We went to San Francisco for our family vacation this year. First we went to Santa Cruz for a couple days to stay on the beach. It was fun to stay on the beach, but northern California beaches are not warm. They are cold. But still a beach. So us Utahns endure. Josh's favorite place to be is on some ride anywhere.
Santa Cruz has an amusement park right on the boardwalk next to our hotel. So yes, we spent some serious time there. The boy just is in heaven on a ride and smiles the whole time. Luckily for me, Haley and Troy like rides, so that gets me off the hook. Max rode a few rides but would rather throw sand in the ocean, well after we name the sand Harold, then we set it free.
After Santa Cruz, we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which was awesome, and then drove to San Francisco. We went to the Wharf, China Town, Japan Town, rode cable cars, Golden Gate Bridge, Sausalito, Redwoods (near Santa Cruz) and North Beach (which is like a little Italy and next trip I am going there more). We ate a lot, shopped a lot and completely wore ourselves out. We even found this weird guy hanging around. Hey look it's uncle Kenny!
He was a great tour guide and we always knew where to find him, at this bar near the Wharf. The trip was fun. We had a good time being together and seeing all the sites. I learned a few things from vacationing with kids. Number one, before you leave for your vacation, tell the kids they all get $100 to spend on their stuff. Keep a little notebook for each one. We started that little game about the second day and it saved us. Next, I would schedule a little down time day about the third day in. Just a swimming at the hotel, watching tv, maybe go out to dinner. Pack light and do laundry at the hotel. It's way better than lugging tons of luggage (and cheaper too since the airlines charge for each bag). Vacations are crazy. I came home just wiped out. But we all had such a fun time and it was nice to be together.
