Mostly a driving day today…but seriously one of the best of the entire trip. Loved the ocean views and giant Redwoods…we even drove through a 2400 year old Redwood (love being a tourist) . Bye for now Cali…you sure did give us some great memories! Our day Ended with a nice Pinot Noir watching the sunset fall on the Oregon Coast. No complaints here!

Today was a real highlight of our trip (also slightly unexpected). On our way down, we opted to take the 101 from Eureka to get us to San Francisco faster so we could have a day of fun out of the car.  On the way back, we took Highway 1. I think we all knew it would be beautiful – we’ve spent some time on the Oregon coast, and did see part of the Northern California coast just before hitting the 101.  Well, this was the most beautiful stretch of the entire trip (in my opinion). Four hours of dramatic cliffs, rolling hills, sleepy towns and cascading trees.  Really amazing.

We had a great pitstop at Hog Island Oyster Farm (the actual farm  – it services the fancy location in The Ferry Building). Oysters that are about as fresh as they get…so delish!  If you book in advance you can reserve your own table and shuck your own oysters…bring a long a little picnic and have a BBQ as well. We had a sample tasting and some local cheese and crackers. Easily could have had another dozen. The mignonette was the best I’ve ever had. YUM! We need to go back there when we have a driver 😉

We had so much fun here on our way down…we were all excited to come back. Really fantastic weekend here in SF. We got to ride on a cool street car, Kabuki cab and cable car (or ding ding bus – as will likes to call it). We ate delicious food, drank delicious wine, had our toes done (Jay loved this part ;))…we even hired a babysitter to have a night out on the town. Loved the ferry building,  a nice stroll through Chinatown and amazing pizza/pasta in North Beach. Fantastic weekend all around.  We will be back!

Jay & I have been here once before…and we will definitely come again. Such a beautiful pocket of the coast. Epic views, great food…and wildlife putting on a show right before your eyes. We’ve seen elephant seals, seal lions, whales, and dolphins…all in the wild…playing right before our eyes.

Great lunch at Nepenthe’s in Big Sur – such beautiful views and really neat spot. I wish we would have had more time to spend here (we’ll be back). That is the downfall to ‘winging it’ and not making reservations (noted for next time) ;).

Great trip through Carmel and the 17-Mile drive. So beautiful.

We also made a visit to the Monterey Aquarium. Absolutely worth the visit. It’s such a beautiful building…and they do an amazing job of making it fun for the kids with all kinds of fun activities for them to get hands-on. When we first got there, a nice man named Virgil gave the kids cool wristbands, which they asked for our mobile number to write on the inside.  Such a great idea for families with little kids that might get lost.  Can you guess where I’m going with this? Wildcard Will gave us a run for our money today…just as we entered into the darkness of the Under the Sea exhibit – Will took off.  With so many people and so many kids running around, he was gone before we knew it. Jay and Tal went one way, I went another…not to be found. After a few minutes of panic we alerted security…and Virgil came to the rescue with a big smile on his face. They had him back to us in minutes – he had run through the entire exhibit and found a fun kids play area that he wanted to try. Hopefully that doesn’t happen again 😉 You sure do keep us on our toes little man!

Tonight at our hotel – The Best Western Plus Beach Resort – we sat on our deck in nice chaises and watched sea lions play in the waves, dolphins jumping just behind them and whales breeching and splashing just off in the distance. I would absolutely stay here again – amazing spot!

Tal & Will  have mastered the art of hotel picnicking 😉 Our superstar travellers 😉

BREAKING NEWS! Will used the potty for the first time!  Finally! We may meet the requirements to get him in preschool September 2nd just yet! Go Will!

Today was mostly a driving day – we spent the morning enjoying our Glamp site…and hit the road to Morro Bay.  We had a great lunch, followed by an EPIC meltdown by Master William – little man just can’t pass a window with a toy car in it without needing to have it. We hit the road just a little further to land in San Simeon. Big excitement for me – laundry.  Oh the things we miss when we are on the road 😉

Tal was such a good girl today…she earned her ice cream! It was an extra surprise for all when they brought her a sundae instead 😉  Lucky, lucky girl!

I’m not sure Jay ever thought he’d go ‘Glamping’…but I think he’s hooked! We had a really fun night at a Glamp site in El Capitain Canyon, just north of Santa Barbara. Possibly the most exciting part was cooking…we really miss cooking our own meals! Tal & Will’s fav was most definitely the S’mores 😉

Shout out to Linds & Des – years ago you guys taught me how to make something I believe is called the banana boat. You learned about it in Brownie’s or Guides (I bet you got a badge for that ;)) I pulled that one out for Jay – delish 😉

We had a great couple of days at Ventura Beach.  Our hotel was perfectly located on the beach…with a pool…and on a floor high enough to have an amazing view of the sunset and the fireworks at the county fair. We rented a Surrey one afternoon – for a short ride – man it was harder than we thought! We met some new friends from Holland on the beach…and had fun with our sand toys!

Well…it’s not all fun…one must work too! (To be fair, we have been working everyday, just not all day! ;)) I had a great couple of days in Movember HQ.  The office is really amazing (see in-house barber shop below where J got his hair did 😉 Great meetings, great fun…campaign 2014 here we come. Let’s rock this!

We had a great experience with a babysitting service – Sophia…life guard and swim instructor…made the kids day on Friday so Jay could get some work done and come for din with the team. Life on the road isn’t so bad 😉

PS – poor Will. We’ve abandoned rules this trip…we kind of just have to go for it if we are all going to have a good experience. The little guy literally just falls asleep in his tracks. The upside, he asks me to snuggle on occasion just so he can catch some Z’s. I’ll take it…real world is just around the corner 😉

PPS – our luggage carts are epic. We are a travelling band. Stuffies hanging from every nook…and Miss Movember Trucker hat – who would leave that at home?

Well, we thought it would be fun for the kids to spend a night on The Queen Mary.  With strong British roots on both sides…Nan/Grandama/Aunties & Uncles that travelled across the pond by boat…yada yada. As it turned out, The Queen Mary was tired. That said, we had a lovely, traditional meal on board. The kids were great…it was another lovely surprise of the trip. Tal was really excited to see the Princess Diana exhibit (from a far)…and Will was quite content having tantrums and wrecking whatever his little hands could find (we love you Will ;)). Sadly, no pictures. Sorry folks, this team needs a photog on staff. 😉 You van check out a link to the boat here. http://www.queenmary.com

PS – Billy (s) we did do a tour of the bridge,Captain’s quarters and Comms room. You would have loved it! x

Well, quite frankly, Legoland was AMAZING…and a very pleasant surprise.  We originally thought it would be fun for the kids since they had to leave all their cousins in Brockville. As it turned out, it was really fun for all of us. Will was just a little over 36″ so was able to go on almost all the rides. The level of detail in the Lego characters…and Miniland…was really extraordinary. Anyone with a love of architecture, Star Wars, fairy tails, robotics…would love this place.  We stayed at the LegoLand hotel, which was a bonus in that it let you enter the park early…but you could also leave in the late morning to sit by the hotel pool (an perhaps have some cocktails) before heading back for more once the sun died down a bit.  The pool was great…both Will and Tal made new friends, played with the floating Lego blocks…and never wanted to leave. So impressed from the moment we checked in…to the scavenger hunt to find a treasure in our pirate themed room…to the cool pit of lego blocks to ‘free-build’ as you wished 24/7.  Amazing. Would love to go back someday (as would the kids). Next time, with other grown-ups, and we would rent out a Cabana by the pool ;).