California

We went on a week long adventure to California with Jeff's family. We started the trip in San Fransisco and made our way down to Santa Barbara. First we stopped in Monterey Bay and visited the famous aquarium. The fish and marine animals were incredible. We kept going down Pacific Highway... not always fun when you are pregnate and nauseous, but so so so gorgeous. We stopped at one of the places that had inspired Jeff to become an architect, Hearst castle. The castle has everything you would think a castle should have. Going from room to room you just can't help but imagine yourself living in that gorgeous place and living the life of the "rich and beautiful"....then you get back down and back to the real world. We stopped in the town of Lompoc and made a trip to memory lane for the Livingstons, as this is the town where Jeff was born. We finally arrived in Santa Barbara, where we were staying in this gorgeous, relaxing, French inspired villa. The picture on the website did not do justice to the house. The weather was fantastic the entire time we were there. It was great to spend time with the entire family under the same roof for a couple of days. We hiked on some days, and went to the beach others. Going to the beach with Emma had been something I wanted to do really badly. Little kids are so cute on the beach....and she was no exception. It was great to have this big open space for her to run and really not get hurt, and since the water was so cold she was not that interested in it. She played in the sand, got her feet wet and ran from the waves, and pointed to all the birds she saw. We definetly could have stayed an extra week.