san fran: Gray Whale Cove (part 2) and Half Moon Bay

As we were leaving the beach, we found a rope swing at the top. 

We had our fun in the swing and then drove to explore Half Moon Bay. We ended up at the tide pools of the Fitzgerald Marine reserve. Where we saw seals! Well, Perry was still refusing his jacket, but was soo cold he also refused to go walk down with us to the beach. Everyone else went ahead and I eventually convinced him to come down with me. And two minutes later we were making our way back up to the car. But that's ok. I caught a glimpse of a beautiful place and everyone else got to explore the tide pools for awhile. Layla loved this!

At this point, the kids were absolutely dying to get their hands and toes into the sand for awhile. Ultimately, we ended up back at Gray Whale Cove. Eric took the kids down to play at the beach (still really cold!) while Jenny and I went hiking up the mountain.

Here we go!

Isn't this an absolutely lovely place?

It wasn't a long hike, but I really enjoyed our little ramble up the mountains. And we learned no one should walk behind me and ask me to pose for a picture. 

The views at the top were amazing!

And a little windy.

Jenny and I were gone about an hour and then we met Eric and the kids on their way back from the beach. They loved their beach time, but it got a little too cold for them to stay long.
This area was a pretty great place for an adventure!

san fran: Gray Whale Cove (part 1)

Gray Whale Cove beach was an absolutely gorgeous place to explore for awhile. It was way too chilly to get into the water when we got there that morning, but there was so much beauty to behold there. 

Maybe he was in denial because he hasn't had to wear a jacket in so long, but this day Perry absolutely refused to put his jacket on no matter how cold he got. And he got really cold.


Layla loved seashell hunting and collecting.











The boys spent a lot of time running from the water between rocks.


She was clutching those shells so as not to lose any.




Oops, slipped off the rock.

san fran: the Tongan ward

Sunday morning we were driving in the car on our way to an LDS church for a 9am sacrament meeting. We were talking about how diverse the people in San Francisco are and how great we think that is. Eric mentioned that when he was looking up churches there were Tongan wards and Tagalog wards. We jokingly asked him which language he picked for us to attend today. He assured us he found an English speaking ward for us to attend. 

We pulled up to a very unique (as far as lds church buildings I've been to) church building. 

We were running a few minutes late and when we got into the foyer we heard they had already started the meeting. Yet, we couldn't quite understand exactly what they were saying. Lo and behold Eric had brought us to the Tongan ward! I guess he clicked on the wrong building when he put it into his map on his phone. Oops.

Another funny thing about this was that the day before, while we were at the temple, we stopped two missionaries and asked them to take our family picture in front of the temple. We talked to them for awhile and learned that they were Tongan speaking missionaries and we had a connection with one of them in Seattle. They were very nice. And they just so happened to be the missionaries who were serving in this very ward. 

We sat in the foyer to take the sacrament, said hello to some very nice people, and then slid out the door of the church because, as cool as it would've been to stay, our kiddos weren't up for that.