This month, we Crazy Brauns were blessed to venture all the way to sunny California! Little Bear and I drove to Kansas first where we met up with my Grandma Joan (who as children my brothers and I lovingly nicknamed GJ, which now Little Bear has begun calling her). We then flew to San Francisco with GJ and mapped our way to Los Altos, California to stay with my oldest brother and his family for a few days. We arrived on Wednesday, my other brother arrived on Thursday, my mom on Friday, and finally Daddy Bear flew in to San Francisco on Saturday. We had a great time at the SF zoo, hiking the Palo Alto Foothills, sightseeing in SF, making daily trips to The Whole Foods Market--our favorite!!--(within walking distance of my brother's home), and spending time with family.
Since it was a small group on Thursday, we decided to get the boys out and go the San Francisco Zoo. It was a very nice zoo and Little Bear was really able to appreciate the animals this time, as compared to his last zoo trip when he was just 1 year old back in Denver last summer. (I know, I know, OKC has a great zoo and I should really take him there, but we just haven't had a good day yet).
We had to take a little break to get a picture of the boys' first trip to the zoo together and managed to get a sweet smile from Baby Niko. Little Bear wasn't quite as interested in humoring us.
Thursday evening I braved the roads of California again and drove, this time by myself, to pick up my other brother in San Jose at the airport. Since he has gotten really into exercising and taking care of his health, I thought he might be willing to go hiking with me the next morning while GJ stayed back with Little Bear. He was equally as excited to go when I asked him so we headed out the next morning to explore the west coast hills and hiking. As we got higher in elevation the scenery and views became more and more breathtaking. We stopped at one point to capture this gorgeous view of Silicon Valley.
We kept driving up and finally came across two parking lots that headed off several trails. I was a bit concerned after reading this sign:
But my brother reassured me that he could definitely "BE LARGE." And he had no problem fighting back if necessary. I jumped about 20 times during the first bit of the hike as lizards seemed to leap out at me from every direction but soon I felt the peace and quiet of the woods and began to relax into the beautiful hike, lizards and all! The trees were incredible and the trickling stream during much of the hike added a tranquil tone to the challenging hike.
The next morning we traveled again to San Francisco (just 45 minutes away) to pick up Daddy Bear. We spent the morning sightseeing and then ate lunch in SF,
then headed back for another hike, this time taking Daddy Bear along, which of course means NEW adventures...
We started off the hike on a trail with a map and a distinct direction (across the road from our prior hike). The scenery was equally as beautiful!
We thought we were going in the right direction but ended up at the bottom of a steep grassy hill entering a wooded area where the trail just seemed to disappear. Daddy Bear ran ahead into the woods, jumped the creek, and assured us that he was going in the right direction and we should follow. You would think after 3+ years of marriage I would've known better but we reluctantly trudged ahead, climbing over fallen trees, jumping the creek, and running up the steep side of the other creekbank to find a TALL, STEEP, grassy hill ahead of us with Daddy Bear at the top. Grrrrr!
I was not a happy hiker! I can be quite adventurous at times but when there were potentially and probably mountain lions, snakes, and ticks involved on our NEW "trail" I was not very optimistic about this adventure. Alas, big brother and I continued following the fearless leader and we eventually met back up with another trail.
This was not the one we intended to be on in the first place, but an equally exciting one. This one was intended for hikers, as was the one we started on, but also for horses, bikes, and motor vehicles. We had a great time, and in hindsight, even enjoyed the off-trailing. At the time though, I would have liked to have had the head of my dear, sweet husband. :)
The final event of the trip, and the main reason we were all there, was Baby Niko's baptism on Sunday. It was beautiful and Daddy Bear and I were very honored to be asked to be his Godparents! He did such a great job and didn't cry once.
We had such a great time visiting and can't wait for the next CRAZY BRAUN adventure!
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