"You would be surprised what there is to see in this great country within 200 miles of where any of us live. I don’t care what state or what town. " ~ Will Rogers

Sometimes, we forget to take advantage of our beautiful days and scenery ... we get caught up in the daily to-do lists, have-to appointments and must-have times. So, when we take a break and take some time to breathe and enjoy, it's always a marvelous time.

Winter's been amazing this year. And by amazing, I mean warm, sunny and clear. We spent one recent Sunday exploring a place so close by, yet often forgotten. In fact, it's been years since either Kevin or I went to Will Rogers State Park in Brentwood. We are so glad we did.

Everyone agreed it was a fun hike, and the views were amazing.

New Years, San Fran Style

The Nix Family returned once again to Denise's old stompin' grounds over New Years weekend for some fun family time. We spent one night at a hotel in Santa Clara to get in some swim and relaxation time, and were thrilled to have dinner with the Martins, Ken and Di and Janeen and Rob.

The next day, we took advantage of Holden's new-found love of rock climbing, and our desire to get back into the sport, and hung around Planet Rocks all day. It was at the Presidio, right on the Bay, but you wouldn't know it thanks to all that iconic fog.

Holden continued to refine his knot-tying and climbing skills. We all had a great time!

The next day, we returned to the Presidio to explore The Exploratorium - a wonderful, hands-on science learning place where we all ran around like a bunch of excited geeks. The kids had a great time learning and playing.

The Palace of Fine Arts is always such a great place to explore and photograph.

The fog cleared that day and we got to explore the waterfront a bit, despite the wind. These two were celebrating something BIG that happened the night before: