Redwoods and Ross

After a big day in San Fran we thought we'd relax a little (only a little mind you) and take in some natural beauty by going to the Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve. We went on an easy hike through some very tall trees and were even able to play on a few of them.  My boys love hiking and totally dig this kind of atmosphere. 

Megan didn't tolerate the pack for long. She loved walking around like one of the big kids and we loved watching her.  She's only been walking for a month by this trip.

The kids and Vanna White enjoying some TALL trees.

 Four bumps on a log.

The roots of a great Redwood.

Angel baby.

Be carefee!

A natural playground with a slide and everything.

 Megan had a great time exploring.

We didn't spend too much time in the reserve because, of course, we had other places that had to be seen!
After lunch we headed over to Fort Ross out on the coast.
This was a gorgeous (twisty....uggg) drive as well. I  had a bit of a head cold and all the twisting and winding of the coastal road was doing a number on me.
So really I didn't participate much in the second half of this day.

Stopping for lunch at a local cafe.  

Finding places to eat can be a challenge when 

there are 11 of you and 7 of them are 

obnoxious, rowdy kids. 

Trail to Fort Ross

Fort Ross-
a Russian settlement on the coast

The chapel and the kids defending the fort.

Eric squeezing in some down time. There was very little to be had.

Let's go fly a kite! 

We bought these kites in San Fran knowing that there would be some kite flying opportunities while we were on the coast. 

The Shiflett kite, however, had a hard time remaining air born.

The Schroeder kite had a hard time becoming air born but for different reasons... :)

I love these pictures. 

The contrast of the bright blue sky and yellow grass is so photogenic.