Easter 2016

Happy Easter from the Easter Bunnizard!

The week prior to Easter began with cleaning up from our trips last week....

We have a lot of camping stuff.  I'm always so surprised how much it spreads out, and then we fit it in a little closet!

 And of course right when we get back from Spring Break and the Cali warmth, we get ....SNOW!

Poor Tay Tay walking in it...

 It was also really fun to talk to a few doctors and nurse practitioners about the infusion clinic and how I staff it and coordinate the patients' infusions schedules.

It made me really proud to see all my work come together and present it to people that were really interested!

Saturday started off awesome with Scales and Tails with our 8 boy scouts!

Look how excited I am!  I'm actually laughing and having fun!  I've come a long way since I last went there to get over my excessive fear of snakes (and almost wet my pants...). But Taylor is a snake lover, so what can you do...

I had two of the boys take my picture with Taylor and I think it's interesting to see how they might see us.

Also, may I just mention how awesome I am?  I held a tarantula and LIKED it! Whaaat?!

Who am I, holding all these scary beasts?!?  Haha!  I don't know if Taylor has changed me, Tannin has changed me, or if I just wanted to impress all my scouts!

Of course Taylor was happy to hold and touch everything..

He looks like a little boy scout himself here and it's adorable.

Then Michelle took Lorien, DeMarie, and I to dinner at Johnny Rockets and Women's Conference.

In my Easter dress the Drake parents got me!

Easter Sunday after church selfie:

I sure do love that selfie stick!

Tannin also had a little photo shoot.  Here she is staging the flowers to be in the perfect lighting...

Helpful and strong girl.

Tannin makes Daddy her assistant tie on her bunny ears because #diva!

Cutest little diva ever!

Stop with the pictures, Mom!

Here Dad is coaching Tannin on how to unleash her inner bunny.

And because all models deserve a nice nap after a fierce photo shoot:

Sleepy babies.

We had Easter dinner with the Drake parents and Parker and Lorien, then went to water the plants at my parents house.  While watering a plant near the front door, I realized the door was unlocked.  Luckily Rapunzel Taylor was there with a frying pan to help me search the house!

Dublin/San Fran

Thursday March 17th we woke up nice and early to enjoy St. Patty's Day by going to DUBLIN.....California ;)

It was fun to see my parents' apartment, explore Dublin with my Mom while Dad was at work, and do part of the bike trail near their home.  We also had fun enjoying the ambiance of their apartment's pool (we forgot swimsuits, but still sat pool-side). Luxurious much? ;)

This picture is hilarious!  Come visit Mom, and she'll have multitudes of goodies to feed you!

Plus favorite dinner requests!

We took the BART train from the airport to my parents' place.  Their new home is right off the stop!  It was also interesting to ride the BART like my Dad does every day to and from work.  (Luckily our BART ride was only a quarter as long as his...)

Their apartment complex behind us.

Their apartment is also right across from this huge tortoise!

Justice family motto:  "Be slow and moderate like the turtle!"
Also, I'm sure if Grandma Minnie was still with us, her tortoise would be this big in real life and I could ride on it like I did as a little girl!

My parents have a lot of nice amenities near by, including the bike trail Taylor and I made sure to do!

My new blue leggings Carlie got me for my birthday in 2 months!  She got them because we thought they were ducks, but they're actually chihuahuas!  Haha!  I guess it can remind us of our childhood dog!

Friday March 18th we drove to Point Reyes Lighthouse and saw all kinds of animals!  A fox, a coyote, dolphins, Tulle deer, elephant seals, lots of cows, and a pod of gray whales!  Even a cute mama and baby gray whale together swimming past the lighthouse!

Mom and Dad posing while Taylor uses the binoculars to see the whales closer.

Taylor and me posing while Mom uses the binoculars to see the whales closer...haha!

We probably stayed in this area for an hour just watching the whales swim by.

Family pic!

On our way back from the look-out point, we found a hawk at the rock we had just been sitting on!  Taylor was seriously so excited! Despite his overwhelming urge to hug it, he was scared it would bite his face off. Fear saved his life.

Pretty sure the hawk was watching the pod of whales too.

Mother-daughter pic.

Point Reyes Lighthouse in the background.

You had to go down many flights of stairs to get to the lighthouse.

Watching the elephant seals and harbor seals lounge on the beach.

Dad envying their life, and hoping to secure a retirement spot with them.

