Santa Rosa, CA
October 1–8, 2015
One year ago, we took a family road trip to honor our toddler son Atticus. We are sharing those stories now.
Our time in Monterey was brief but great. We were now looking forward to a longer stay with wonderful friends in Sonoma County.
This was a diverse and active week. We had fun taking in the local restaurants…
Visited the Charles Schulz Museum…
Learned about their bearded dragon…
and visited the gorgeous Armstrong Redwoods…
As you can see, our girls really bonded with this family on this trip.
They are wonderful people and we shared so much fun, which included quite a bit of music, actually.
The dad directs kids music programs, and he and his kids were happy to teach the girls the songs and rhythms.
He and I originally got connected through music, so it was fun to see our kids making music together.
Our wives also share a funny coincidental musical link — being involved with the same traveling singing group at different times.
After the kids would go to bed we were able to have some great times around the fire.
We also have dear friends in the Berkeley area and we were excited to get the kids together.
They very kindly gave the girls each a Twirly Girl dress, and they were happy to put that name to the test at a nearby park.
When you find yourself a mere two hour drive from your friends in Sacramento (instead of the 12 it would take from Phoenix), you better swing over for dinner and baby time!
It was great to catch up, share stories, and enjoy each other’s company.
The girls were content to watch a movie while grown ups were grown ups (I remember that driving me nuts as a kid).
The drive through Napa was lovely, and I’m sure our host family’s teenage daughter enjoyed a night of peace. ;-)
Of course, while in the Bay Area, there are some rather specific sites one must take in…
If you find yourself in Sonoma with kids, I highly recommend the Children’s Museum of Sonoma County. I think the girls would too.
The girls also love Children’s Fairyland in Oakland. It’s charming (and aging), but if your kids are young enough it’s cute and fun.
Did I mention that they love their Twirly Girl dresses? (their dad seems to, as well)
We are so grateful to this family for opening their home to us, taking us all over the place, being there for us, and letting us be there for them.
At the end of this wonderful week, it was time to pack up the van, give hugs and say goodbyes (rather tearful ones from our daughters, actually). We needed to continue our journey north and we had at least another week to go on this trip.