Alcatraz

 Over Christmas break and New Years, we flew to California to spend some time with the family.  Unfortunately, I didn't take very many pictures.  I do have pictures of our trip to Alcatraz!  I've always wanted to go there, but I think when I was growing up, every time we wanted to go there it was closed.

Before our Alcatraz trip, we went prepared.  The night before, we watched the movie Escape From Alcatraz.  That's all the preparation that we did.

We took the "Alcatraz Cruise" boat out to the island and went on an audio tour that allowed us to go at our own pace instead of a huge tour group.

We arrived early, so we walked around and took a picture in front of Alcatraz, but you can't see it in the background.

This picture is taken from inside the prisoner's rec area.  Sitting on the top steps are John, Chris, and Olivia.

Olivia really enjoyed the tour.

 At the end of the tour, we tried to walk all the way around the island, but it was closed off.  Here we are standing in the courtyard where the guard's children played?  I'm not sure.  But there is the Alcatraz tower, the prison behind it, and the Warden's 14-room mansion to the right.

In California, we also went to family Christmas gatherings, the Science Museum, and "camping" in the Redwoods with both my family and John's family.  It was a lot of fun and I look forward to it again!