Weekend in Capitola

 Two weekends ago was the Begonia Festival in Capitola, California. My entire family was there to enjoy it and celebrate our parents' 40th wedding anniversary.

Some of us kicked off the trip with a sail by San Francisco on my brother's father-in-law's boat. It was pretty amazing.

 Mark is ready to go, Three Wolf Moon shirt and all.

 Heather and Tyler are setting out for the open sea.

The weather's perfect!

 We came really close to the US Sailing team's boat. Here's a picture I took.

 And here's a picture I found online that shows it more up close. It was unlike anything I've ever seen. I watched some of the competition on TV and they said the sail is 13 stories tall. Seriously. Unreal.

 Adam's chillin'.

 We took turns driving the boat. It was terrifying. The thing about sail boats is sometimes they lie almost perpendicular to the water on their side when the wind is really strong. Again: terrifying. But as long as our captain, Dennis, wasn't scared, I figured I'd be fine.

 McKenna's in a photography class, so she was taking pictures left and right. Also, she has amazing sea hair.

Like I said, my entire family was there, meaning a LOT of people. We were spread out in a couple beach houses, the bulk of us with little kids in this one below, and the others in Dennis' rentals across the bridge.

 
Here's the waterside outdoor area near Dennis' rentals. It's hard to explain, but there's ocean and there's canal. They are really close to each other. And we enjoyed them both! That's all you need to know. Here's Al now!

Eating dinner and Sienna making sure the ducks have water (??) and dinner (cheese puffs).

Allen's twin boys, Kobe and Maddox, getting ready to go to sleepy town.

Allen at the grill with Simon, our family friend, behind him.

Dad, Wendy, Owen and my mom's arm.

Heather and her mini-me, Robyn.

Our beach house had this perfect little breakfast nook where all sorts of face making fun was had.

Our location was perfection, just steps from the beach. It made it so easy to come and go with the kids. And look at those colors! This place has a charm factor of 10 out of 10.

My handsome, handsome, handsome, handsome boys.

Volleyball! Owen brought a deflated ball + air pump in his suitcase. Of course he did!

And now for the Begonia Festival! Float making ensues and we can walk by and steal flowers at will.

We're ready to watch the floats!

Pretty pretty.

Eating cake with the guests of honor.

 And then we left...