Time Well Spent

A couple weeks ago, my mom, sister, and my sister's friend all came down to Cali for a 3 day, mini vacay.  There wasn't too much on the agenda for the weekend, because the main event was going to be Saturday.  My sweet, little niece, Mya, was turning one.  I, sadly had to work the majority of Saturday so while I was busy slaving away, they went down to the pool and soaked up some of the extremely hot weather we were experiencing here in Sacramento.  But then finally the night rolled around, and we all gathered for a picnic in celebration of Mya.  She was so cute opening her presents and attacking her cake.  Then the party took a turn and after Chris convinced my sister to throw a cake in my brother's face the war was on.  Luckily, the only casualties were Mya's birthday cake and a couple cupcakes.
(A video of a cake fight between Amanda and Vince was posted here)  This is after my brother dodged a cake in the face from my sister and he decided that he wanted to get his revenge.  All the commotion scared little Mya and you can hear her crying in the background, but I think the most disturbing part, is the evil little laughs you can hear coming from my husband (he is working the camera).  He was so proud that his little plan worked.  They do all the dirty work, while he sits back, and enjoys the show.  HAHAHA!! Genius!

Sunday, we all decided to jump in our cars and drive to Santa Cruz.  It was well over 100 degrees in Sacramento, but once we hit Santa Cruz the temperature dropped.  It was very chilly there.  Needless to say there was no ocean swimming, but I totally didn't mind lounging on the sand and enjoyed just listening to the waves crash while watching Chris do some skim boarding (he is pretty dang good at it for being from Idaho).  He was anxious to try out the new board that he had purchased on the Boardwalk.  After the girls did some shopping on the Pier we went to dinner at a local diner and then headed back home.  We were stuck in traffic FOREVER!, but eventually we did make it back. 

On Monday, Chris decided to let him and I have the day off so that we could all drive to San Francisco and enjoy that beautiful city.  It was going to be a very fast trip, but my sister's friend had never been there and we wanted to make sure that she saw it.  So my mom showed us Ghirardelli Square where we totally ate dessert before our dinner.  This is where I stumbled upon a delectable, all organic, gourmet cupcake from a little place called, "Kara's Cupcakes".  OH MY GOODNESS!  It was completely sinful... a little pricey... but totally worth it! Loved it!  We then all walked down to Fisherman's Wharf to do a little shopping.  After a while, as the girls went their separate way to continue their shopping, Chris, my mom, and I stopped at Boudin Bakery to warm up (it was chilly there too) with a clam chowder sourdough bowl.  As we ate, we sat around an outside fire place and enjoyed the views and sounds that San Francisco had to offer. Before we left, my mom helped us find an amazingly beautiful scenic overlook of the entire city.  It was breathtaking. Thanks Mom.

Sadly, this trip came to an end way too fast.  But before saying our goodbyes, my mom treated us all to a huge breakfast at a local diner.  Yummy.  We all had a great weekend where we experienced a party, site seeing of some of my favorite places, had fun with late night dips in the pool, and enjoyed the time that we had to just be together.