Sabbatical Week Two - JUST US

Every marriage need time away without kids. Or if you don't have kids, you still need time away from the noise and distraction of life. Shaun and I determined pre-kids that this was something we would do as often as we could and we have been so grateful for each time we've left our kids and invested in our marriage without the demands that children put on us. That said, leaving our littles Always makes my heart a little sad, but as they say... absence makes the heart grow fonder and this Mama needed to feel the need for some fondness. (Just being honest, peeps!)

Shaun and I love to travel and have been to some very fun places around the world. This time we decided to try something inside the USA and chose Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Los Angeles - what a happening place! Crazy busy, but oh so fun! Shaun and I ran The Fantastic Race (the tourist version of The Amazing Race seen on TV) in Sana Monica and came in 3rd place! Along the way we encountered a couple on the beach who needed a room literally (hello, shock value. This was not an intended part of the race), a body builder in Venice, a clue in the form of a henna tattoo on my hand, clues scattered across the Sana Monica Pier, a quick trip into the aquarium and we met some charming people along the way! Not too bad for 4 hrs of sleep and all day traveling.

We toured WB Studios and Sony Studios. Saw the Central Perk set, the actual warehouse filled with all the Batmobiles in the movies, the rainbow from Wizard of Oz, Ellen and Jeopardy sets and to my heart's delight we drove through the town featured in Gilmore Girls.

We found our favorite stars on the Hollywood walk of fame, ate too much ice cream at Ghirardelli, toured a fabulous little museum and walked until our legs hurt.

San Francisco - was beautiful and cold! Oh my goodness so cold. Thanks for the 2 day cold snap on the only 2 days we were there. Riding the trolley car made me feel like I was living a movie. We did just come from Hollywood, so that may have had some to do with it. We walked down Lombard Street and spent the day down on Fisherman's Wharf at Pier 39. Shout out for the best clam chowder I have ever tasted in my whole life. Seriously fantastic and I typically dislike clam chowder. We bought 50 lbs of salt water taffy (ok, not really that much) and found another Ghirardelli where we are even more delicious ice cream.

We took a fantastic trek in a minivan (thanks Enterprise for reminding us we have kids on our kid free week) over to Muir Woods to see the Red Wood Forest, stopped off for lunch in Sausalito (BREATHTAKING), saw the Golden Gate Bridge and ended our day with a tour of Alcatraz!

If it weren't for the fact that I was missing my babies back home, I would have stayed for another week. I'm so grateful Shaun and I had the chance to spend so much alone time together and add a photo album worth of memories to our life.