Here's a video of our trip to San Francisco. We had so much fun! Here's a three and a half minute video that goes through a little of what we did. We hope you enjoy watching it - we sure had fun doing it all!
(P.S.- turn your volume down a little before you watch this. It's a little louder than I meant it to be.)
Fair Use Act legal stuff: I forgot to cite it in the video, but the song is "School's Out" from the Graduation Album by the Glee cast, and you can find it on iTunes. This video is non-profit and always will be. This is the only site on which it is shared.
My family, led by my sister Angie, takes a trip to the Fort Bragg area every year for a big campout. As you may remember, Suzanne is not that enthusiastic about camping, but we enjoyed ourselves anyway. Here's a family picture on Glass Beach. Carter was trying to smile as wide as he could. We've spoken to him since then about how you smile in photos and you'll get to see some better ones later.
McKay in the red lifejacket, Carter in blue, playing in the ocean at Sanddollar Beach. We've seen too many kids get rolled farther out than they wanted by the waves, so we always put our boys in PFD's when we hit the ocean beach. Carter got much bolder than I wanted, going up to his chest in the water. I imagined him floating out to sea in a riptide, so they didn't get to play as long as they wanted. Angie joked that I was "playing lifeguard". Or maybe that was Leigh... Anyway, the next day their older cousin Colton posted on facebook that "a riptide almost took my life" so I felt justified. They all had fun, and Colton learned a valuable lesson: never underestimate the power of the ocean.
The boys with their personal lifeguard (already suited up in a lifejacket... Just in case!)
That was the end of our trip to Fort Bragg, but not the last trip to the ocean this summer. Suzanne's mom and sister came over from Idaho and Las Vegas, respectively, and Suzanne and the boys took off to Eureka for some more beach fun.
They had fun seeing the sights too. I hear Carter got excited when he saw the famous Carter House Inn.
On the trail to Agate Beach. McKay swinging from the railing.
Checking out the Giant Redwoods.
My dad and I drove over from Redding to spend the last two days with my family, and it's thanks to him we were able to get some great family photos, like these next two standing inside a burned out Giant Redwood.
I used to show pictures like this to people I'd meet in Spain. They always made comments like "The things they can do with computers these days! You look like little elves." Their jaws would hit the floor when I'd tell them the trees really are that big. I'm still amazed.
McKay on a tractor in the zoo's "Barnyard"
Carter on a horse in the Barnyard.
Down the street there's the park where they filmed "Return of the Jedi". It looks a lot different than I remember, but that was twenty years ago. They boys had a lot of fun there, but then, they have fun everywhere.
The most amazing part of the trip in my opinion was driving up to Klamath where the whale was lost under the bridge. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to see a wild whale that close. We watched her as she swam in slow circles west of the bridge, hoping she'd find her way back to the ocean. We were very sad to see in the news that she passed away a few days ago.
