Golden State Feis - San Francisco

This past weekend we traveled to San Fran for an Irish dance competition.  This would be Sarah's 1st time competing as a preliminary champion.  I think we both had a lot of nerves going into this.  Although I knew she could hold her own in the competition, you never know how good everyone else is going to be and you want the whole experience to be a positive one.  Thankfully, she did very well and ended up placing 3rd out of 7.  So we were both very happy and it made for a fun weekend with lots of smiles!  She also placed 3rd in her Treble Reel special.  So very exciting to have completed the 1st prelim and now we look to the future and try to go after that 1st win.  In Irish dancing she needs to win 2 times in prelim in order to move up to open champion.  Open champion is the highest level you can go in Irish dancing. 

San Fran is such a wonderful city and it is even more spectacular when the weather is great.  We had a wonderful weekend and had so much fun seeing the sights!  Here are some pics from the weekend.

 

Pier 39 - They love the carousel and shopping for "junk"!  I love the food.  Crab was had for dinner.

 

Our view of Union Square from the hotel room.

The Golden Gate bridge is my favorite.  We drove across it to get some photos and have lunch at Sam's in Tiburon and then we did a boat cruise to view it from the water.

Boudin Sourdough bread

Ghiradelli hot fudge sundae.  My salty caramel hot cocoa was great too!

Spring Break - Palm Desert

When trying to plan spring break we decided that the #1 most important thing that the kids would like to do is swim.  Since it didn't make much sense to travel 1000's of miles just so they could splash in a pool, we decided to just go here in our own backyard - Palm Springs.  Technically Palm Desert.  To me, the whole area is Palm Springs. Indian Wells, La Quinta, Palm Desert, etc... We also decided that since we rarely get to travel with friends that we would try to make this a get together with other families, as well.  So we ended up with about 4 other families, chose the JW Marriott in Palm Desert, and called it a long weekend! 

The kids (and there were a lot of them) loved the pool time, the evening "dive in" movies, the little boats that took you around the property, and the buffet!  The adults liked that the kids were happy (and the buffet).  We also happen to be there over Easter weekend, so they had a big celebration on Easter morning with a big egg hunt and the Easter bunny jumping out of an airplane.

View from our room

In addition to our weekend in Palm Springs, we also enjoyed a few extra fun days in and around L.A.  Of course there was a Disney day and we also visited the Natural History Museum.

Ski Week in San Antonio

 There is actually no skiing in San Antonio, but since we are not ski people, we decided to head down to S.A. and visit Opa and Myrtle.  Daddy was in Daytona and the girls always have such a blast visiting the city.  It really is a great place for families and kids.  February is actually a pretty mild month and the Stock Show and Rodeo is in town.  Here is a look into our time there!

First thing we did when we landed was head down to the river walk.  It was a perfect 70 degree day so we had a little Mexican food at Casa Rio, one of our favorite spots, and enjoyed the afternoon.  The girls got ice cream and we enjoyed walking around.

 

We then went back to the house.  Lauren with her Opa.

 

The next day we headed out to the Stock Show and Rodeo.  I remember growing up going every year to this.  For 2 weeks you can go and see all the animals, ride the carnival rides, and see a rodeo every night.  The girls don't get much of the country experience I grew up with so I thought this would be a great activity for us to do.  They LOVED it.  They had fun seeing the animals (although Lauren refused to walk through the cattle barn.  She about passed out from the smell!) They enjoyed the rodeo, too!  Sarah was a bit sensitive to the calf roping and any competition that involved strangling or wrestling an animal, but she is my very sensitive, free spirited California girl, so  I wasn't surprised.  On a related note...she has often talked about going vegetarian because she can't stand the thought of the animals being killed, but then she always says, "But bacon is so good!"  I have to concur.  So is Thanksgiving turkey, steak and lobster, and that good ole In n Out burger!

For our next outing we headed out to Natural Bridge Caverns and Wildlife Ranch.  This was a new experience for all of us and I HIGHLY recommend it.  The animals at the wildlife ranch were amazing and you can get super close to them and feed them.  The caverns were also way cool.  Lauren was a little afraid to go into the caves because they were dark, so Myrtle stayed above ground with her.  Sarah on the other hand, loved it and it was really awesome!

The last day we went to Gruene for a little shopping and Landa Park in New Braunfels so the kids could play a little.  Great little park that is even better in the summer. Here is Opa with his grand-daughters.

One more night was had eating out for Mexican food.  This time we went to Mi Tierra.  A San Antonio landmark.  Great food, atmosphere, bakery, and it NEVER closes! 

Flying home....oh look,  you can see where our house was when we lived in Riverside from the plane!  Next to that reservoir. Almost ready to land!