San Francisco Sister Trip

 My sister, Megan, moved to San Francisco about 7 months ago, and so it was obvious that sooner, rather than later a sister trip was going to happen. The planning all happened rather quickly and so unfortunately my sister Brooke and my SIL Shay weren't able to make it. We missed them lots! 

It was so much fun spending time with Michelle and Megan. We brought out Kids, since Owen can't really be away from me yet, the whole feeding thing is kind of important for him still... so we decided to make it a girls trip with our little girls, plus little OD. 

I Love spending time with my sisters. They are so funny, and really they just get what it's like being a Mendenhall girl. Emotions and all. We just get each other. So a week in San Francisco was nothing but awesomeness with them. 

It was my first time flying with June and OD, so I was a wee bit nervous. OK, I was really nervous. Dan dropped us off and made sure we made it all the way through security. I feel like I handled it well. Both June and Owen were saints going through security and people were just eating up their cuteness. 

*Side Note: People are so friendly. I think that in a general sense the world is full of incredible people. Many people offered to help me all the way to my gate. One lady offered to follow me and help until we got settled... Thank you complete strangers for reminding me that there is good in the World. 

We made it to our gate, but I was feeling still nervous on how well Owen would fly. He doesn't take a pacifier and I was concerned the change in pressure would bother him. 

June loved watching the planes take off. There was a plane right in front of us, and as the plane was backing out the pilots were waving to June and she would wave back. Again super nice people, with such a small gesture made a little girls day! 

We made it to our seats and getting more nervous and excited to get our adventure underway. All smiles so we were off to a good start. June is now old enough to have her own seat and it was so nice! She thought she was pretty special too, to have her own ticket and everything! I wish we were able to keep our tickets... 

We Took off without a glitch and had a smooth first flight. I don't know what I was so nervous about, well I do, because obviously I didn't know how OD would act, but he was an angel, just like his sister. They both were so good. Owen Just slept the majority of the flight and didn't cry once! My little prayers were answered! June did great, but  I knew she would be. She watched the New Tinker Bell movie and played with all her little surprises I got her for the flight. 

We colored and played with a lot of stickers. We decorated her iPad cover more than once. 

She asked to hold my hand when we took off and landed, or when it would get a bit bumpy. It made me so happy. I love her so much and I love that she still needs me to feel safe. 

Our second flight was just as smooth. The Stewards were amazing and helped hold Owen while I took June potty on the plane. They loved him and were so helpful! I love Southwest!!! 

We then arrived!!! It was instant entertainment with my sister Meg and her little girl Sami. Oh I wish I lived closer to my sisters!!! 

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We had to wait for Michelle and her two girls, so June and Sami ran around the airport. Little Sami had to take her pants off, so she was running around in panties. A great welcome for Michelle. It was pretty funny! 

Mich, Sager and Reese came and then the party could begin. 

We crammed two carseats and 8 bodies into a 5 passenger car with all our luggage and stroller, but we are awesome and totally made it work! We headed to Megs house and got settled in for the week. 

 After a bit, we walked down to the Bay to throw rocks. Meg lives right next to the ocean. It is a beautiful place to live. Super jealous she lives to close to the beach like that! Her house is so adorable too. It has such a San Francisco charm to it! 

This is the prison Alcatraz. A super old Prison that is on an island all by itself. It's super creepy, but also has a really interesting history. Look it up if you don't know the story behind it!! 

After a long day of travels we decided to call it an early night. Not so early for us, since we were ahead, body time, by two hours. So us Texans were definitely ready for bed!! 

June and I shared an air mattress while Owen slept in Sami's crib. June slept great and it was fun cuddling with her throughout the night. 

Reese and Sage shared a bed, then Michelle slept on the couch. 

The next morning we hit the ground running with a trip to get some doughnuts and bagels. We did a bit of shopping around the area and then headed to the park to play! 

These girls were having so much fun together. They seriously are adorable. Sage is older than they are, but she was a great little babysitter!

After a morning spent at the park and shopping, we went back to Megs house and had lunch. Then packed up all our things and headed down the street to the beach. This was Owen and June's first trip to the Ocean. I was a bit sad that Dan wasn't there to experience it with us, but someone has to pay the bills while we play!!! :) 

 The View was incredible. The Golden Gate Bridge was right there. It was fun to play in the sand, and even though the water was a bit chilly we still put our feet in it and splashed around. 

I love my Beach babes! and What cute Beach Babes they are!! 

It was fun building Sand castles and digging in the sand. June loved it! It made me want to get a sand box in the back yard for her to dig around in... Maybe! 

Sami teaching June how to make sand angels. Ha Ha it was pretty comical watching them. 

Owen's first touch of water in the Pacific Ocean! 

Sun Lounging! 

June wasn't so sure about the water. We only went to the very tip of it and then she would get scared. So we didn't push the issue. 

Beach Bum.... Literally! 

