California Dreaming // Toddler Wrangling

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.  And that's what happens when you travel with your little family that consists of half toddlers.  Last month, we took a little trip to San Fransisco, a trip we take every year to visit friends and family (you can see last year's trip here!). We especially love to see my great-grandmother (my kids' great-great-grandmother) and now, our newest family member, our sweet baby niece (and her parents)!  I think officially, the San Fransisco area holds our oldest and youngest family members. ;)
This year, we actually stayed outside of the city at my my husband's brother's home - which we are so lucky to get to do, especially now since they have a little babe of their own.  After the kids would go to sleep, we could hang out and catch up with them (or watch the Royals, as it was the beginning of the World Series).  We also decided to explore areas we hadn't been with the kids before, and actually didn't even go into the city this time!  Those new adventures were super fun!
Ah, but getting to sunny California...  and the time change, and the lack of naps, and the later nights, and the barf-inducing hills (seriously... all over the car seat), and all the stuff we had to bring - and then drag around (car seats on car seats), all inducing extra special temper tantrums that left us wondering why we took this trip at times.
But the good outweighed those moments and the memories we will chose to remember or those of wander and awe, laughs, and exploration...

The little toy cars were lifesavers as we waited for different things - like for our rental car. They rolled these little cars all over the place!

We just loved meeting baby, Brynn! She is the sweetest baby (and was the most well-behaved cousin this trip!).  And it was fun to do a little adventuring with them, too. They took us to Half Moon Bay to play in the ocean (but actually, really), which happened to be a super foggy morning - but it looked really cool.

The ocean actually wasn't as cold as it's felt in year's past (when I've been brave enough to stick my feet in Northern Cali's water) - and Liam loved chasing the waves and running away. And of course he got soaked - well, we all did a little bit - and sandy, so so sandy. But his laughs were infectious and we all had fun (except Nora who never let us put her down).

After the beach, despite being a little salty, we hit up the little town area for lunch. By this time, the fog had lifted and we enjoyed a sunny afternoon eating outside!

Another day, we gave the new parents a break and drove our little family to Muir Woods to walk the path among some of the tallest trees!  This was a great place to let the kids run! The loved the nice smooth path and then stopped along the way to admire the tall trees and huge trunks!  Since it was a weekday, it wasn't too busy and parking was fine - but I've heard parking can be a real issue, so you want to go early or on a weird day!

After Muir Woods, on our way home - we stopped at Marin Headlands to check out the view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Ever since Liam was a baby, we've had lots of books about San Fransisco, so he's always excited to see this bridge, and boy did he love the view. Nora slept right through it, and we let her because boy did she need the sleep...

Big thanks to Tim and Diana for letting us stay with them (that's a lot of ruckus to take on as new parents!), and our other family and friends who visited with us, met us out and took us in.  We can't wait until our next visit!

{Some Outfit Details: Liam's orange pirate shirt and comfy sweat pants c/o FabKids; Nora's purple moccasins c/o Freshly Picked; My green cardi at the beach c/o Evy's Tree and side-panel leggings c/o Athleta}

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