San Francisco Trip

Nov 2009

Oh my goodness! Our San Fran trip flew by and we had so much fun! We covered most of the city and did all the touristy things. I had only been there once but Joe visited often as a child. Here's a few highlights

We decided to fly(ok joe decided to fly) I would have gladly driven! :) But of course the flight went smoothly and I had nothing to worry about. The kids loved being above the clouds and Andy was excited because he thought he'd see God in the sky. He looked out the window the whole time but never saw him.lol

We stayed at the Argonaut Hotel and I can't wait to go back again! It is a nautical themed hotel that is an old refurbished cannery right on the pier. Once inside the brick hotel you feel like you stepped onto a cruise ship,deck chairs are in the lounge,sails hung from the exposed wood beams,a huge light house light in the entry,just beautiful. Exposed red brick in all the rooms too.

So so cute.The staff was amazing and greeted us by name(and the kids) every time we saw them.I can't say enough good things about this place.Outside was old pirate ships, and a small beach.A short walk down to pier 39. And just a block uphill to ghiradeli square and the cable car turnaround.

My mom had schooled andy and autumn on what to do when on a cable car.Sing of course! We first got on and andy was as excited as christmas morning as it started moving and he sang Clang Clang Clang went the trolley,ding ding ding went the bell....oh my grandma would be so proud! The trolley was our main form of transportation and was always super exciting for the kids. Autumn even got to stand off the side and hold on(and sing).

We went to Chinatown twice and had great dinners.We went to union square and got to ice skate in the holiday rink.They were just decorating for christmas and it was amazing to be a part of it. Autumn loved showing off her year of ice skating lessons.

We took a bay cruise around alcatraz and under the golden gate bridge.Hiked through Golden gate park and the academy of sciences to haight ashbury.Visited the exploratorim, and the museum of modern art. We didn't get the MOMA. We were there like 15 min. They had strange exhibits of stacked moving boxes,and pictures hung of just white paint,and it was supposed to be art? Very odd.

Since Ghirdeli square was so close to us we walked there quite a few times for ice cream sundays..so so good. And walking uphill to get there justified the calories right? :)

The kids were exposed to a lot of homeless people along the pier and all the strange performers they have there.There was one guy, a"bushman" he would hide and jump out and scare people and if they screamed he wanted a dollar,a smelly old guy and his "sick dog" collecting money. We did like the musicians that played though.

Autumn got to be part of the Jr. Gold Rush Cheer Team during the 49er titan game. The saturday before the game she went to an all day cheer camp to learn the cheer and practice. I thought it would be a little 2-4-6-8 who do we appreciate type cheer. But I was surprised b/c it was a really complicated routine for all these girls to learn. Autumn practiced hard and loved it. She led her line of girls out on the field and loved meeting and working with the real cheerleaders. They stayed on the field for the anthem and got to line up and cheer the players onto the field too. It was an awesome experience for her and I'm so glad we got to participate. We get the video sent soon and I will post it.

Andy and Joe were so cute during the game. While Autumn and I were there early getting her ready for cheer, the boys went to this huge rally, andy got his face painted so cute,got to play drums and do manly tailgating things. Just seeing Joe at the games was priceless. He loves the niners so much.Made it all worth it. During the second game andy was telling people around us that Niners eat the Bears for lunch. He's so funny.

So,we had an amazing trip.But we needed a vacation from our vacation.We came home with blistered feet and very tired,but with memories that will last forever.And we all definitely Left Our Hearts In San Francisco.