We stayed at the beach for a couple of hours and then headed back to Megs. On our way home we walked through The Palace of Fine arts. It was really pretty and the girls loved seeing the ducks and turtles. 

The girls played while we showered and got ready for the night out. We walked around Union Square and then went and had dinner. It was going to be my Niece Sage's birthday on that Thursday so we had our waiter sing to her. She was so cute and shy, but she loved it! 

After a delicious meal, we headed back and had a little calm down time before the girls all went to bed. I found a game of "Match" which is June's favorite game so we played it a lot while we were there. 

Being on a two hour different time zone meant that we were awake at 5am and played for a while until everyone else woke up. 

The next day we got up and got ready to head to the Muir Red Wood forrest. 

My dad would be so proud of our snack bags. He is really big in packing awesome snack bags when all of us kids get together. He has done it for years. So for him we made our own snack bags for the walk through the red woods. 

Hanging out at the entrance, waiting for tickets and parking. 

These little girlies are the cutest together!! 

You can tell by June's expression that the trees were really big! 

Owen was put in a backpack so that we could put other tired little ones in the stroller. He loved it! He seriously was smiling like this the entire time and was looking around. He was having a pretty good time! 

These trees are gigantic!! It was fun to get us all in front of one! 

Owen fell asleep on Mich's back. 

We promised the girls we would get ice-cream after the red woods, it was a bit of a battle because they all had fallen asleep on the drive, so waking them up was a struggle, but we managed to get them awake and had ice-cream in Sausalido. 

June was a little cranky still. She was super mad in this picture because she didn't have enough ice-cream on her cone and plus she wasn't to thrilled about waking up from the car ride. 

She eventually calmed down, we got her more ice-cream and the girls were plenty happy eating on the water fountain and throwing coins. 

One more stop up to take closer pictures with the Golden Gate Bridge. I am one lucky girl to have such amazing sisters. I know that I can call them for anything whether its to vent about an awful day or to just say hi. I love my sisters and that also include the two that are missing from this picture! 

Owen was all snuggled up and asleep in the car, so I didn't want to pull him out. It's just us girls for this picture. 

Sami showing all the girls that this was her home. 

Being a Geologists wife, I had to take a picture of this side of the hill. I expected Dan to fully explain just what was happening in all of these rock changes and he sure met my expectations.

After such a busy morning and early afternoon, we came home and decided to let the girls play and us relax in Meg's backyard. She has an awesome little bouncy house that the girls could not get enough of! It was nice to just lay in the sun and listen to all the cousins play. 

We talked and face timed with daddy a couple of nights. June would really miss him when she saw him and would ask when she was going to see him. 

I had to take a picture of this because Owen is not the type of baby to just fall asleep in your arms. He likes to be stretched out and fall asleep on his own, so when these moments happen I try and soak them up as much as possible. 

Our last full day was my little Niece, Sage's birthday! We opened gifts and then headed out for some more shopping. For Sage's birthday we got cupcakes and the girls inhaled them! it was a fun morning.

We then let the girls and ourselves have some quiet time. Then it was time for our last night on the town. 

Meg lives really close to Fisherman's Wharf so we spent our evening there. We first headed over to see the Sea Lions on Pier 39. All These sea lions hang out at this pier for really no particular reason. There were so many of them! It was crazy!

Picture with a cable car... or better known as The Trolly. Supposedly though, San Francisco people call them cable cars. Us Tourists know nothing! 

Heading over to get something to eat!

We ate at a great little pizza shop for Sage's birthday. This was June and I keep ourselves entertained while we waited for our pizza. 

Blowing kisses to daddy 

After dinner we made one more stop to the famous Ghirardelli chocolate store for an ice cream sunday. It was delicious but by the time we were done eating we were sick to our stomachs. Too much food all at once, but oh it was so good!! 

We sadly had to call it a night and go home to pack up. It went to quickly and I was sad to leave my sister's again. 

It was tough waking up the next morning. Our bodies were just starting to get used to the time change, and so waking up at 6 was hard, especially for June. I was doing everything I could to get her body out of bed. 

The girls dropped me off at the airport since my flight took off first and we sadly said our goodbyes. I am so glad that we have another trip coming up where I get to see them. It helps it not so difficult! 

Security was a bit longer to get through this time, but we made it through and gave ourselves a stretch break before sitting on a plan for 3 1/2 hours. 

The plane ride home was even quieter than the plane ride there. Both June and Owen slept the entire time. It was nice not having to worry about entertaining them or trying to figure out how we were going to go potty. They slept and I read my book. It was a nice flight home. a bit bumpy but all in all smooth sailing... 

So now we are home safe and sound. It's always so sad when a trip you have look forward to has come and gone. The time just flew by but I am so grateful for my sisters for always having my back. I  love having all my sisters older than me. I love that they look out for me in such a protective way. It is now time to settle down for a few days until our next Adventure!!