Then Taylor and I showed my parents the ins and outs of tide-pooling at Duxbury Reef where we found 2 crabs, anemones, and lots of hermit crabs!

Taylor explaining stuff to Mom.

Cute little hermit crabs. We found them in all different sizes from pea size babies to huge!

Mom was brave and held them all in her hands!

Taylor and Dad checking out the local surf real-estate.

My favorite was showing them the anemones and having them touch them!   Dad thought it was gross.  Haha!

Saturday March 19th we got my parents a library card and then headed to downtown SF.  We also enjoyed one of their new favorite meals at Yalla.

Now Seth needs to try Yalla and all the Justice clan will have eaten there!

 It was fun to go to my Dad's office and see where he gets off the BART and buildings he works in.

One of the buildings he has an office in.  It was a really cool triangular shape.

He also showed us the FDIC building that he's been going to since he started working 25 plus years ago!

Land End hike in midst of the city:

Golden Gate Bridge in the background!

The sea foam was awesome.  As were the crashing waves!

You can see the Golden Gate Bridge in the middle of this pic on the horizon!

The only thing missing:  Taylor singing "Part of Your World"...shirtless...in his C-shells.

Capitol Reef

Video review click here:

 1080p.mov

Saturday March 12th:

We woke up early and drove down to Capitol Reef.  The first hike we explored was Capitol Gorge.

Capitol Gorge Hike

Had to drive 6 miles through the park, then 3 miles through these canyons to get to the trailhead.

 And we found ancient petroglyphs!

This sun was really neat!

And there was also Mormon Pioneer graffiti inscriptions.

Nearing the end of the trail.

We weren't expecting the trail to be so level and mostly walking through sand.  I guess that's why it's marked "easy"!

Afterwards, we drove to see the wall of Fremont Indian Petroglyphs

Can you spot them? (Hint: Lower Right Quadrant)

 Hickman Bridge Trail in the late afternoon.

Natural Kissing Gazebo

Kelsey under the Hickman Bridge

We finished the day and went back to camp.

Sunset at camp.  I love the mountains behind our tent!  Such an epic campground!  Gifford house is the yellow home in the background. We bought home some salsa from Gifford House to enjoy while at home.

Campfire Pizza for dinner!

Yum!  Good work, Tay!

It got dark at 6:30 pm that first night, so we took a moonlit walk by the Fremont river which was a stone's throw away from our tent.  It was awesome falling asleep to the sound of the river each night. It was also cool to see our shadows from the brightness of the moon.  It was never pitch back.  I think it was my all time favorite camping trip experience even though it was 30 degree at night!  Thank goodness for balaclava hats and scarves!  And especially wool socks!

Sunday March 13th:

It was interesting to see the blocked off Uranium mines in the Grand Wash.  I had no idea Uranium was found in Utah, or that people thought it had health benefits and that's why they mined for it!

Grand Wash Trail

My favorite is always the huge holes in the rock made from wind, calcium deposits, and water.

Then we did the Cassidy Arch trail.

Echo Walls at the beginning of the Cassidy Arch trail.

Look at that steep cliff edge so close!

We yodeled and hollered at this point for quite some time.

Steep climb over boulders!  Thank goodness for the hiking poles!

Cassidy Arch in the distance. Looks more like a hole in the wall from this distance.

Another mile and then you're on top of the rock that forms the arch.

Here's us on top of where the arch is located.

This slick rock was so hard to walk on.  Not my favorite part. 

 Then it was time to relax which meant...

Hammock time!

Relaxing view!

Best camp site ever!

Gooseneck Trail

The river makes the shape of a goose's neck. Capitol reef is really tilted. 

Sunset Point Trail to end the night!

Because of daylight savings time, sunset this day was at 7:34 pm!

We had a campfire when we got back to camp while watching a movie in our hammock.

Monday March 14th:

Cohab Canyon Trail

This view was my favorite!

It was crazy windy!  Taylor was mad I stopped at the edge of the cliff for this pic...

Inside Cohab canyon's walls.

The sands in the canyon were so fine, and the wind so crazy, we got pasted with sand during the hike!  Our face and necks were so gritty when we got back to the car! We were glad we were headed home to shower after that hike!  But hey, natural exfoliation....

This viewpoint was beautiful but we didn't stay long because we were scared we'd get blown off!

Slot canyon in Cohab.

Taylor fulfilling his dream.

We finished the vacation with Pickle Pie and Pinto Bean Pie from the Sunglow Cafe for Pi Day and per tradition!