Fort Collins Wheelers: Sabbatical Week 4

We spent this week in California. We spent a few days in San Jose where my parents still live in the house where I grew up. I attended church with my parents and enjoyed seeing some familiar friendly faces I haven't seen in years, as well as meeting some new folks who have moved into the area. We went with my parents to Monterey Bay Aquarium, which we last went to while Liz and I were dating. We particularly enjoyed seeing the many varieties of jellyfish, the sharks, and the tidal waves.

We then traveled to my parent's cabin in the mountains for a few days. The area is very quiet and peaceful, and there are loads of activities both inside and outside the cabin. We enjoyed playing air hockey and other games, working on art projects, having dance parties to music from the digital piano, going for walks through the forest, visiting the lake and catching frogs, going from a train ride at a nearby apple ranch, and topped off our stay with a boat ride on Pinecrest Lake. Each child took turns driving the boat, and towards the end the three oldest children jumped off the boat and swam in the lake.

We finished our California adventure in the Sacramento area visiting my two oldest brothers and their families. One of them has a swimming pool in their backyard, and the children couldn't get enough of it. They stayed in their swimming suits all day Saturday and basically left the pool only at mealtimes. Whitney and I celebrate our birthdays next week, so we had a BBQ and birthday cake and pie to celebrate.