Party with the Parents

Since it’s way better airfare to fly the week before thanksgiving (and because I still have Monday/ Tuesday class) my parents flew out to visit us in Idaho. Sheldon & I were in charge of planning double dates for the weekend.

We first decided on eating at MacKenzie River Pizza in Idaho Falls. Yummy food, fun place, short wait.

Then we had planned to go bowling… But we were turned away as soon as we got there because it was “league night” so we tried another place in Rexburg that had a long wait… We decided to play black light pirate neon mini- golf at Fatcats in Rexburg. Way more fun if you ask me, probably because I kept making lucky shots.


The next morning we all met up and played some racquetball on the school courts. We had no idea what was going on or how to play… However, it was also pretty fun!

After our morning exercise Sheldon and I made a hot breakfast for all of us. 👌🏼

We then cleaned up and drove to the green belt in Idaho Falls. Dad still needed to take some temple pictures here.

And mom took some selfies…

Selfies are hard with 4 people though…

It was fun showing them around my Idahome. The trip was way too short though, thankfully I’ll see them at christmas.

#SanFran2k15

Koch Family California Vacation

Since the three sistas will be all headed in different directions this fall (and who knows if we will get the chance to all get together again for awhile) we took a family vacay. This time to Cali. It was a nice mix of three settings; Mountains, Beach, and City. These are the things we did, I’ll show you through iphone photography….

Fresh off the plane we went to the Oakland LDS temple,

Great place to start the trip to remind us that we are a forever family. It was kinda a cloudy day but still a very pretty building and beautiful landscaping.

We grabbed a late lunch at Fenton’s and headed for….

Yosemite!

This was the first destination on our trip. We had like 3 days to enjoy this beautiful national park.

We got up early to hike to vernal falls. Great hike, but so many stairs.

#GlamourGirlsGoHiking

Also this pretty place

We did several hikes but I really enjoyed the view at Mirror Lake, we took the unconventional route on accident… the horse trail.

We also did a stargazing program at night with a funny ranger guy who was wayyy too enthusiastic to talk about the stars that we couldn’t see on a cloudy night, but it was enjoyable to hear his stories nonetheless.

While on the hunt for a “beach” we ran into a friendly fox and later on I spotted a bear on the roadside on our way to Glacier Point. This beautiful sight: 

Then we hiked to see the giant Sequoia Trees. It’s hard to photograph perspective here.

The pinecones bigger than my foot, there’s some perspective for you.

We headed back through farm land and passed several fresh fruit stands. Mom got us some peaches to enjoy on our way to….

Monterey!

So many boats.

Fisherman’s Wharf (in Monterey) We walked around and enjoyed the little shops, but I have to say we quite enjoyed the sea lion entertainment.

Too many candy Shops to count on Cannery Rowe. #GiantIcecreamSelfie

Pacific Coast

Crepes for dinner? Yes we did…. twice!

Painted Waves

 

Really soft/fine sand at the beach.

Probably the coolest thing we did was the whale watching three hour tour… We didn’t see many whales, but we were not disappointed. Mother and calf did over 40 breeches (cool jump out of the water) for us. We got quite the show! Memorable and very cold.

We also had a conveniently placed yummy cafe that we ate at like 3 times. Plus we got free cookies from the hotel desk.

On Sunday, we went to the closest LDS church building and Elder Cook just happened to be there. What? Bonus! So after we went for a family drive- “The 17 mile drive”! Beautiful views around pebble beach.

#FamilyYoga #SundayActivity

California Carmel Misisson- (It’s a catholic place, nice for pictures!)

Lets talk landscaping, like seriously though, props to them. Stunning.

Then shortly after we left for our final destination….

San Francisco!

Here it is. You can tell it is real by the terrible quality of the photo. Golden Gate Bridge.

We did a stop at Muir Woods first though to see a Red Wood Forrest.

After hiking and being the hungry family that we are, we searched out the best pizza in San Fran which is the famous Tony’s Pizza and later topped it off with Ice Cream from no other place but… Ghirardelli Square!

Here’s the San Francisco city skyline, take it in.

And the check of the ol’ bucketlist; family SEGWAY tour around the city.

My segway’s name: Owsley Stanley…?

Dome thingy at the art museum.

Fisherman’s Wharf (at SanFan) second only to Disneyland as California’s Tourist top Attraction. We ate at Boudin, famous for their sourdough bread.

…and watched the entertaining sea lions that know how to cuddle.

That sailboat pic I’ve always wanted to take. Headed out to Sausalito.

Better view of the Golden Gate without fog, on the Blue and Gold Ferry.

Waiting to return. Best little cafe, and cute shops.

Those bay windows though. So cliché of San Fran. Love it. Random cool part of San Francisco was our hotel Pier 2620 it was like secret agent/ spy themed. Seriously, how cool?

No stop would be complete without a trip to China Town. 欢迎到中国城 (welcome to china town)

These fresh strawberries from a fresh fruit stand on Pier 39. But I got a mango.

This is where i make a quick remark about not wanting to leave and about our funny/loud/talkative taxi driver. But everything after was smooth sailing. Defiantly a memorable vacation. Thanks dad. Thumbs up.