By the Bay

Having served as Chief Executive and Chairman of Davies Tours International (NorCal Division) for many years, I often showed extremely satisfied customers the delights of the Bay area.  Yet I've never enjoyed one of these high-quality custom-designed itineraries myself!  It was time to put that right.

We managed to fit quite a lot into our few days: a trip into the city, a jaunt down to the South Bay, a visit to Oakland's premier nursery-rhyme-based theme park, shopping and a bit more shopping, and cheering on Maya at her PSV Union 10-yr-old girls' football match (humbling to realise that 10-yr-olds play better than I ever have or ever will...)

We returned to Vancouver - raining, of course - full of sunny memories and thanks for all our lovely Californian friends, especially Nate, Lauren and Genevieve for putting us up/putting up with us for a week.  It really is the people that make that place special to us.  And the ice cream.

Pete and Edward, playing near each other.

Fairyland, where all your dreams come true!  As long as they're not particularly ambitious dreams.

On the train.

Fascinated by a donkey.

And...um...a miniature church.

How to annoy people in the Ferry Building in SF?  Park a pushchair right in the middle.

I'm sure I read something about caffeine and children...oh well, enjoy!

Ebola broke out in the states while we were there.  Pete took precautions.

It's Agam!  He used to be small.

Arbel used to be small too, but is now huge, bilingual, and trying to become Canadian.

No visit to Shauli and Anat is complete without a heated game of Catan.  Who won?  Me, of course.

Elise, still wondering whether to have baby #4.

It was time to stock up at Trader Joe's, and someone somewhere decided that making tiny trolleys for children was a good idea.  Still, Pete picked out some nice wine.

A final shot of the ever-beautiful Evie.

How many bags will you be checking today?

Gourmet tour

California, home of fine cuisine!  We've certainly been taking advantage, and expect to be detained by Canadian immigration for being too portly to reenter.  But what can you do when Walnut Creek boasts Lottie's ice cream parlour?  Pete and I went there for a couple of scoops in the afternoon...and then went back in the evening for another.

We're staying in the town of Pete's birth with Lauren and Nate and baby Gen, who were kind enough to invite the Schwimmers over for dinner tonight.  My baby Logan is now terrifyingly six-years-old but still loves it when I pick him up and rock him while cooing.  I think.  We had our food delivered by another great gastronomic Californian establishment - In'n'Out Burger.  The ladies were kind enough to pick up our order on the way home from work, and animal-style burgers and Neopolitan shakes were enjoyed by all.

Now, as I sit and wash everything down with a Trader Joe's cabernet sauvignon (while eating peanut butter cups for dessert) I wonder: what's the duty free allowance travelling back to Canada?

Nate, with daughter and future son-in-law.

New baby Declan, who was inside last time we saw him.

I used to be that small?  You're funny!



It's hot out.

So time for some ice cream!  Including olive oil flavour, which was unsurprisingly delicious.

And then we went back again.

Evie is enjoying Pete's company.

Especially his magic tricks.

We even managed to slip in a little thrift store shopping.

Ready to take your order.

Animal-style, the only style to have.

Satisfied customers.

Three in a tub.

NorCal nuptials

It could only be a NorCal wedding when you're enjoying a ceremony on a beach at a sustainable wilderness retreat with great wi-fi.  And it was beautiful.  The groom arrived by row boat, naturally, and wore flip-flops.  The bride was resplendent in a beautiful dress that I'm sure I could say more about if I knew anything about wedding dresses.  Mermaid?

The whole thing was rather breathtaking, with the lake backdrop and a sun that obliged by falling through the quaking aspens at just the right angle to illuminate the bride and groom as they said their self-penned vows.  The constant small splashes of Pete throwing stones into the water only added to the ambiance (I like to think).

Then it was time for Champagne on the beach, then gin and tonics at the lodge, then food, then dancing.  We'd been warned that the effects of alcohol would be magnified due to being 6000ft+ above sea level and, after my third G&T, this did seem to be true.

Hannah and I had planned to tag-team it with the babysitting throughout the evening but unfortunately I fell asleep on my first shift so Hannah danced the night away.  The whole day was quite spectacular and the ceremony the high point of the weekend so far.  At least until the all-you-can-eat buffet brunch tomorrow.



The rather pristine Fallen Leaf Lake.

The morning was free for water activities, and what could be more relaxing than taking out a pedalo with a 1-yr-old?

Others went for a motorised option.

Rounding a buoy, just like in the America's Cup.

We followed that with a little hike to see the all-important wedding beach before things kicked off.

I took the plunge...

...and quickly lost all feeling below my ankles in the glacial waters.



Abandoned at the altar.



Guests of honour.



This is more like it!

Here comes the groom.

And the bride.

This is NorCal.

Exchanging vows.

Mr & Mrs.

Pete toasts the happy couple.

Mummy and Daddy toast a second night of drinking and partying!

Tea total.

The cake - Mary Berry would approve.

Taking a short breather from the revelry.

Destination: Wedding

"Enough of the rain!" I said.  "Where can we go that's sunny and has Trader Joe's?"  As luck would have it our friend Kathryn, a colleague of Hannah's at Berkeley and Chevron, decided to have her wedding in California this weekend!

Kathryn and her soon-to-be-husband Mike always wanted a "destination wedding", and the destination they chose is tranquil and outstandingly beautiful Fallen Leaf Lake.  Just south of Lake Tahoe, it's not the easiest place to get to when you live in Vancouver involving around 13 hours of travel by taxi, plane, train, car and foot.

The varied modes of transport kept Pete highly entertained, and meant that he only had 20 minutes of sleep between 5.45am and 8.45pm (when we finally wrestled him back from the mother of the bride).  His high point was probably the BART, where he decided to sit on his own.  And it was an old carriage as well, with those seats covered in antibiotic-resistant bacteria!  Classic.

Pete's parents didn't maintain quite the same sunny disposition he managed, but perked up considerably when handed the beer and the fish tacos fresh from the grill on arrival.  This is a wedding like you see in American movies - there are rehearsal dinners, bluegrass bands, trips on the lake, and as much food and drink as you can fit into Tupperware boxes to take home.  I'm hoping someone alerts me when the wedding ceremony takes place so I don't miss it.

Name that transport system!  Yes, after almost a year away, we're back on the BART.

Unaccompanied children will be left alone.

Did we stop for lunch at one of Walnut Creek's fabulous eateries?  No, we went to Target.

Mainly because we were in a rush to get here!

Aaaand...relax.

Everyone loves a fish taco.

Then the bluegrass band started up.

It's hard coming to a wedding where you don't know anyone, but I quickly made a new friend.  I shall call him Mr. Stripey.

The moon doth shine as bright as day.