This weekend we are spending time with our little sisters while the parents are out of town, and we are having an absolute BLAST. They are 12 and 10, both going on 25. They are are beyond fun to hang out with and continually keep us laughing. The first morning we went to their house (Friday) was the day after my root canal. DJ went to their house nice and early and I woke up leisurely to make sure I got enough rest to recover. Surprisingly when I woke up I felt amazing. I felt no pain and did not even have any Tylenol in my system. On my way to their house (which is only about 30 minutes from us), I decided to stop and run “The Dish”. This is a famous satellite Dish landmark that has a trail that snakes up the mountains and provides gorgeous views of the surrounding area. You actually can see Stanford’s red rooftops from the top. I also passed a whole flock (flock?) of turkey on my run. I did get lost though, despite my awesome innate compass (sarcasm). I was planning on doing an easy 4 or 5 miler, but ended up doing 7. Oh well!

Once I finally got to the house after my detour, we decided to all go to Lush. Now, I have never been to Lush, but if you have, you may realize how dangerous this is that I now know what Lush is. The girls love this place and knew more about the products and the store than probably anyone else (maybe even the workers!). Also- our little sisters are the sweetest girls on planet Earth. When we got into the store they told us we weren’t allowed to stay with them. We just thought they were exercising their independence. Instead, they came back about five minutes later with a giftcard for me. What 10/12-year-olds think to do that?! It was the kindest thing. We stocked up on delicious smelling bath bombs, hair treatments, and bubble bars.

^^Once again, why am I standing like this?! #runningtanorsocks

After LUSH, we walked around Stanford mall and peaked in the bakeries that invited us with the smell of bread wafting in the  walkways. We then came home, had a quick snack, and went to hang out in the gym while one of the girls had basketball practice. When practice ended we rushed over to a creative Japanese restaurant the girls suggested named Juban. It closed at 9 and we made it by 8:05 for just enough time to enjoy the full meal. You choose from a menu of tons of meat, sides, veggies, salads, etc. and then cook them on a grill right in the middle of your table. I have never done this before, but I would certainly go back. Their sauces (particularly the barbecue tasting soy sauce) was amazing! I ordered tofu and veggies. The girls and DJ got filet mignon and yummy rice.

We then proceeded to do what any normal 20-something-year-olds do on a Friday night: go to the store to get some Ben and Jerry’s. There was actually a line in front of the freezer section at the store for the B&Js. #addicts (including ourselves). The favorite flavors in this family include brownie batter and half baked froyo. Then it was off to sleep for a full day at Santa Cruz to come.

We all took the morning to sleep in and decided that nothing sounded better than a beach day. Santa Cruz is a full blown surfer town. It is just like you would imagine. The first time we went to Santa Cruz was the day before we moved into our apartment. On our way DJ kept saying, “Santa Cru Cru Cru Cruzzzz” with a little tongue twirl at the end. So now we don’t really refer to it as anything else. We spent the night walking the pier, ate at a fantastic mexican-seafood joint overlooking the water, and watched the surfers ride the waves at sunset. There is also a poppin’ Arcade next to the boardwalk. The Boardwalk is basically a lively carnival that goes on year round with games, rides, and even a free movie night on Wednesdays on the beach. We only live about an hour away and it will be a great place to relax on the weekends if we need to get away for a day-trip. That is something I love about where we live. Monterey, Half Moon Bay, Santa Cruz, Tahoe, and many other destination places are basically day or weekend trips if you have the time. And….The FOOOOOD. Oh, the food. It’s too much to handle. We are trying to figure out what to do for our anniversary coming up in a few weeks and it’s maybe one of the most challenging decisions of our marriage. Just too many darn good options!

Now, we probably should have not tried to go on a Saturday afternoon in the summer. The traffic and parking was nuts. We finally ended up finding a spot and spent a good chunk of time playing games, riding rides, and taking in the view of miles of glistening water. DJ and I split up with the girls since they had different interests. I went with the younger one and we ran into some Disney Princesses walking the boardwalk. Perfect time for a selfie! We also tried to stand in line for a funnel cake since they had never had one, but the line was at least an hour long. We promised them we would find them another funnel cake soon!

For dinner, we ate at a place on the Boardwalk called Gilda’s. It had the very hometown, diner feel that just has quality food-the bread and butter, fish and chips, no-mess-around-good-tartar sauce and coleslaw type of place that just beckons when you are near the sea. We did have a slight scare when I was sitting at the table and felt something crawling on my back. I look over my shoulder and a bee is just casually basking in the sun on my left scapula (nursing talk). I didn’t scream- hard to believe, I know. I was able to blow it off of me and when it fell to the ground DJ kindly killed it. We kept our cool, generally speaking. It was ironic too because we had just been talking about how many times we had each been stung in the car on the way up.

After dinner we began the winding ride on route 17 back home. Once again it was during the time with most likely the heaviest traffic. We have a great deal to learn! When we got home we realized that we did not take the house key with us. I thought DJ had the house key, and DJ thought going through the garage house door would be sufficient. Well the garage door was locked. WHOOPS. I was a salty, salty peanut. So here we are at 10:30 at night with a couple of girls with full bladders sitting in the car with no idea how to get in the house. Luckily the girls knew a neighbor, who was still awake, thankfully, who let us in. It’s all good! Worst case scenario we could have gone to our place, but none of us had anything since even DJ and I had packed our clothes, toothbrushes, and other everyday essentials to the girls’ house. The girls were TROOPERS through the whole thing. Like I said, 10 and 12 going on 25.

 

This morning I squeezed in a quick five miler before the heat hit. We then went to the same church from last week. It was a joy seeing familiar faces, and most everyone remembered our names. Everyone was beyond welcoming. The founder of the Church (from Australia) came and spoke. We had great conversation on the way home about the service. Tonight we are heading to Sean Mendes in concert! The girls are beyond excited (as are we). More to come with that!

Wishing you lots of beautiful adventures,

xo <3

Mack