A visit from Aunt Charity...

Will's sister, Charity, and her family came out to Califonia for a week after Christmas.  We were excited to see them and supposed to have them at our house for half of the week.  But we still had puking kids a few days before they were due to come and we thought it best to not share the pukes with Charity, Ben, and their eight kids.  So super Dave and Angela ended up hosting ten extra people for the week.  I owe them some treats or something.  We did have the whole crew over at our house for dinner a few times...but 99% of the hosting duties fell on Dave and Angela.  

Our first opportunity to get together was a hike up in the Sunol hills.  Will planned it out and took Charity and her family and Dave's kids and our kids on the hike.  I stayed home...

It is one of our favorite hikes with a cool rock formation at the halfway point.  Providing an opportune place to stop and have a picnic on the hike. 

Our next adventure was on New Years day.  We drove out to the Muir Woods.  We left early in the morning to try and beat traffic and the crowds in the woods.  We succeeded, sort of.  Our car ended up taking the long way around to San Francisco so Will could stop and feed me Chick-fil-a for breakfast.  I was thankful but it added an extra 40 minutes to our drive.  We got into the Muir woods without too much trouble but ended up having to park pretty far away from the entrance and walking. 

The hike through the woods was spectacular!  The trees were HUGE and the plants that grow beneath them were fascinating.  I loved all the moss covered trees.  We learned a lot about the woods and tree types via plaques as we walked around.

Our five kids, David's four and Charity's eight...plus a few adults.  That's a lot of kids!

 Will loves Micah.  He might be Will's favorite...don't tell anyone else.  Will hauled Micah around on his shoulders for a good portion of the hike.  Micha was happy and Will hasn't had to carry a kid on his shoulders for a while.  It was good exercise. 

There were fun little nooks to explore and take pictures at.  Of course, once one kid discovered something cool they all had to check it out or try it out.  We spent a good 15-20 minutes at this fallen tree while most of the kids took turns jumping off of the tree.  No one died or broke a leg.

After the woods we headed over to Stinson Beach.  The day was chilly but sunny.  However, the cold did not stop any of the kids from getting in the water.  It is seriously a disease.  They cannot help but plunge themselves into ocean water when they are around it.  Madness I tell you, madness.

Except for Colter, he manages to keep his wits and senses around the ocean.  He likes to dig.  He kept on digging big holes and having to stop when he noticed a sand flea or two.  The sand fleas at this beach were huge.  They were are as big as my thumb from the tip to the first knuckle.  I didn't blame him for giving up once he came across a few of them.  They are creepy!

A few days later (on the last full day Charity and Ben were in town) we headed over to Half Moon Bay for more beach time.  The kids played in the water and we all got our fill of sunshine and sand. 

Will did not bring any supplies so he could go in the water.  But Lorien needed some company out in the freezing water.  So Will gamely put on the shorts I had brought for Wyatt and headed into the water.  On that note, Wyatt decided to stay home for this trip.  He was tired and wanted to play video games instead.  We tried everything to convince him, even having Dave and Angela (who came to the beach after Lily's nap) go offer to pick him up later in the afternoon.  Wyatt wanted to stay home. 

So, Will in his tiny shorts went boogie boarding with Lorien in the frozen waves.  Their skin was lobster red and numb in no time!  Crazies!

We also got to get our fill of new baby snuggles.  Charity had baby Sariah six weeks ago and we were all in new born baby heaven.  The trip did not agree with Sariah and she was pretty fussy for most of the time we were together.  Someone needed to be holding her most of the time.  Good thing there were so many of us to volunteer.  I loved every second of bouncing, swaying and swaddling that baby! 

After the day at the beach we changed our clothes and headed up to San Francisco for some time in China Town.  We ate at one of our favorite Chinese restaurants, The house of Nan King.  It is crowded and crazy on a regular evening but us showing up with a party of 22 made it extra "special".  We ate our fill and enjoyed the wild enviroment...adding whatever wild we could.

Then we wandered the streets of China Town.  We watched people set off fireworks in the street and poked around in tourist shops.  We even made our way down a typical city alley and into one of the fourtune cookie factories to watch the cookies be made.  It was a worthwhile adventure.

We said our goodbyes to Charity, Ben, and the kids in the parking lot in San Francisco.  They were leaving first thing in the morning so we wouldn't get another chance. 

Oh, we all contracted some kind of viral rash while we were together.  First I got a few patches, then Wyatt and Lorien, then Will.  Clare, Adell, and Colter were spared.  All three of Dave's big kids got the rash and Ben and two of their kids got it from Charity's family.  We never figured out what it was.  A doctor we saw thought it was poison oak from the hikes but we were all bundled up, poison oak wasn't growing anywhere, and we got it in places that were not touched by outside air (like on my belly and the inner crook of my elbow.  It was puzzling and frustrating.  A few weeks later (when it showed up on Adell) I happened to be at the doctor's office with Clare and Adell.  Our actual pediatrician looked at Adell's rash and declared it a viral infection.  So...that's what we ended up going with...and treating with lots of hydrocortisone.  Fun times...fun times...