2009 summer vacation

This summer brought a new and different aspect to our lives. As Alan has been out of work, we took a real family vacation. One where we went lots of places and where Alan was with us the whole time. In years past he has just stayed a day or two with us and then had to head back to work. It was fun to be together seeing new sights and experiencing lots of new things. We enjoyed the experience.

We started our vacation driving over to San Bernadino for Tessa to play in a soccer tournament. The girls played well, and the weather was lovely. The next stop we went to was Pismo Beach. The water was a little on the cool side but we had fun several days enjoying the sand and the ocean. We drove up Highway 1 in California (very windy roads and gorgeous scenery) and passed through Alan's high school days stomping ground in San Jose.

Our next stop was San Francisco. We stayed outside of the city and road the train in. We bought passes for transportation and rode all over the city. I think it was the first time we all had been on a city bus together. The kids loved it. On our final day when we were leaving the city, Alan and the kids biked across the Golden Gate Bridge. They loved it.



Our next stop was the beautiful Lake Tahoe. I had never been. I didn't realize how big and beautiful it was. We had a wonderful day on the shore of the lake kayaking, peddling a big water bike and enjoying the perfect weather.




Then on to Utah to spend the 4th of July with family. We have a wonderful tradition around the fourth and it was important for my kids to be there. And there is no place on earth that celebrates the 4th of July like Utah; especially Utah county. Alan and Tessa got up early on the 4th and ran the 10K. They both did fabulous.

We all get together and play frizbee football and baseball and whatever else game we care to play, we eat and have our GORP (really fun trailmix with everyone's favorite sugared cereal and candy mixed in a plastic baggie) and watch the fireworks. It's tradition and last year when we didn't make it to Utah for the 4th, I heard about it for the whole year.
While we were in Utah my niece Chrissy took these FABULOUS family pictures for us. There are so many good ones that I had a hard time deciding which ones to put on this blog. Know that there were a lot more than I am showing.






It was a wonderful vacation. One I hope stays with us a long time.