Houston, We Have a Crawler!

Yes, that's right. This girl is on the move, which has made her life easier and ours harder. For weeks she has been getting so frustrated because she has wanted so badly to just go on her own. Now she is finally getting the hang of it, and quickly. Suddenly we have to be very aware of things that are within her reach that we never had to worry about before. She is also starting to pull herself up on things. I guess the dreaded "babyproofing" stage is soon to follow. I have a video, but, of course, Blogger is not cooperating...grrrr.

We recently took a trip to California (B's second plane ride) for Phillip's cousin Elizabeth's wedding. We went to the San Francisco/Oakland area. It is really a beautiful place.
We visited Sonoma Valley where we went to a few wineries and took in the beautiful scenery.

Some of the wineries also make olive oil.
Here are a bunch of different flavors that you could sample. I love the different colored bottles.

Taken on a tour of one of the wineries.

Then we went to the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield, CA, where we got to take a tour to learn how Jelly Bellies are made.

Also on our agenda was a visit to Alcatraz Island. We took a tour of the prison and learned about its history and the history of the island itself.

Driving in to San Francisco - view from the Bay Bridge

Alcatraz

Riding the ferry to the island

Golden Gate Bridge in the background

Sightseeing will really take it out of you.

The island is a protected habitat for many birds and plants.

These guys attempted to escape and made dummy heads to put in their beds to fool the guards.
After they escaped, they were never heard from again. No one knows what happened to them.

 

This is what the guards would have seen.

Bailey having lunch while waiting to ride the ferry back

Afterwards we walked around the boardwalk at Fisherman's Wharf. This was literally one of the most colorful places I've ever seen. Part of what added to the color was the beautiful pots and hanging baskets. Actually, pretty much everywhere we went while we were in California there were beautiful plants and flowers. Even driving around the residential areas, all the houses are surrounded by lush, green plants and gorgeous flowers. Also just alongside the roads and highways, seemingly growing in the wild (but were probably purposely planted there) were beautiful plants. There was also plenty of lavender everywhere, which made the air smell good. We found out that the beauty and ideal weather in this area of the country are some of the main reasons that people live there and brave the traffic, congestion, and the high cost of living.





Fruit stand at Fisherman's Wharf

This is a drive-by, moving shot, so it's not great, but you can see the foliage all around the house.

We also drove across the Golden Gate Bridge and then parked and walked across part of it. Bailey loved the wind in her hair.

The wedding was at the Sequoia Retreat Center in Ben Lomond, CA and was very beautiful. We stayed for the weekend in a cabin at the site. It happened to be unseasonably warm, and the cabins have no air conditioning because they don't normally need it. Fortunately we had fans that were helpful.

Check out these trees. And these aren't even the really big ones:

These pictures remind me of Troop Beverly Hills:

Bailey got to meet some of her relatives:

Meeting her Great Uncle David, Great Aunt Deb, and Great Aunt Brenda

Phillip and his grandma decided to trade shoes....

One day we drove in to Santa Cruz and ate at the Santa Cruz Diner. Apparently this place was once featured on Guy Fieri's show Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives on the Food Network.

And here are some shots of Bailey, just because they're cute:

The wedding/reception - I didn't get many shots but here are a few:

Beautiful centerpieces

Sharing embarrassing childhood stories

And of course we had to stop and eat at the famous In-N-Out Burger.

And yes, the double is mine. :)

On July 4 Phillip, Bailey, and I went to a San Francisco Giants baseball game. Again, just beautiful. It's a super nice stadium, and it sits right on the San Francisco Bay. There were several boats pulled up in the water next to the stadium. We sat about 4 rows down from the very top, which turned out to be great seats because we got a good view of the stadium and the bay, plus we were underneath the overhang so we were out of the sun. They played the San Diego Padres. We left about the 7th inning because we were worried about roads closing for 4th of July activities, and we needed to get to our hotel. But I believe the Giants ended up winning. We did see a homerun get hit into the water and a man jump out of his kayak to get the ball and then get run over by another guy in a kayak trying to get the ball too. He was OK, but seriously. The things people do to get a silly baseball. (See here and here.)

Bailey had a habit during the trip of falling asleep at all the fun activities.

Finally, here are a few shots of Bailey on the plane ride home:

We got back late Tuesday night (the 5th) only to find that our house was 94 degrees inside because our air conditioner had broken! Luckily we only had to sweat it out a couple of nights (it got down into the 80s, which was bearable with a fan) before we were able to get it fixed. No AC in the middle of summer in Houston = no good.

I also celebrated my 29th birthday on Friday without too much excitement. I guess I am saving up for the big one next year! My family came in town so we got to spend time with them, which is always fun. We'll probably be making a trip to visit them in the next few weeks.

More updates to come soon!