Monday, July 30, 2012

California Dreamin'...

So we went to California this week. We started out in the south and went to visit Ryan's family for their huge week of birthdays and to get some sun.
Ryan and I got there on Saturday and had a delicious bbq dinner with the family and autns and uncles and cousins and Nanny. It was complete with amazing eclairs and birthday songs. It was a nice relaxing evening to sit in the spa and go swimming.
Well the next morning we slept in and relaxed until church at 1 pm. We went to the single's ward that Ryan's dad works with in the bishopric and they had a cool meeting where, after sacrament, they had lunch and then an hour of 'Meet the Mormons.' It was fun to have about 15 non-LDS attendees who were able to ask questions and get to know the doctrines of our gospel and it was a nice atmosphere that was very open and comfortable. A very neat idea! After church we went to the OC Fair and got to see some animals, huge produce, smelled some marijuana, and saw some great friends. Got to ride some rides and I lost my favorite sunglasses. So not worth that ride. But oh well. Its just what happens!
Well On Monday, we had another fun little bit of excitement... Once again, Ryan and I had to be at the scene of a car accident. Needless to say, I am tired of them... Thankfully though, it was no one from the family. Anyway, this is the story. We were driving along and suddenly Pam and Maddie gasped from up front. A car was run off the road and shoved into the concrete barrier almost pushing it over the bridge that they were on. Insane. We of course stopped and Ryan and Evan helped the poor girl out of her car. I called 911 for the second time in a week and we directed traffic for a bit until crazy Californian drivers decided not to pay attention and almost caused more accidents and the emergency services arrived. Needless to say, the other driver was mad and was trying to not take blame. The girl who was almost pushed off the bridge probably had a broken arm or wrist since it was swollen and bruised and her car was totaled. Roland was intrigued by having all the firefighters and paramedics and police officers around us in the car and then, once everyone was settled, we left to go on our way.
Tuesday was our last day in Orange County. It was a great day that we just laid out by the beach in San Clemente and dug for sand crabs with Roland. And just relaxed in the sun. It was a beautiful day and we had so much fun!
Well before we knew it, we had to leave Wednesday morning for our flight to San Francisco! We were so excited! It was our first time there and we had a lot of fun things planned! We were heading up there for a fundraiser for an NGO that Ryan has been doing some consulting work for. Well we got in early on Wednesday and went right into the city. We walked around Union Square and had some great burgers at Cafe Mason. Then we decided to walk through Chinatown and saw some beautiful churches, smelled some great food and saw some fun shops and people. It was a really pretty day and the walk was great through Chinatown and North Beach. We went into a great map shop in North Beach. I seriously wanted everything. But finally we ended up at Pier 39. It was so pretty! We rented some bikes right away and rode from the Pier to the Golden Gate Bridge and across it to Sausilito on the other side of the Bay. It was a crazy ride across the Bridge! I do not like heights and that bridge is high. But it has great views and the ride was so fun to the little resort town. We had some good pizza and ice cream and just walked around. We met people from all over the world and when it was time to head back, we actually took a taxi back since the ferry would have taken FOREVER and I spotted some Arabs that Ryan went and talked to. They were from Yemen and so nice! They gave us a ride back that we split with another American couple.
Afterwards, we walked more around the Pier and walked back to Union Square along the bay.
The next day we went to Berkeley campus and met with some admissions counselors about their PhD programs for Ryan. Its a great school but very different from BYU. That is for sure. So who knows where we will go... Still have some time to figure that out. Last, but not least, we went back downtown for our fundraiser. We got all dressed up and went to the lounge that the event was being held at. It was hosted by Eliza Dushku and Joss Whedon! Very fun! It was an interesting night and fun to look back on. We had a great time! We left for Utah early the next morning and got back into Provo and were so happy to just relax.

It was a great vacation that was seriously non stop but we loved it! Here are some pics! :)

At the OC Fair
OC Fair
Chinatown in SF
On our bikeride
I love this bridge!
Dressed up for our night on the town!
SF architecture
Chinatown gate
A Fisker... Thought it might be the Bieb's... If so, I might have keyed it.

Bay Bridge
Ryan and his future children
Seals at Pier 39! 
Typical.... 

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