Mini vacation

This past Thursday, Cassie and her oldest son Arie (age: 4 years 11 months--this was also his b-day present)came out to visit for the weekend. We had a lot of fun doing lots of activities (probably crammed too much into the tiny weekend). I took Friday off (my first PTO day) so we would have a longer weekend. (The purpose of the trip was for Cassie to meet my dad since she has already met my mom).

On Friday, we went with my brother, his wife, and their three girls boating at a lake not too far away (oh yeah, the weather was really nice on Friday and Saturday). Everyone wanted to swim in the lake, but the water was a little too cold for some (me included). We all took turns on the tube, rekindling a little competition between my brother and I. We both made it through the other's driving abilities without drinking too much of the lake water! After the tubing, my brother took a turn on the wakeboard and I had to drive. Driving for a tuber is way easier than a wakeboarder--you have to keep the throttle just right since a decrease in speed could make the boarder fall. It was great to take the boat out in the middle of October.

Saturday, Cassie, Arie, and I had an adventure in San Francisco. We rode BART up to the City since the train only runs every hour. Like usual, there were delays on the BART line and tons of people on the subway car. We headed out of the station in SF without too much thought of where we were going. I thought I knew the city better than I did, so I didn't really look at the map as closely as I should. Cassie got a walking half hour tour of the financial district I hadn't really planned. We found our way, thanks to a lady who followed us down the wrong street to tell us we had missed the turn. We crammed ourselves in an historic 'F' line car (there was another set of delays on this line) to see more of the city. After smelling the aroma of the city (and the people on the street car), we finally made it to Pier 39. We watched the sea lions bark and bask in the sun. There is always lots to eat on the Pier: grabbed some chocolate and some mini doughnuts. We quickly headed over to Ghiradelli Square for some photos. I had arranged with my mom to pick us so we all could see the Golden Gate Bridge (I have been across the bridge before, but I have never really gone to the tourists'--well foreigners'--lookout). Thanks Mom--that helped us see the bridge and avoid any more public transportation mishaps.

Sunday we attended my parent's ward so my "grandmas" could meet Cassie (why settle for real grandmas when there is a host of other people's grandmas who can spoil you?). Cassie certainly got more attention than I ever could have drummed up. I guess that means that they approve of her =D. I always knew they would.

We had a really fun weekend with some great weather. Thanks to my parents, my brother and his family for making the weekend a lot of fun. (And a special thanks to Cassie's sister, Lacey, and her mom for helping us out, again). Now, it is back to work 'til Friday.