Big Birthday Suprise!!

Last Friday was a doozy for Superkid!

We woke him up with the surprise of a big birthday trip!!

As he stumbled out to the rental car that was all packed we told him all the things we had planned. He had the widest smile I think I've ever seen on him. :-)

Our first stop was The Jelly Belly Factory for a tour. SO MUCH FUN! The kids had a really good time and especially liked the samples at the end. :-) From that point on I can tell you we ate ENTIRELY WAY TOO MUCH SUGAR! ugh. I'm still sick from it all.

Then we traveled down the road to:


















San Fransisco!

(picture taken by Superkid)


We then took a trip down:


















"the crookedest street in world." Lumbard Street (which according to Wikipedia it's not the most crooked - OH WELL!) I am just amazed that people actually live on that street!



Anyway, from there we went to Fisherman's Wharf. As soon as we showed up there was a clown blowing up balloons my daughter noticed right away. It wasn't even five minutes as we walked past him that he threw off his wig and began to yell at his partners, making a big scene. My poor daughter spent the rest of our time in San Fransisco talking about how "the clown was angry." Superkid had a blast! He was amazed at the size of the buildings and all of the people. We couldn't leave SF without having a bread bowl of clam chowder first, so we walked in the cold night air and finally found a place to sit down for dinner. San Fransisco was fun to visit, but we all agreed we don't think we could stay there too long without going nuts.

We stayed at an average hotel outside San Fransisco. Woke up all excited for the best of the trip (according to the poll taken afterword). We had planned to go to Bodega Bay for Superkid to see the ocean for the first time. We stocked up on our supplies since we planned to have a bon fire on the beach. We went to Safeway to pickup: Hot Dogs and Smore Supplies. YUMMY!!


So, as we begun traveling to Bodega Bay, we got weary of driving (plus we were ready for lunch) and Superman thought he knew of a beach someplace. Sooo, we drove down these windy and hilly roads, expecting any moment we'd see the ocean. Eventually we found a little town and asked how to get to the ocean. They directed us and we made it. And, it was SO worth the drive! The minute we opened the car door we heard the crashing of the waves. We had no problem with lighting a fire on the beach, which just made the whole experience. The weather wasn't too bad either. We had a few times where it sprinkled on us, but altogether it was fairly nice. Our hot dogs & smores were GREAT! The kids made sand castles and had a good time chasing each other with sticks. Every family needs a trip to the ocean on a regular basis I think.

Here's a picture of my birthday boy playing in the dirt & playing with sticks (his two most favorite things to do):


















After that we drove around my husbands old stomping grounds and took a trip down memory lane. It was dark by the time we got over to where he used to live, so he wasn't able to see everything as well as he would have liked. That just means we need to take another trip soon. :-)


Then, we headed back home. As dinner time approached we tricked the kids into thinking we were going to a fancy restaurant since we'd been eating junk and instead we drove into a kids paradise - Chuck E. Cheese!

Altogether we had such a great time. Superkid said this was his best birthday ever.

Happy Birthday my sweet 8 year old boy!!!