For New Years we were able to squeeze in a short trip to San Fran area (staying in Hayward) to visit with friends and family.

Alex’s best friend from school during his business and programming days (he’s now a physical therapist) travels for his job so I’ve probably written about visiting them in other states too. He’s now married with two kids, one of which is only a month older than Kaya, so it’s doubly as fun to visit them now!

I have some cousins I don’t get to see very often (one of the kids is only a couple weeks older than Kaya) who also happen to live in Hayward, only a 10 min Uber ride away from our friends! Perfect for a short visit.

Catching up with cousins

We went on a short hike at a park (I have no idea where we were, ha, sorry!). Well, short distance but long hike, with short legs and a long-ish hill!

Winter has its own beauty. I just love being outside and exploring! Even on a simple trail.

After the hike we went to another Festival of Lights (having gone to the one in Stanwood WA the week before), this one Chinese themed.

Which I thought was especially fun since we just spent a couple weeks in China and Kaya was about to start a Mandarin school once we got back to real life (read as jobs) after this trip (though I did squeeze in a work day before, which basically paid for the trip between using miles for the plane and staying with friends! Whew!).

I didn’t take pics during the performance, though that was the most fun part of the evening. There was a small group that did acrobatics, hula hoops, and balancing plates, that was really fun to watch (for the kids and for us).

Afterwards we went out for Chinese food to keep with the theme, but otherwise on the trip ate so much delicious Indian food (since that is what our friends traditionally make and eat at home and wow there are so many amazing Indian food places, by region, in San Fran area).

A totally fun spontaneous trip that couldn’t have worked out better.

Cherry on top? Using miles for two airlines seats and essentially getting a third free on the way back, since the stewardess moved us to an empty row. A nice gesture while we took advantage of our last flight with an under two year old.