So I'm sitting here thinking I would go ahead and talk about ... something. I have things I think to talk about, but then when I sit down to write about it, it comes out something like "Yeah ... so I was mad and it SUCKED aaaaaaand ... there ya go" or something less coherent than that. Lucky you guys ;-)

So I will instead go to my good ol stand by ... stories through pictures!

So the first weekend in June, DH had a whole one day off so we decided to go for a drive. We went up to a place he has been DYING to show me since we were dating. It's about an hour from here so it was just a quick trip for us ;-)

It's a place called Natural Bridges. It's one of the California cavern clusters that are all over the place up here.


It's in a GORGEOUS location up in the mountains, and as you can see ^^ there is an almost mile long hike to get there. So I figured this would be a great way for us to get some exercise! I guess I didn't think about how steep and rocky and off-roady it would be for a 2 year old...

So we set off on our little adventure with our pack full of snacks, water and wine and cheese of course!

After about a 30 min trek trying to keep the Baby from throwing herself off the cliff or roll down it, and trying to teach the Boy it was NOT a good idea to tease bees ... we FINALLY got there. Natural Bridges is a cave that actually has a river flowing through it. You can swim or take a boat all the way through infact, but not a great idea if you have a baby with you.

The kids played in the "river" catchin bugs and malaria

DH did his best to make sure they didn't fall or drown...

Baby found a lovely tinly little water fall to drench herself completely in ...

And I ... took pictures!

They came out pretty good though!

Then we went back up stream a bit and into the caaaaaave ... duh duh duh duuuuuuuh

At the back of the cave there is where the hole is that goes through to the other end. I guess there is a portion of it where the sun never touches ... I'm told it's cold there ... It's a good thing I take my DH places I tell you what! Or I'da never known it'da been COLD in dere! ;-)
While they played in the cold ass cave water ...
I opened up the wine.


When DH and I were dating, we would take a bottle of wine and just drive places. He always took me to these great little off the beaten path places and we would sit and talk and drink a glass of wine and stuuuuuff ;-) It was our favorite thing to do on the weekends.

Knowing this, one of my BFFs gave me for Christmas one of the THE BEST presents EVER! This awesome backpack came with all the picnicy supplies for four, plus a CORKSCREW! and cheese knife! It's like it was MADE FOR ME. It's HUGE inside and is insulated and has capabilities to hold ice and all kids of good stuff. And the best part (besides the wine of course) is that it's also a backpack! LOVE IT!!!! We take it EVERYWHERE! So thanks Sherry, it's the best thing EVER!

And this is me ... enjoying it :-D

And again, that's it for pictures HALF WAY during the trip because my stupid picture card SUCKS! And only holds like 30 at a time! WHO only takes 30 pictures in a day?!?!?! ;-)

Well . . . I've been busy :-D

Back in May, we made the executive decision that since my DH had been working NON STOP sometimes with no real day off, we needed to get out of town over night and RELAX. So he took off two days during the week (LOVE that we can do that now!) and go stay overnight in Stinson Beach. We decided to take my mom with us because she could use the break too, and we could use another adult to bunk with the kids :-D

So we took off early Wednesday morning and picked up my girls at their dads house, had breakfast, and were on our way!

Our first stop was Muir Beach. I didn't get any scenic pictures since my stupid photo card was filling up quickly, but I did capture the way Terrible Two spends MOST of her time ... covered in crap.

That beach was ok, but the surf was kinda high, the beach sloped off dramatically, and it was kinda cold, so we set off for our destination of Stinson Beach. Once we got around the mountain and onto that part of the coast we were PLESANTLY suprised! We checked into our hotel and headed out!

To see the sun! And blue skies! And calmer waves and a shallower beach! It was just beautiful, about as close to perfect weather as we could have asked for.

The kids had the BEST time! So did we, it was just amazing, one of those perfect kind of days.

So when we were done and it was getting close to dinner time we went back to the hotel to dry off and make some food!

