The Matayoshi Family: Northern California

To start out our vacation, about one hour after we arrived at my cousin Wendy's house in McKinleyville (which also happens to be the town I lived in until I was 5 while my dad was going to Humboldt State University)...anyway, to start out our vacation Tanner climbed up on the trampoline with the bigger boys Parker 5, and Dallyn 7, and immediately got bounced backward through the open door of the safety net and onto the edge of the steps, where he then proceeded to slide down the edge on his back and hit his head on the concrete patio. Yah, real great! He got a hematoma with an abrasion on the back of his head. And due to extra precaution, we were off to the ER to make sure everything was okay. It was. This was the tiniest most run down ER I have ever seen. Small town for sure. And the doctor, who was totally great with Tanner, was a total hippie. (there are A LOT of those in Humboldt County....). Anyway, we just didn't want to take any risks being as it was a head injury and all.....

But now on to the vacation...LOTS of pics...so get comfy!

Easter

My cousin and I both have two boys and a girl! So fun, if only we lived closer....

Molly

My Kiddlins

Anything good in there for mom?

All smiles!!!

Easter Egg Hunt

Molly's one and only find!

The kids seemed to fight a lot more when we were at home, so Wendy and I tried to plan fun little outings to keep them entertained. On Wednesdays you get in to the little zoo for only $1.

The kids loved it!

Sequoia Park Zoo

Petting Place

McKade

Tanner and the Spider Web

(they were looking at the huge fake spider that I failed to capture on camera)

Molly

The Kids Room

Tanner milking the goat...lol

Farmer Boy McKade

My boys had never seen Flamingos before.

McKade helped the rainforest by donating some spare change.

The cutest monkey

4 rowdy howdy boys!

Northern California is famous for it's large Redwood National Forests....I don't think we drove a prettier drive than on the way to Wendy's. It was really curvy but holy cow it was beautiful! My family used to go to a place called Lady Bird Johnson Grove. There is an awesome trail to walk...it really brought back good memories. We would go there almost every Sunday. For those that are familiar with the Ewocks off of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi...this is where they filmed some of that. Not really sure which area of the Redwoods, but somewhere. So Wendy and I told the boys all the big huge trees they kept seeing that were hollowed out inside were the Ewocks houses, they just weren't home right now. The boys loved it!

Before our adventure began....

Silly Boys

(I have a picture almost identical when my brothers and I were little...fun)

The boys and I

Looking for Ewocks

Our little "tree huggers"
(Really shows how huge the trees are. They didn't even reach halfway with their arms stretched out!)

More Ewock hunting...

Oh McKade, you handsome little guy

After our adventure had ended...phew!

Next stop...THE BEACH! Now who doesn't love a good day at the beach...the sky was occasionally beautiful and the birds were chirping. It was about 50 degrees outside (but we are used to that!) but the wind was blowing so it felt like 30. OH well, we bundled the kids all up anyway (that's probably why my kids got sick 4 days after they were finally doing better....)

Northern California has some very beautiful beaches. Really dark grey sand, depending on beach you are at is whether it is soft sand or not. There are some beaches that have huge rock formations and cave like hide outs. I remember these beaches fondly. We only stayed at the beach for about 1/2 hour because it was so cold.

The Beach

The girls all bundled...looking thrilled.

Fun in the sand.

(We didn't let the kids go near the water because the undertow was massive...and it was freezing cold. Then a man walked by and told us to watch the kids very carefully because there has been 4 child drownings in the last three years at this beach. Umm. yah. Scary!)

Tanner flying his kite

(It was so windy that Tanner didn't have to do anything for his kite just to stay up in the air. He just stood there. But he still had so much fun!)

To Infinity....And Beyond!

McKade would always let us know when it was time to go

We also took the kids to a fun little park they have in town. We had it all to ourselves that morning. The boys LOVE the park, especially the swings. So fun for them!

The Park