Our much-anticipated getaway!!

For the first time since J was born, Cooper and I went on a vacation! We had never been away from any of the kids for more than 24 hours and man, did we really look forward to our trip! Super big thanks to my parents for watching our crazy kids so we could go!!

We spend a day with our best friends in Sacramento and San Ramon respectively (can't believe we didn't take any pictures!! It was the first time I'd seen my best friend in 7 years. How did I not take pictures? She was such a great host too!), and then got to have a day on our own in San Francisco, trying to navigate our way around on public transportation :) 

We LOVED the Legion of Honor museum. The building itself was amazing and the "Impressionists on the Water" special exhibit that we paid extra for was crazy cool. Cooper had never seen any of them in person and was blown away at what a difference it makes to see originals of the masters rather than just seeing prints or images on the computer. Several of them were so beautiful they had us choked up. We spent hours there, blowing most of our plans for the rest of the day sadly, but totally worth it.

 After a stroll through Golden Gate State Park and some time at DeYoung Museum, we were starving. We bused across town and happened upon La Mar, and amazing, upscale Peruvian restaurant that was to die for. We stopped in because we thought the prices were quite reasonable. Turns out it was all appetizers, but they made them gluten free and they were SOOOOOOOO good.

 Somewhat rejuvenated, although still sore (San Fran has LOTS of hills!), we hopped on a trolly down to Pier 39. Fun to walk around the tourist traps as night fell! Got quite chilly though that's for sure!

 For our last day we had a lazy morning and then headed over to the Oakland temple, never having been there before. It was a much nicer day.

 The view from the top was incredible! You could see everything.

 And the grounds were gorgeous. We don't see trees like those in North Dakota :) Or many trees at all for that matter. 

And all too soon, it was over. But it was nice to fly back and have our whole family together for the first time in a month!