Our hotel was AWESOME! We rented a smaller room for DH and I, and a bigger room with a kitchen and seperate room for my mom and the girls :-D So I start making a pasta salad to go with the chicken we decide to BBQ. DH goes back down to the beach to BBQ since it was only about 2 blocks away. I was going to make the pasta and then we would all join him down there.

And we did ... sorta. As you can see, Terrible Two is not in this picture. Since she had had no nap, and hates me, she refused to sit down and eat so she ran around in circles chasing birds or something crazy. Weeeeeeell, dinner didn't work out QUITE as we planned.

The chicken wasn't cooking because it was windy, the pasta was cold, and we were all stressing. So I ran up to the little restaurant on the beach right behind us and ordered a pizza :-/ . Then I made the mistake of taking Terrible with me to pick it up. OHHHHH MY LORD. Honestly, she is LUCKY there were no kind looking gypsies there or I might have given her to them.

I got there and they said it still had 8 minutes ... it was to be the longest 8 minutes of my life. She screamed, she ran around, she ran into people who were quietly sipping their expensive wine in this lovely restaurant, she threw herself on the floor and cried like I had thrown her down. It was truly horrible. I did everything I could think of to make her stop, but as many of you know, sometimes there is just nothing you can do, the tantrum takes on a life of it's own.

So we left with the pizza and went back. I was as close to tears and exploding with anger as I have ever been. I tried to explain to them why I wanted give my child away but really, they just couldn't grasp it. Basically it set the rest of the night off on a BAD NOTE.

After we were done, we packed up and went back to the hotel. DH was feeling really bad and had a swollen throat, so I let him rest and went over to get the girls settled in for the night. I tried to lay down with Terrible Two in the other room, she cried HYSTERICALLY for about 30 minutes before she gave in to pure exhaustion and was out like a light.

The next day we got up early and went out for coffee. The little general store downtown had the fresh brewed stuff so we sat outside awhile waiting for them to open - we are early birds I guess. We talked and snuggled and just tried to enjoy our few remaining moments alone, got our coffee and went back to the hotel to make breakfast.

As soon as we were done and loaded up and checked out (still only about 9:30) we headed for the beach. It was a little cooler, but just as beautiful, and TOTALLY empty!

We decided to walk down the LONG stretch of beach towards some tide pools. The tide was out so the kids were finding all KINDS of neat stuff. They would stop and collect shells and sand dollars and Terrible just picked up a bunch of rocks. It was like and Easter Egg hunt except FUN! ;-)

Along the way we ran into a tree hugger who had found a star fish and was about to put it back in the ocean. The kids thought it was pretty damn cool!

We walked all the way down to some huge rocks and some tide pools. We played there for a bit until Princess was running from some waves and didn't notice the VERY deep pocket of water around some of the rocks.

She fell (dove) RIGHT in the whole time we were yelling STOOOOOOP! She pretty much went in flat on her tummy and was COMPLETELY soaked. So it was time to head to dryer places.

We stopped at this little lunch place right off the beach and fed the kids peanut butter and jelly ;-) and we got fish and chips - omg soooo good! The kids played at this awesome little playground while we sat and ate our lunch in relative peace. It was a PERFECT spot though with the FENCED IN playground right there though.

After lunch it was off to Muir Woods. Which as I understand it is basically like Big Trees but on the coast.

It was just gorgeous there, it really was. And as you can see, there are family sized trees big enough to camp inside of!

The kids had so much fun here. They really love being out in nature and seeing all this stuff and learning about it. At the end of the hour long trail we learned about the snack bar :-D And how fast two kids can eat an ice cream when they have to share with their baby sister.

It was a really great trip over all though. The (older) kids were AMAZING and so interested and so fun to watch. My mom had a GREAT time too. I think it was fun for her to see them and be with them in a relaxed and fun setting like this. I know they just LOVED it. So did we! It was nice to be able to have our own room, right across the courtyard from them - close and yet far enough away ;-) We will FOR SURE do it again.

Well, that's it for May, so I guess I just have June to get caught up on! YAY!