CA trip

We took a quick weekend trip to Sacramento, California to visit family and friends the end of September. I was a bit nervous about sitting on a plane for 4 hours with my super-active little boy, but he did quite well on the trip there. He enjoyed playing with a cup of water and spoon for a long time, and I also got some cheap toys (a plastic tool set) to introduce when things got rough. He also enjoyed running up and down the aisles and entertaining the other passengers along the way. After we landed, we got our rental car and decided to get lunch at Roundtable Pizza (Alex had been talking about it for weeks before we left) It was very tasty, and was good to relax after our long flight. We then got back in the car and drove to Vallejo (a suburb of San Francisco) to visit Alex’s sister Helena. Little Alex was pretty grumpy by the time we arrived since he hadn’t slept much, but Helena’s little dog Abby put him in a much better mood. They had fun playing with tennis balls on the floor while we visited. We got some yummy gelato, and had dinner at Black Angus before heading back to Sacramento. It was a very tiring day (especially for little Alex) so we were looking forward to getting to our hotel and going straight to bed. Unfortunately we had some issues when we arrived to check in, and had to change rooms twice (one room had the wrong size bed and the other had a lock that didn’t work).

The next day we met up with our friends Nick and Lesley and their 16 month old daughter Sophia, and took a trip to San Francisco. Little Alex slept almost the whole 90 min. trip and was ready to go when we arrived. We met up with some other friends (Tony and Sarah and their 3 kids) and had some yummy sourdough sandwiches at one of the restaurants along Pier 39. After that we took the kids to the aquarium. It had a long water tunnel full of various fish and sharks and even a scuba diver! Here are some pics:

We spent the rest of the afternoon strolling around the Pier (it was unseasonably warm in SF that day), watching the sea lions, and riding the carousel:

After walking around the Pier for awhile, we went to Tony and Sarah’s house for dinner. Sarah is a wonderful cook and made a yummy roast, mac and cheese, and potato salad. Little Alex had a blast playing with the other kids and checking out all the cool toys.

Sunday morning we went to Mass with Nick and Lesley and then went to breakfast with them and their parents. While we were waiting for our food, Nick and Lesley announced that they are expecting again (Yay!) and it was fun to see the reactions of all the grandparents! Prayers for a happy and healthy pregnancy for mom and baby!

We spent the rest of the day relaxing at Nick and Lesley’s house. The boys watched the 49er’s game, and Lesley and I visited and played with the kids. That evening Helena came up and we went to the Elephant Bar for dinner.

Monday morning we headed to the airport for our trip back home. It was so great to see Helena and our friends, but it was nice to get home and get back into a routine. We are grateful our little traveler did so well on not much sleep, and that everything went smoothly. Thanks everyone- we had an awesome time!