Turlock

Ever since my parents made the move to Turlock (my dad in January, my mom in March), I've been wanting to go visit and see their new city and get a feel for where they're now living.  Turlock is in northern California about 1.5 hours from Sacramento, where we flew into. We didn't want to make plans to fly down before Lucy was born as we wanted to see if she would be easy to travel with (we took a few not-so-fun trips with Ella as a baby and didn't want a repeat!).  Thankfully, Lucy continues to be such an easy baby so we decided to make the trip!  Even though Cody had to work most of the trip (so nice he can work remotely from anywhere), we had a wonderful time.  The girls traveled great, Ella spent most days playing in the pool, and Lucy took lots of naps in any shade we could find.  It was HOT everyday, so the pool at my parent's house was the perfect way to cool off.  I got to hand my girls off to my parents and even enjoy some down time floating on an air mattress in the pool by myself...my perfect vacation.  My parent's new house is great - they have plenty of room for us to all stay, all the baby gear we would need and not have to travel with (plus diapers, wipes, etc. that my mom had bought for us so we could travel lighter - thanks mom!).  They also have an abundance of fruit trees on their property - Ella loved picking fresh fruit with grandpa every morning to have for breakfast.  Such a treat to have fresh grapefruit for breakfast and peach cobbler for dessert with fresh peaches picked that day.  As with most of our trips, we took a ton of pictures, so prepare for picture overload!

 Our little travelers...Lucy's first plane ride!

 Ella was thrilled she got to watch her favorite movie, Tangled...

 Cute matching swimsuits courtesy of Grandma!

Ella couldn't wait to get in the pool with all the fun pool toys Grandma had ready for her...

 This little peanut was content hanging out/napping in her bassinet in the shade...

 Lucy ready for her first dip in the pool...

 She wasn't too sure about it :)

 We made the trek into San Francisco for a day.  It's about a 2 hour trip into the city from where my parents live.  We drove about 1.5 hours and then caught the BART train to take us in the rest of the way so we wouldn't have to deal with parking.  Thankfully, there were four of us adults to manage our two kids and all the gear that came with them.  The BART drivers were going on strike starting the Monday after we were there, so apparently they were "getting ready" to strike by turning off the air on the train over the weekend. It made for a fun/smelly/hot/crowded ride, especially when trying to nurse a baby on the train under a nursing cover in 100+ degree weather :).  Once we got to Fisherman's Wharf, we had a great lunch at Boudin Sourdough Bread Company and then took a boat cruise that took us out in the bay and under the Golden Gate Bridge.  Such a great way to see the city on a beautiful day!

 

 A long day with no nap, plus multiple failed attempts to find dinner on the way home led to a backseat meltdown from this frazzled girl until she finally conked out...

 We got to listen to lots of piano playing pounding from Ella as well as her serenading us with the many songs she made up...

 Pretty girls!

 Lucy lounging poolside...

 Ella's first trip to In N Out...

 We got to see our friends Julie and Jeret and their sweet son Jaxson who also live in Turlock.  Cody, Jeret and my dad went golfing while we played in the pool...

 My parents watched these three cuties another night so Cody and I could go out to a kids-free dinner with Julie and Jeret...

More fun in the pool...

 My mom and I took the girls to the coast so we could check out the beaches around Carmel and Monterey.  When we got there it was still a bit foggy, but it didn't stop Ella from literally diving into the white sand.  She was so excited to roll around in the sand and didn't care that she had loads of sand in her clothes - surprising coming from our usually non-messy girl!

After stopping in the charming town of Carmel, we drove up 17 Mile Drive - a beautiful drive with amazing estates surrounding Pebble Beach Golf Course.  We stopped for a picnic lunch at a secluded little beach that had a few picnic tables and decided to stay there the rest of the day.  We pretty much had the beach to ourselves and didn't realize at first that just a short walk up the bluff was a busy tourist area where we could see/hear sea lions and seals playing in the water.

Thanks for a GREAT week mom and dad!  So special to be with you and can't wait to come back and visit again!