9.25.2011

San Francisco (my favorite day)!!


We got up bright and early on Monday so that we could catch the 10:00 ferry from Larkspur to San Francisco.  I'm so glad we decided to ferry in.  Despite some cold temps on the ferry, it was so great to see our first glimpses on the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, and the city from the boat. It was beautiful. I love big cities and San Francisco is no exception.









When we first got on the ferry it was sunny and fairly warm but as you can see in the picture above, we are headed toward cold and overcast. (see below)


 That ferry was bookin' it, making it very cold and WINDY.
Brrrrrr...
It was so great coming in on the ferry and seeing the city from that vantage point.
It was beautiful.

 Looking at this picture it seems weird that I have sunglasses on...





These two pictures are interesting for two reasons. 
#1- one was taken by me and the other by Eric. We must have clicked at almost the exact same time. The kids look the same in both pictures.
#2- the way the kids are posing it looks like they are imitating the sculpture.

At least Will and Taylor look excited about their first cable car ride...

Megan and Mommy on the California line.

On the streets on San Fran.
The brick building in the background is the cable car museum.

Original cable car.

Adam explaining to the boys how the cable wheels work.
I was really quite amazed at it all.

Noah, trying to figure out his "China sticks".

We were quite the site in this restaurant.

I took and posted a lot of pictures of this restaurant because this was a really funny and fun experience.  This restaurant is in China Town but I felt like I was in China.  It all was so foreign.  The food was, like, real Chinese food.  People looked at us like we were the foreign ones (I guess we really were) with our big families and white children. We stuck out like a sore thumb.  It was great!
Kyle, however, would beg to differ. As we walked down the street in China Town with all its different looking food and ducks hanging in the window, Kyle became very wary. So by the time we got to the restaurant he had already decided he didn't want to eat there.  He did not enjoy the food really at all even though he normally isn't a picky eater.
He saw me working on this post and when he saw these pictures he said, "Ew, I never want to go back there again." Ha ha.



The pictures above are funny because you'll notice, Megan is a celebrity.
This lady from China kept taking pictures of her and then wanted her picture taken with Megan.
Funny.

Ghirardelli ice cream!

The kids really didn't eat anything at Chinese restaurant so we went and got some nutritious ice cream.

The pack mules...er...stallions...

Fountains at Ghirardelli Square. 
Fountains are just so irresistible!



The following few pictures are of the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park.
We didn't have plans to go here but it turned out to be one of the kids favorites.


This was, of course, dubbed the pirate ship by the boys.


Balclutha from 1886
 (Otherwise known as "the pirate ship")
This ship carried goods around Cape Horn (tip of South America) 17 times


Megan also loved climbing around inside and outside the boats.

Aboard the Eureka steam boat ferry (1890)


A couple of little pirates. Arrrrrrr...


 Toots and Aunt Ernie


Kyle, Will and Noah on the 1907 steam tug, Hercules 



Yummy sour dough lunch at Boudin Bakery.
The kids were fascinated by the bakery itself and 
the baskets that moved on a track from the bakery to the store.
 It was pretty cool.

Famous Pier 39 sea lions.


We stayed in Windsor while going to and from San Francisco. This was the condo we stayed in.  All of the places we stayed were very nice and I was grateful to have separate bedrooms and a kitchen the entire time (except in Battle Mountain but that doesn't count...).  I think we are spoiled now...



9.23.2011

Church in Jeans and Trains


After checking out of our beautiful Tahoe condo this morning we drove to the nearest LDS chapel in South Lake. Unfortunately, I forgot a skirt. I had remembered to pack my kids some dress clothes but, of course not for myself. Aw well, I'm sure the members are used to slacker tourists like me.
After hearing some good talks about pioneers, it being the Pioneer day and all, we began our 4 hour trek to Windsor. We wanted to break up the trip by stopping in Sacramento. So after a beautiful drive through the El Dorado forest we were all ready for lunch. Not being comfortable with any of parks we drove by, we decided to pull up a patch of grass at the state library and near the state Capitol building and have some lunch.
The California Railroad Museum was next of our list. What a cool place this was. There were 23 real trains and lots of displays to catch the eye. Our boys really enjoyed it except when they got spooked by the mannequins in the sleeper car. Silly boys. Adam marveled at the fact that they had a train suspended from the ceiling. How DID they do that??

I so enjoy going to church while out of town. It feels...nice.

Church in jeans... not so nice. 

Standing on a stump always makes a great picture opportunity.

Our makeshift picnic spot near the Sacramento library.  
We couldn't find a place where we weren't scared...


Old town Sacramento
We didn't really do anything here but the museum. However, it looks cool...

If you are ever in Sacramento, stop HERE.

Our awesome traveling companions. (My sister and her family)

 Us

This museum was pretty dang sweet and the kids loved it.


Yeah, these guys are not real but they totally gave Kyle and Noah the heebee geegees.
They were afraid of walking through these trains for fear they'd come across another spooky mannequin.
So funny.
Personally, I thought it was VERY interesting to see what some the passenger trains were like back in the day. It made me want to take a train ride.

They even have trains you can PLAY with.

Adam and Noah. It was fun to get to explore inside many of the trains.

Kyle and Mommy.


After a great time at the train museum and another lovely drive, this time through 
BEAUTIFUL
 Napa and Sonoma Valleys 
(I wish we would have stopped for some pictures), 
we made it to Windsor in time for bed. We've got a big day tomorrow! San Francisco!