the trip that didn't happen...and the other one that did.

Sooo.....remember a couple posts ago when I said we were leaving for Lake Powell for the weekend? Well, it ended up not happening sadly. A couple hours before leaving, I got a call from my dad and to make a very long story short, we would have driven all the way down there for one day and then come all the way back. So our trip was cancelled and I was so disappointed.

Everything was ready to go....Kurt had work off, I e-mailed my homework to my teacher early, we went to Costco and stocked up on food for the drive, I bought new rash guards and swim shoes for the boys, we changed the oil in the car, etc. etc. etc! The car was literally packed and we were set and ready for a road trip. So we made a spontaneous decision to take a road trip anyway! Kinda crazy for us to do something like that, but we thought what the heck, what do we have to lose? So we drove out to San Francisco, CA where Kurt is from.

The drive was long and awful but once we were there it was a lot of fun. We stayed with Kurt's brother Keith and his family, and Jack loved playing with his cousins. Kurt's brother Kasey also lives out there so we spent some time with him, too.

These first two pictures are of the Salt Flats about an hour or so into the long drive. I love how tiny the boys look in that huge landscape :)

One of the days we were there we went to Baker Beach which is right at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge. It was gorgeous, but chilly! Kurt will tell you it was warm, but I really wished I had a jacket. I get cold easily, though, and boys didn't seem to be bothered by the nip in the air, so it was fine. Plus, it seriously was beautiful. At one point Jack asked, "Mom, is this Lake Powell?" Haha, poor kid. The plans changed so quickly, and he was so confused!

{screaming because the water was freezing!}

{I swear Sam was eating the sand the entire time}

{Jack and Alyssa playing in the waves, with a tiny glimpse of the Golden Gate bridge in the distance}

{Kurt and Kasey...the twin towers as I call them}

{Jack said he wanted to make a "sand angel"}

{Golden Gate Bridge. We never saw the whole thing at once because of all the fog, but we did see a huge ship pass under it which was pretty cool.}

On another day we went to Tilden Park and rode the Tilden Train. It was darling! It's a real steam train but at a scaled down size so it's fun for the kids. It went through the mountains and the views were gorgeous.

Before we left on the last day we stopped by Keith's dental office. Isn't it the cutest little dental office you've ever seen? He just had the whole inside renovated which I didn't get pictures of but it was amazing. He gave the boys new Buzz Lightyear toothbrushes and a whole stash of toothpaste and floss :)

{I love the above picture because you can see Jack and Brooks kneeling down looking at a snail together. So cute.}

On the way out, we also stopped by the cemetery where Kurt's dad is buried. It felt really special to be there, even for just a minute. I've always wished I could have known him....from everything I hear he was pretty amazing. Kinda weird how you can miss someone you've never even met.

I think my favorite part of our little spontaneous trip was being in the place where Kurt grew up and having him drive me around to a couple places that have special meaning to him and where he has a lot of memories. The last time we did that was over 5 years ago before we were even engaged.

And, the boys LOVED playing with their cousins. I am kicking myself now because this is the only picture I got of all of them together and you can't even see any of their cute faces.

Thanks Keith and Lindsay for letting us drop in on you so suddenly! We had a great time.

As for Lake Powell, maybe we can try again next summer :)