Girls weekend in California!

Here I am back on the other side of the country. It was wonderful to be able to get away and spend time with my family who seem to have spread themselves all over the country...but boy am I happy to be back home again, as I was definitely missing my five little sweeties and my one not-so-little sweetie!

I was not too sad to find out that I missed out on a soggy, cool weekend here at home while I was enjoying the sunny, albeit windy skies of San Francisco!


I thoroughly enjoyed my first ever manicure and pedicure and hope to not wait another 35 years for my next one. (If you're wondering which fingers are mine, they're the ones that look freakishly long with the French manicure.)

We ate at the "Beach Chalet" overlooking the Pacific Ocean where I enjoyed a Monte Cristo sandwich, in honor of one of my favorite books of all time, "The Count of Monte Cristo"!

The sights of San Francisco seemed just a tad different than when we took a family trip here a couple of years ago. Driving down Lombard Street, oohing over the Golden Gate Bridge, taking our Bay Adventure Cruise into the SF bay, seeing the bright colorful row homes, and marveling over the beauty of the Pacific Ocean...while quite enjoyable, I kept having to catch myself from trying to turn to the nearest child or sister and share these wondrous sights!


It wasn't all sisters this weekend! My highly eligible 34-year-old brother Nate came to hang out with us on Sunday where he proceeded to whomp us all at Settlers of Catan, as per usual! If you happen to know any fair maidens living near East Bay, CA who enjoy outdoor activities and board games...just let me know!


How can I leave out these two cuties? My nieces Madeline and Bridgette accompanied us on all of our adventures and made sure I didn't leave the weekend totally child deprived!


What would a girls' weekend out be without a good dose of chocolate? We about ate our weights in overpriced chocolate ice cream treats at Ghirardelli Square!


And of course we had more than our fair share of silliness, late night chatting, and giggling fests!

Thanks to Kristina for doing a wonderful job hosting and thanks to AnnaLisa, Karey, Heather, Mika, Mom, Kristina, and Nate for making the effort to come and make it a fun, relaxing, and enjoyable weekend (and to Matt who flew to VA from Oklahoma to help poor Pete and Glen with all of the kids)! And to Glen--you're amazing! Thank you for all the sacrifices you made so that I could participate in this. Thank you, thank you, thank you...you're the best!

What an awesome family we have!