Surprise in SF!

Nothing better than a week at home.

The kids and I flew to SF for the week partially for my work trip and mostly for family fun time. (Jack stayed back in CLE.) The boys were stellar on the plane, and warm weather greeted us.

 Within the first 12 hours, we found ourselves at the SF Academy of Sciences. Justin absolutely loved that place. He insisted on wearing his backpack all day.

 Spent time with hi-bachan.

And then SUNDAY finally rolled around. My parents retired last month, and Lori & I wanted to them to truly kick off their retirement with family and friends... So we threw a surprise party for them!! Got about 40 of their closest friends and Lori flew in for the surprise. We had the best time planning the party and getting the details in order. It all went according to plan and they were truly surprised!

We had a great time catching up with so many family and friends. Too many pictures to post, but thank you to everyone who helped us make this happen. And a very special Happy Retirement to my Mom & Dad - we are so thrilled that you two get to reap the rewards of all of your hard work! Travel the world and don't forget to visit Ohio!

After the party festivities, I had to do some work on Mon/Tues. So the boys were truly spoiled...I don't think they asked for me once. When I saw them on Tuesday night all I heard about were "so many sea lions" and "we went on a boat under the Golden Bridge, " as Justin would say.

Wed-Fri were spent hanging around the house and enjoying a few more outings. Did I mention that my parents have accumulated quite the toy stash? The boys love digging into these boxes on every trip!

 Quality time with Auntie Lori. Arts/Crafts & Book Store trips.

Have you met Pumpkin yet? My parents name their cars and my mom's new car is named Pumpkin. Perfect for city driving and for GIANTS FEVER! The boys went out with my parents to celebrate the Giants championship and route to the World Series.

 A SF trip is not complete without some Baby Lucas time. As soon as we got to my parents' house, Justin asked for Baby Lucas. Luckily we got to see him a couple times during our trip. By the end of our trip, Lucas was crawling from the front of the house to the back of the house trying to find the kids. He's the happiest, most content baby ever!

We enjoyed many family dinners and the best foods. I didn't pull my camera out at every stop, but luckily my sister shared this pic. Yes, J took his shirt off because he spilled something on it. He is a very particular little boy.

On Friday, we headed to Alamo's (my elementary school) Halloween parade and carnival. Miko and Rumi go to school there now my cousin is a 1st grade teacher. It was so great to see the kids together. Justin absolutely loves Rumi and followed her around everywhere.

 All 4 cousins (or 2nd cousins, I think). Justin, Rumi, Miko and Colin.

And something you don't find at Ohio school food booths - sushi, pot stickers and egg rolls. Oh, how I miss SF food!

I swear, the boys are better behaved in the air than on land. They are both such great fliers. Justin took his nap like this on the way back to CLE. haha.

It's always sad for me to leave SF, but this trip was a bit easier because we'll have Lori visiting us in November!!! Thank you mom & dad for making this SF trip fabulous - lots of good food and family time. Love you. =) We came back to lots of house improvements - Jack definitely kept busy. More house updates to post soon. =)