Well, hello again. I hope you are all well. I’m breaking my silence to share pictures. I can’t believe it’s been over a year since I posted a blog. Little embarrassed about that, but not when I think about the why.

I made the decision to not take on new clients during COVID. I was homeschooling my oldest and navigating an uncertain and unknown situation. I needed to be able to provide my best self for my girls and my husband. I couldn’t find how to do that and run my business at the high expectations I have for myself in providing client experiences.

This past week, my husband and I took our girls for a week in the Bay Area. It was our second nuclear family vacation. I can’t remember ever taking a vacation with just my family growing up and I wish that we had. Both times that we have gone, something magical has happened. We turn in towards one another and move through the experience in a little bubble. That’s not to say that actual magic happens and our girls don’t argue and everything is peaceful. But we are all free of the common distractions and looking to connect with one another.

We stayed in Santa Clara which is about 45 minutes or so from San Francisco. There were no bugs and the temperatures were glorious. The high was mid 80s and lows at night in the upper 50s. The coast was cooler but just as wonderful.

Day one we drove into SF to the zoo. We explored the zoo for several hours until the girls were no longer interested. We loaded up and headed to Pier 39 to explore. It was beautiful, interesting, and a little overwhelming. My girls are lovers of carousels and this was where we met our first one. They also found a mirror maze and we actually had so much fun going through it for half an hour or more. Before heading back to the pool at our hotel, we stopped at Ghirardelli square for some ice cream.

The next day was my husbands birthday so he chose our activities. We drove down to Monterey to check out the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The girls found another mirror maze, but no carousel. The jellyfish were by far my favorite. I wanted to sit down and just watch them glide around. I think I also liked the darkness. It was more crowded than I would prefer, but overall a nice time.

Third day there was E’s birthday. Of course that means she chose our activities. We traveled back to SF to see the Exploratorium. This place was amazing and I’d love to go back sans kids so I could take my time exploring. There was a very cool monochrome room. Everything in there was a yellow and gray shade, but when you shined a flashlight around you could see the actual colors of the room. We also loved the sound domes. I’m not sure what else to call them, but you would sit in these huge discs and the other person would sit several yards away in a similar one. Talking with a quiet voice, the discs would capture their sound and make it sound as if the person was sitting right next you.

Our fourth day on the west coast got to be my day. We drove to Felton to catch a train from Roaring Camp to Santa Cruz. The train took us through the Redwoods and right down to the back of the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. And guess what my girls found as soon as we exited the train? A carousel. And not just any carousel, but one of the last dozen or so in the country that still has the brass ring dispenser. I had never seen one. E was obsessed and rode it four times just to figure out and master the brass ring grab and toss. We walked down to pier and saw a Sea Lion the girls named Licorice. We had a picnic and ice cream on the beach. The girls rode a few mild rides. We all loved the sand that is much more coarse than our Carolina sand. With just a brush of your hand your feet are sand free. The girls put their feet in the water and realized why so few people were actually swimming. It’s odd to see people in full clothing on the beach, but with such mild climates, you could quickly get chilled in a bikini.

The fifth day was finally L’s day to decide. Hers also began the easy going section of vacation. After going over the list of activities with her she had chosen a day at Golden Gate Park. Originally she had wanted to see the Academy of Sciences that is there in the park, but after the zoo, aquarium, and exploratorium we thought maybe they had had their fill of indoor spaces. The playground there was amazing. They have a large concrete slide that the girls loved using cardboard scraps to slide down. Guess what else they have!? A carousel!!!! After some playtime and a picnic we went exploring. We found the biggest ferris wheel I’ve ever seen and took an expensive ride. Next we walked to the music concourse and rented surrey’s which are like wagon bicycles. Chuck and I pedaled our hearts out. There were no gears and it was exhausting. Even though its a cool 75 degrees and no humidity. I was sweaty and so tired.

Unfortunately our last two days I don’t have any camera pictures of because the next day we left our room so housekeeping could come in and were playing games in the lobby when we decided to go ahead and head out for adventure forgetting my camera. That day we went to the Winchester Mystery House in Santa Clara/San Jose. That place is amazing. It’s the home that was under constant construction it’s entire lifetime. Sarah Winchester was convinced if she stopped building, something terrible would happen. This home went from a simple two story farmhouse when she bought it to a 160 room mansion. At one point, L turned to me and asked me if the “witch” still lived here? It was eerie that she called her that on her own as none of us had said that.

Our final day we went to California’s Great America Amusement Park and water park. I didn’t take my camera so I wouldn’t have to worry about it. Girls went on bumper cars for probably an hour, discovered they don’t like roller coasters, the waterpark turned their little Carolina lips purple, and I got my hands on a funnel cake that tried to kill me with sugar.

If I had any complaints, it was hard for my heart to see such a high rate of homelessness. It was odd to be on a leisure vacation while walking past tents on the sidewalk and people digging through trash. Speaking of trash…the one other issue that bothered me was the amount of litter everywhere. BUT inside, everyone wore masks and many had them on outside as well. AND the amount of eucalyptus trees meant that often you could roll down the window and get consumed by the calming and medicinal smell (and I really do mean the eucalyptus though we did get frequent whiffs of the other popular medicinal smell there too-haha). It was a great trip and I look forward to our next family adventure.

A West Coast Vacation

Olive & Ivory