San Francisco

Our August was quite busy, which is one of the reasons our blog hasn't been updated in a while. At least, that provides a good excuse that helps me sleep...

One of the reasons it was so busy was because we took a family vacation. Our amazing friends in the San Fransico Bay Area footed us on an "all expenses paid" trip. Needless to say, we were quite humbled and overjoyed by the prospect.

While we were there we got to experience all that the city had to offer. We did all the typical tourist destinations there, and then took a couple of excursions out of the city. I don't know about you, but when we do family vacations, I always try to "feel out" the kids and see how much of the trip they might actually remember later. i can remember in my own childhood taking many wonderful family vacations, but my memories of each are just brief moments; those moments when you think, "Wow. Now I'm really having fun!"

In talking to the kids about their "takeaways" from this trip, it was interesting the things that they found to be the most enjoyable. To a person, the highlight of our trip was those things we saw that (if you'll let me) God created. It wasn't the Golden Gate Bridge (that just begs for you to spend a roll of film on), or anything that you might think.

Our favorites were the afternoon we spent at a tide pool, collecting and examining sea creatures and shells, and the day we spent at Muir Woods, surrounded by majestic redwoods. Something about being outside, communing with nature was so incredibly refreshing and worshipful. Those are the experiences that we'll treasure the most. Maybe we've been in the city too long...