down on the farm

woowee. It has been quite the crazy month.  It all started with a trip to California for my one and only brother's college graduation.  Elaina and I are attached at the hip until the end of July, Houston is gone pretty much 24/7 studying for the bar, so any excuse to get out of town and out of Houston's hair is welcome.  But, this was a pretty good excuse!

It was also Elaina's first trip on a plane. A great momentous milestone and I was a nervous wreck.  At 14 months old all Elaina wants to do is move around.  I know how antsy she gets sitting still for an hour at church, I could not imagine a four hour plane ride.  I asked friends, I pinterested ideas, I googled advice, lets just say I was as prepared as you can possibly get.  I had a backpack full of new toys, coloring books, snacks, sippy cup, a change of clothes (can't be too safe!), lollipops, etc.  My aunt joked that I had a "Mary Poppins bag!" She didn't know how it had all fit!  But, Elaina was great!  She was totally into the plane, checkin it all out, saying hi to the people sitting behind us, looking out the window. She enjoyed her new toys.  The MagnaDoodle was a hit!  I read on a blog somewhere that this lady's 15 month old loved it on the plane and to not skimp and get the travel size, but to get the real deal.  I was definitely skeptical since it says it's for kids 3 and up, but I also read the reviews on Amazon and everyone was saying their one year olds loved it!  Welp, E was a big fan as well.  Thank you blog lady!  Her favorite part of the MagnaDoodle isn't actually drawing/erasing, it's putting the little magnets back in their designated spot.  Put them in, take them out, put them in, take them out.  Whatever keeps her occupied right?!  She was a trooper and only started getting fussy the last 15-20 minutes of the flight.  By that time it was way past nap time and she was pooped.  The second we got off the plane and she sat in her stroller, she was out!

checking out the plane with Mimi

Once we arrived, we headed straight to Fisherman's Wharf for a late lunch.  You can't go to San Francisco without getting a bread bowl!

clam chowder in a bread bowl

fish and chips

Lunch was absolutely delicious.  Elaina even enjoyed the clam chowder and kept yelling at my dad to give her french fries!

"french fry?!" "french fry?!" "french fry?!"

We walked around Fisherman's Wharf. Checked out the view and the old ships. Walked to Ghirardelli Square for some dessert.  My mom and aunt went on a ride in a cable car while we drove down Lombard Street and checked out my brother's new apartment.  We definitely packed it in!

alcatraz in the background

ghirardelli square. duh.

Elaina and Uncle Nick!

driving down Lombard Street

"the crookedest street"

After our whirlwind tour of San Fran, we drove down to Palo Alto for the graduation stuff.  The next day we met in the quad on campus for the Baccalaureate.  My brother failed to get the memo that graduates were to wear their cap and gown. Haha. My mom was kind of bugged but whatever he got to sit with us instead! I guess everyone else he lives with failed to get the memo too because one of his friends was sitting right behind us with his fam.

the siblings

baking in the sun, in the quad

We then went on a tour of campus.  Nick showed us all of his favorites spots, where his classes were, etc.  It was fun!  And, Stanford's campus is gorgeous of course.  It made me all nostalgic for my college days.  I can't wait to go back to BYU for a football game this fall!  We made a small detour through the bookstore so I could equip myself with a Stanford shirt.  I am proud of my little brother after all!  That night we met up with all of our family in town for dinner at a Singaporean restaurant.  It was like a mix of a lot of different asian/indian dishes I've had.  My favorite thing was the clamari, it had a breading with a little kick!

The next day was the big event.  It was hot as hades outside! The commencement was in the stadium (which looked awesome!) but sitting in the stands for a few hours was pretty miserable.  Good thing my Aunt Margie brought sunscreen with her otherwise we could have had a sunburn disaster on our hands.

saving seats for the fam in Stanford Stadium

They had this thing called the wacky walk? All the graduates parade in the stadium and for the first thirty minutes walk around the field wearing random costumes.  It was all incredibly entertaining.  My favorites were the guys in speedos that laid out on the field! :)

The commencement speaker was Cory Booker, mayor of Neward, New Jersey.  I loved his commencement address.  He was pretty awesome.  His speech was all about needing to be a leader in the world today, but he gave advice on how to be a leader - you need to be loving, humble, and positive.  He gave a bunch of examples from his life and the lives of his dad and grandfather, which also tied everything into Father's Day since it was well... Father's Day!  He was awesome. I know I already said that but it's true.   After all that we trekked across campus to the Biology Department luncheon and diploma ceremony.

there he is!

and he is done!

Congrats little brother! I love you!

The next day was the last day of our whirlwind trip.  I helped Nicholas pack up the night before, the morning we were leaving my mom helped my brother move into his new apartment since he was flying back to Texas with us.  The same day we left, my dad, Aunt Margie, and I packed in a quick trip to see Alcatraz.  I'll be honest, I wasn't totally into the idea of Alcatraz.  But, I was pleasantly surprised with how much I loved it!  We had to rush it a bit in order to make our flight, so I definitely want to go back someday and do it right!  I was most surprised by how absolutely gorgeous the island is! That was probably my favorite part about the whole thing.

Overall, it was an awesome trip.  We definitely missed Daddy.  I am always bummed when we don't get to share experiences together and Elaina missed him terribly.  The last day of the trip she kept pointing to my phone saying "dada, hi! dada, hi?" wanting to talk to him.  It was pretty cute.  Anyway, the flight home was pretty uneventful and we spent the next two days recuperating and resting from our vacation.

peace out cali!