Benjy and Lucy came to Houston with Jennifer on June 25 and spent the next 3 weeks with us. They were enrolled in Chancellor Tennis Camp for all 3 weeks. This is the 2nd year of Chancellor Tennis Camp for them, and they enjoyed it very much.
Meanwhile, they spent a lot of time with Jason’s family. They also spent some quality time with Jennifer’s mom. This year, Benjy became MeiMei’s best friend.
On July 15, 2023, we took Benjy and Lucy back to California along with Jason‘s family to visit Jeff and Jennifer for a week. It was a family reunion and also a chance to check out Jeff and Jennifer’s new house in Berkeley. We had 8 people traveling together, so we booked United‘s direct flight from IAH to SFO. There were a lot of people in the IAH airport, it took us quite a while waiting in lines to check-in and to go through the security. The flight was pretty smooth and we got to SFO on time. However, the Fox rental car check-in process took a whole hour and half to complete.
Since we were going to the Bodega Bay and were going to stay in an AirB&B for a few days, we had to go through the San Francisco Golden Bridge area. The AirB&B is a two storage home with a large patio and is situated right next to the bay. From the upstair living room and patio, we can see the bay and the blue water. It has a very nice setup.
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It was a little tough for Maisie to get any nap time during traveling; she struggled all the way till after dinner to get some sleep. It was tough, but for a 2 1/2 year old, she managed it very well.
In the evening, we went to Lucas Wharf Restaurant and Bar for dinner. It is a seaside restaurant with the best clam chowder in the area. We had a nice and fresh variety of seafood and enjoyed it very much.
After dinner, Jeff and Jennifer took us to Bodega Head Trail to watch sunset. It has a very nice hiking trail along the sea. When we got there, there were lots of people already. However, we were able to find spots for photos. At that moment, we found out that Talia and Lucy are the best photographic traveling companions. They love to be photographers and models. And they had great ideas for both of the roles. We ended up with many wonderful photos.
Jeff and Jennifer had spent a lot of effort in planning and preparing for this family outing. When we got to the AirB&B, we noticed that Jennifer already prepared more than enough food to fill up the whole refrigerator.
In the morning, we had a wonderful breakfast with variety of fruits, sausages, bacons and eggs. We were enjoying the breakfast both indoor and outdoor on the back deck. However, it was a little chilly, and we had to put on jackets when we ate on the back deck.
After breakfast, we all went hiking at Bodega Head Natural Trail. It is supposedly a loop trail. However, we took our time to enjoy the weather and the scenery along with photo stops. We finally turned around after a couple of hours of hiking.
Jeff and Jennifer ordered many chowders and variety of seafood dishes from Fisherman's Cove. Jennifer also ordered additional clam chowders from Spud Point Crab Company to allow us to taste all the great clam chowders in the area. She also asked us to rate these two chowders and last night’s chowder. It turned out that last night’s chowder was the majority favorite.
After lunch, Maisie had to take her afternoon nap, and, surprisingly, she wanted Jeff to put her down for nap. Jeff did a great job and did not lost his touch with babies. At this point, we believed that Jeff had taken over Benjy’s role as Maisie’s favorite person.
While Maisie was taking a nap, we ventured out to Duncans Mills to walk around. They have many unique shops carrying unique items. It was very interesting.
Jason, Theresa and Maisie joined us after MeiMei’s nap.
We were wandering around and relaxing a little more. Then we went to a nearby beach at Duncan’s Landing for the kids to play in the waves and pick up seashells. It was Maisie’s first visit of California beach. When we were ready to leave, we spotted a sea lion just lying on the beach.
When we got back, Jennifer and the kids prepared happy hour snacks with a lot of cheeses, salamis, crackers, and chips. It was truly a happy hour for all of us.
Jeff used their BBQ grill to cook wonderful steaks for all of us. Jennifer also made wonderful salads. Thanks to Chef Jeff and Chef Jennifer for the wonderful dinner.
Due to Benjy’s school math activity, Jennifer had to take Benjy back to Berkeley for school work. After another wonderful breakfast, they left Bodega Bay.
Jeff took us to the nearby Doran Beach for a beach outing. It is a fee-based beach, therefore, there was not much of a crowd there. It felt like we had the whole beach to ourselves. Jeff brought a lot of beach equipments, including tents for shade from sun, beach chairs, and beach toys for the kids. Talia and Lucy concentrated on finding seashells, and the others just enjoyed the beach, waves, and relaxing moments. The kids also built amazing sand castles with drainage systems. Everyone truly had a lot of fun.
Jeff ordered more food from the Fisherman's Wharf Restaurant & Bar for lunch, and we had another delicious lunch.
In the afternoon, Jason, Theresa, Talia, and Lucy had horseback riding at Chanslor Stables in Bodega Bay. They went on the popular Eagles View Trail Ride. They all had a wonderful time riding along the beautiful Bodega Bay.
After Meimei’s nap, we all went out to Bodega Bay to hike and view the sunset. We did not stay for sunset, but we did a hike to the top of the hill and spotted sheep and sea gulls. The scenery was just wonderful.
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