Quick Trip to SF

Matt was speaking at a conference so I joined him for a quick 48 hours in San Francisco. Matt stayed on a few days longer. I was worried that it was not going to be worth it but we had so much fun. On the way home it was so hot in Phoenix (my connecting city) that they were offering vouchers to get off the plane and. . .  I did it. I got $800 to use on another trip. How crazy is that?

My favorite restaurant (not the "Slanted Doo") the Slanted DOOR

On Alcatraz Island - SO fun and interesting

Beautiful day and beautiful view of the city

HA HA! Matt had one of these as a kid and wanted to buy another one

Chilly Pier/Wharf area

Beautiful old warehouses

Only a few seals on Pier 39 - most have migrated this time of year

Awesome view of Alcatraz Island

Oh Matt. . . 

Such an interesting tour 

We decided to go ahead and head over to Angel Island

Interesting landscape and views from Angel Island

Housing on Angel Island

Lombard Street

Chinatown

Our beautiful hotel - The 

Easter Weekend 2016

Another beautiful Easter weekend. We all met at Mimi's for a wonderful spread and had so much fun watching the kids run wild looking for the gazillion eggs that my mom made. She fills each one with several pieces of candy and there are so many we have trouble hiding them all! What a blessing to have a fun family to celebrate these moments with.

Handsome John

Baby Matthew

Alivia

All the cousins!

Proof that Matt and I were actually there, too!

Mom has the most beautiful garden and backyard

The Taylor Family

Mimi and Grandpa and all the GRANDS

Easter egg hunt!

Girl Scout Trip to Fossil Rim, Texas

Truthfully, I was sort of dreading this trip with the Girl Scouts to Fossil Rim Wildlife Preserve. May has been a really busy month and the thought of sleeping in a room with a bunch of other people just was not that exciting. But it turned out to be a really fun trip. Alivia has really bonded with a few of the girls in the troop (Annika, Elizabeth and Katherine) and I really like all the moms. That is such a treat to find a group of women that you enjoy hanging out with. Our troop has been together for 3 years now and I feel like we are finally starting to know one another a bit more. 

Cabins - the girls slept in one cabin and the moms in another. They had A/C!

The next morning we had our Safari tour- leaving at 9 am

Feeding the giraffes was my absolute favorite part

The food was a mixture of oats and molasses - yummmmm

Black Rhino

All the girls at the Fossil Rim Cafe where we had lunch after our tour

All the moms - Karen, me, Sheila, Lisa, Sarah, Debbie and Carla at the petting zoo area of the site

All the moms now including Kate (far left)

Another view of the cabins - simple but fine. The bathrooms were located down the path

Simple meals - no fire, just sandwiches and chips for dinner. Bathrooms in the background.

The whole troop!

Sophia, Madeline, Annika, Maite, Katherine, Alivia, Elizabeth, Sophie, and Avery

Me and my girl!

Feeding giraffes - my favorite!

We each got a cup of food to feed the animals with

Lots of deer/elk/antelope species on the property

Zebras!

Cousin to the Elk family - beautiful antlers - still in velvet

Overlook to the property - it really does look like Africa. I can see why animals thrive in Texas