39.  We both ate an entire crab.  Mmmmmm  I could go for that right now too. 

While there it was the Pier 39's 35th anniversary so they had a sweet firework show just off the pier.  Wade knew this was happening so he made the dinner reservations so that just as we were done eating the firework show started.  It was pretty romantic ;)
Then to end our night we stopped in a chocolate store for dessert.  We grabbed a box of the best fudge I have EVER had in my entire life.  It was called Heavenly Goo and boy was it heavenly.  Mmmmmmm I could go for some of that right now.

 

The next morning we slept in (which was wonderful, I don't remember the last time I've slept in) then ate breakfast in the hotel and just relaxed for a couple of hours.  We both read our books and just sat.  It was so nice.  Then we headed off to the airport to come home.

Even though it was a wonderful weekend we sure missed the boys.  We're so grateful to our family who watched them for us. 

Virgina Part 4

This first photo shows the way we walked everywhere. And we walked a lot!  Wells loved it because he didn't have to walk and Chandler loved it because he loved his brother holding him. He got quite a few stares and a lot of smiles and a few "awwwww. That's so cute!"

We had the opportunity to tour through the U.S. Navel Hospital Ship.  The Comfort.  It had everything a hospital would and even a dental unit (which I found really interesting).  The actual tour was very long and for a four year old and a one year old it was very boring. Let's just say we were all glad when it was over.  Although if we didn't have the kids I'm sure it would have been very interesting.

This was our tour guide.  He gave Wells the sticker he's holding and Wells just thought it was the coolest thing EVER!

One of the days Wade was really busy preparing for his keynote speech and he needed some time alone to prepare.  So I took the kids to a Children's museum in Portsmouth.  It think it was probably the first time that I've driven myself somewhere other than Utah.  I was a bit scared but I did not want to sit in the hotel room all afternoon.  Anyway the next pictures are of the cool museum.

Virgina part 3 (day at the beach)

Wade had an afternoon off and we decided to go to the beach. We talked to some of the locals and found a nice quiet beach. This was by far my favorite thing we did the entire trip. It was so fun to have just our little family together and bond. Oh and a little side note... I forgot my swim suit so we had to stop at Walmart and find one... Let me just tell you that shopping for a swim suit is a woman's worst nightmare. Now add on a little more stress because I had to find one from Walmart (not that there's anything wrong with Walmart but they don't have the best selection of swim suits). Now tack on some more stress because you have three boys staring at you wondering why you haven't chosen a suit in 4.5 minutes. Plus I didn't have time to try any of them on, plus we were trying to save money... I was a hot mess by the time we walked out of there. 

Chandler was so happy until the water touched him. 

Chandler was all tuckered out, so he took a little snooze in the shade