A little hike

On Saturday after the morning session of General Conference, we packed up a picnic and headed out on a little hike (emphasis on little.)  The day was absolutely perfect- green grass, blue sky, and wildflowers all around.  It was such a fun day.

^ Jilly started at turbo speed- how cute is her little camelback?

^ Jilly ran out of steam at the end and needed a ride back to the car

This was one of the best Conference weekends we've had.  Mattie's nap times coincided perfectly with the sessions, and Jilly is finally at an age where she can play quietly for an extended amount of time.  We painted nails, colored, did a packet I printed, made a bunny banner, and played with some quiet toys.  Surprisingly, one of Jilly's favorite things was to find whoever was speaking on a chart of General Authorities and circle that person.  

On Sunday Bryan's parents came to spend the day with us.  We ate and ate and ate, went on a walk to feed some geese during the break, and played a few games of Uno (of course.)  It was a wonderful weekend of family and wonderful messages.  

Our Weekend

Early Friday morning we dropped off Miss Jilly at her Nana and Papa's to be spoiled for a few days

 And we headed off to spoil ourselves.  First stop- Carmel Beach.   We walked along the beach for a bit

 Then I settled in with this lovely view while Bryan played in the water

 We checked into our hotel which had a boardwalk that went straight out to the beach so we got to see this

 Then we drove back to Carmel to eat the most delicious meal of our lives.  Bryan informed me that we are old and boring because we always go out to eat early so we made sure on this occasion to eat late with the cool kids.  On our way back to the hotel we stopped for a treat (Rocky Road for me, Phish Food for Bryan)

 After sleeping in and eating a yummy breakfast we biked through Monterey.  No pictures because I look totally ridiculous on a bike (there may or may not have been an incident involving me, my bike, a bush, and lots of watching strangers.)  But it was gorgeous and so fun to ride along the coast.

 Then it was back to the beach- the water for Bryan and a nap for me (I was taking full advantage of my childless time.)  And then we headed home so we could squeeze little Jilly before she went to bed.

 We spent Sunday eating up Jilly, General Conference, and cinnamon rolls.

cousins

I was going to write a post about our weekend, but then I realized every single one of my pictures was of these cute girls.  You'll just have to trust me that there were adults around the whole weekend, and we had fun too.  

Jilly and Kirra at our favorite park 

(at first we had to ask them to hold hands but then they loved it)

 a bubble bath is always more fun with your cousin

 playing in the sand at Lake Tahoe

We didn't think it would be so warm so we didn't bring swimsuits for the girls, but they didn't seem to mind going pants-less at all

 Jilly made some new friends

We're so glad that Trevor, Kristen, and Kirra moved to California so we'll get to see them a lot more!

Camping

As I've mentioned before, I'm not a huge camper but this trip turned out very fun.  We spent two days at Bear River Lake with Bryan's parents and his brother Chad.  Unlike her mother, Jillian was born to camp.  She loved running around in the dirt all day and collecting rocks and sticks.  I was super stressed about the nights because Jilly is such a bad sleeper, but she slept like a champ, mostly between Bry and I in the "H is for you-know-what" position.  Jilly slept great; Bryan and I - not so much .  But, all in all, it was a success and I just may be convinced to camp again.

It was chilly up there and somehow Jilly's pants didn't make it in the bag but luckily I did pack extra jammies so she wore these as pants

Uncle Chad's rock towers were a huge hit

 peach cobbler = my very favorite thing about camping

lots of time to relax and practice funny faces with daddy

hello world's largest pinecone

perhaps if she didn't have to wear that pesky life vest Jilly would love the canoe, but I guess we'll never know

we're just a little concerned about where this favorite activity could lead

We made it!  This is in the morning right before we left to go home

California Adventure

We had a marvelous time with my family.  Here's the loooong recap.
day one-  haircut for Tyler, Folsom Zoo, dying Easter Eggs, Chicago Fire Pizza for dinner

day two- easter egg hunt, breakfast, church,  naps (the easter bunny had to stay up late!), playing outside, dinner, walk; Jilly was sick and miserable so I tried not to be too crazy about pictures. 

day three-  20 mile run with my dad and brother (we didn't actually measure but I'm sure it was something like that...), Del Taco picnic (we have a weird obsession with this place, mostly because we can all eat for $13), playing at a park, outlet shopping for girls/biking for boys, hot tub at night
Sadly, no pictures.

day four-  drive to bay area, Muir Woods, Muir Beach, Stinson Beach, Golden Gate Bridge, dinner at the most delicious restaurant Toast

 there may have been some rule-breaking

 first time touching the Pacific!

 it was very cold and rainy- just the weather you want for the beach

Tyler and Jilly were sick of pictures

day four- Alcatraz, Pier 39, clam chowder, Ghirardelli Square, Oakland Temple, saying goodbye :(