Amazing California Spring Break

March 19-26:
I have always wanted to visit San Francisco.  I would really have loved to stay more than just the 3 days we had for Spring Break and it's definitely a city I would go back to and explore some more.  But, I feel like we squeezed a whole bunch of fun in those few days!

March 20:

Of course we had to take a cable car ride.  It was crazy how steep the hills are that these cars ride on!

A shot of the cable car heading down a steep hill.  You can see Alcatraz out on the island in the distance.

At the bottom of the hill we hopped off the cable car and went straight to Ghirardelli Square where we all ate ourselves sick with chocolate milk shakes and hot fudge sundaes!

Next up was our ferry ride out to Alcatraz.  It was a fun little ride even though it was a bit cold and rainy.

We took a very interesting tour through the old jail house.  I loved all the fun historic stories that we got to listen to with our guided headphone tour.

Family photo op at Alcatraz

After the ferry ride back to the mainland we headed over to Pier 39.  The boys were so hungry that they devoured the hot dogs we bought for them!

The twins and Hyrum played a 3D laser tag game and after the game was finished Hyrum came out with the highest score..."Legendary"

It was fun watching the sea lions hanging out on the pier.  

March 21:

It wasn't raining when we woke up so we decided to head over to Golden Gate Park.  We walked there from our apartment, which was about a mile away.  The boys loved seeing all the fun colored row houses that make up most San Francisco neighborhoods.  Once in the park we followed some beautiful walking paths through the park to the playground.

Playing on the "slide" at the playground.

Little Julian climbing around

The twins at the top of the climbing tower

All the boys playing on the giant wave structure

Family photo op at the park!

Walking from the playground to the science center it started pouring down rain.  We luckily found this little bench that was covered by a giant shrub.  It kept us dry for a few minutes until the rain stopped and we could keep walking.  

Once we got to the science center Hyrum took the twins back to the apartment.  I guess they had enough walking around and just wanted some down time.  Julian and I went into the science center. It was an amazing place with aquariums, rainforests and even a earthquake simulator!

After Julian and I got back from the museum we hung out at the apartment for a while.  If there is anything we have learned while traveling with kids it's that you need to plan down time to let kids regroup and get ready for another adventure.  It turns out our next adventure was China Town.  We were dodging rain showers a bit but we enjoyed our time walking around and the boys each got some souvenirs  

Julian and I in China Town!!

Last stop of the day...crazy, twisty, Lombard Street!  We were officially exhausted by the end of this day so we splurged and took a taxi back to our apartment.  We walked, got rained on, saw some cool things but man it was good to be in bed that night!!!

March 22:

Of course the most beautiful day in San Francisco was the day we were driving out.  We couldn't resist a stop at the beach before we left.

A great shot with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.  The boys promised they wouldn't get wet but after about 15 minutes they were all drenched, cold and ready to get new clothes on.  We knew that would happen...it always happens when the boys play by the water:)

It was really a cool beach, the boys loved how foamy the waves were that washed in.  After the beach and the boys got dry clothes we headed out for our long drive to Malibu.

On the way we stopped at "The Mystery Spot" which we had read about and wanted to see BUT there was a huge line and we didn't feel like waiting so we will just have to try another time.

March 23:

Beach Day!!  Out of our week in California we only had one day scheduled for the beach.  It wasn't raining but it wasn't exactly warm either so the boys didn't really spend much time in the water but we had a fun time at the beaches in Malibu.

I must have a million photos of my children running away from the waves at the beach:)

The twins were brave enough to give boogie boarding a try but they were freezing after they got out of the water!

They had fun climbing on the rocks and hopping down into the sand.  I was amazed at how high the boys could climb around on those rocks in their crummy little flip flops!

We buried Julian in the sand!

March 24:

The big reason we could convince our kids to drive 12 hours through California is because there was the reward of "6 Flags Magic Mountain" at the end.  And not only were they going to play all day at an amazing amusement park that had roller coasters that would make their mom pee her pants BUT...

...They got to hang out with some old friends all day.  Their friends Jaxsen and Rollie Jaussie used to live in our ward in Oregon but they moved to California.  Lucky for us their mom was willing to drive them to 6 Flags so they could hang with my boys all day.  It was fabulous because all the big boys went together on the crazy scary roller coasters and Hyrum and I could hang out with Julian on the kiddy rides all day.  I did actually go on one scary roller coaster but it scared me half to death so one was plenty for me.  The twins went on all the scary rides they could find and ended up riding one 14 times in a row right at the end of the day!  I'm pretty sure this was the best part of Spring Break for them!

After leaving the park we drove back to our apartment that we rented in Malibu.  Then the next 2 days were driving and more driving until we got home on Saturday afternoon.  It was a very long car trip but we listened to some good books on tape and the boys each had an iPad so that reduced the time spent fighting in the car:)  I loved our California Spring Break and would love to go back!