The Reeves Come to San Francisco! Part 1

Disclaimer: I pulled pictures from 3 different cameras, so sometimes the pictures are out of order. Also, there are tons of pictures. Sorry 'bout that.

Last month, my family decided to come out while the kids had spring break. Everyone stayed in our apartment (10 people total), and it was a BLAST! They got in late Friday night and, after attacking Harris in the parking lot, we all fell asleep as fast as we could. We left early the next day headed for Golden Gate Park. We were planning to park at Ocean Beach and then take the shuttle over to the park, but we got distracted by the beach and ended up playing around there for a couple hours instead. Adaline dug in the sand, Matthew napped, my siblings and dad found lots of crabs and sand dollars, and we played in the waves. Chloe got SOAKED up to her belly button.

She LOVES the waves

As soon as we got there, everyone just took off

Noah taught her how to bear crawl

We didn't even realize we were matching!

Next we went to Sausalito for some lunch. We used Tom-Tom to get there, so we ended up not downtown. It was really lucky because we found an awesome little sandwich place that wasn't too busy and had a surprise garden patio out back.

I think it was the first time for any of these Reeves to drive across the GG Bridge

Next we went to Point Bonita Lighthouse. My favorite part about it was the hike down to it, and of course the amazing views along the way.

These two are adorable

I'm pretending that she's giving him a hug and a kiss. She actually really wanted his glasses

I sure love my siblings (the ones that aren't here too)

How cute are we?!

Near the lighthouse is the Mendell Battery, so we explored that for a while too. It was interesting to think about the huge responsibility the early San Franciscans felt to protect the coast.

After the lighthouse, we came home to delicious barbecue pork sandwiches that had been cooking for us all day. Yum! Then mom, Chloe, and I headed to the General Women's broadcast while the men put the babies to bed. It was a great conference!

On Sunday we went to church. Adaline had her first ever nursery tantrum-she's never ever resisted going before. After church, people napped and played games. Mom taught me how to make her delicious chicken and dumplings and, in the process, made our dinner. People went on walks, we sang and danced with Adaline, and we looked at pictures and videos on the TV. Once the Glenn kiddos were in bed, we played Bay Area Jeopardy! Andrew and I had made a jeopardy game with trivia about CA and us since we've moved out  here. Mom rocked it. She read a book about pioneers in San Francisco a while ago and apparently it told her basically everything there is to know about San Francisco. I don't remember who won after final jeopardy (la taquito, anyone?) but I think everyone had fun! After that, dad came to my rescue by recovering pictures, fixing the card reader on my computer, and fixing our anti-virus something-or-other. Dads are just so wonderful.

Andrew had to work Monday-Wednesday, but the rest of us started on more adventures.First, we went to the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield. I had read that it was spring break for some of the schools around here, so we planned to get there just after the tours started. We walked in and a lady snatched us out of the back of the line and led us straight to the front of the tour that was just starting. Talk about awesome! We learned lots of things about jelly beans. For example, they stamp the shape of the jelly beans into cornstarch and then fill them with the jelly, rather than using molds. Who knew? We went to Panera for lunch and then headed back home. While some of the kids went swimming, mom, Harris, Matthew, and I went to grocery shopping (I can't fit a week's worth of food for everyone in my house). Harris and mom looved the bulk section at WinCo; it was adorable. That night we had FHE. Dad taught us a great lesson about temples, Chloe made us brownies, and Daniel led us in playing Mafia for the activity.

We actually got a great group picture with Mr. Jelly Belly!

Matthew wants that candy so bad

There was tons of jelly belly art all over

$100 dollars of jelly beans later and we were all feeling a little queasy

Grandma got her some "Frozen" jelly beans and she could not have been happier

I told them to kiss like they were trying to get a jelly bean out of the other's mouth. :D

Tuesday was one of my favorite days. We started by going to the Oakland Temple and visitor's center. They have a great visitor's center and I think we all learned a little something or were touched by the Spirit in some way. Mom and dad liked the Jerusalem replica that talked about and showed where some of the events in Christ's life occurred. I watched video about why God gave us families with Daniel, Chloe, Adaline, and Matthew. It was really good and a very helpful reminder that I so lucky to have Andrew and my children with me in this life. I love them so much. When we went to walk around the temple, it was fun to surprise them by going up on the terrace. You can walk right next to the temple and there are great views from up there.

She sure loves her uncles

This picture makes me smile

After the temple, we went to the Roberts Recreational area. We had a picnic, and the kids played on the playground while Dad took a nap in the sun. Then we went on a little hike that conveniently looped us back to the parking lot.

After dinner, Andrew's work friend, Alex, came over to return our speakers and we ended up feeding him dinner and chatting with him for a long time. He and his wife are really fun, and I'm so glad they're out here. My mom and I also ran to Carter's and Target to get Adaline a summer wardrobe since it's been too hot for her to wear pants lately. It was a productive trip.

Dad found a working farm down in Fremont, so that's where we headed on Wednesday. It's famous because the guy who owned it back in the day built a fence to prevent the railroad being built through his land, but....he went on a trip and left guards to protect his land. When he got back, his fence was torn down and there were railroad tracks across his land. The workers had gotten the guards drunk and gone ahead with the railway.
Adaline absolutely loved all the farm animals.

The wool was insanely thick!

Trying to feed the chickens leaves off the ground-because she saw grandpa do it

She had to pet everything

This peacock really wanted his lady friend's attention. I learned that they do a little shakey dance and make a rattling noise

Before we got to the cows, Adaline had a truly traumatic experience. She was hanging out by the pigs and munching on an apple, when she tripped and dropped the apple into the pig pen. The pig went straight for it and Adaline started sobbing. She was completely distraught and was trying to get it back and then kept asking for a "new one". It was one of the saddest things I've ever seen, and yet I laughed so hard.

There was a lot of chicken chasing going on and even some chicken catching. Since the Reeves have 10 chickens now, they felt right at home.

After the farm we went to Walnut Creek to get lunch at Buckhorn Grill and go to Barnes and Noble. Mom even got us all some frozen yogurt.

When we got home, Daniel and Chloe went swimming, we had taco salad, and we got ready for Thursday's grand adventure into the city!