Week 2 in Cali: San Francisco

After a week with Brandon's family in So. Cal, we all piled in to 3 cars to caravan up to San Francisco before we ventured into the mountains for a family reunion. We did lots of fun touristy stuff in San Fran and had a few "adventures" along the way.

Of course we drove over the Golden Gate Bridge and stopped for pictures on the other side. We even got all of the cousins (my adorable nieces and nephews) to pose together (kind of).

We saw the beautiful views and buildings of the city, did a quick visit in Chinatown, and a stop to see the seals at Pier 39.We even got to time travel like in Back to the Future. OK, not really, it was basically just a fancy outhouse. In reality it was just as gross as a regular outhouse, but it looked way cooler so it tricked you in to believing it was going to be something special. As you push the button waiting for the door to open and then step in feeling like Marty McFly, the door shuts and locks behind you, and you realize it was quite a mean joke as you're left with only a gross toilet (created slightly with a Back to the Future mindset since you're supposed to hover over it like a spacecraft) and talking directions telling you how to get out of this slightly creepy time capsule of a bathroom. But hey, it was an experience. Now, we also had a plan to go to the world famous Ghiradelli ice cream shop, and that within itself was an adventure (thanks Autumn :-), but before we get to that, on our way there, we stopped to be entertained by the "characters" that are posing with Brandon (and a shy and/or terrified Jaxson) along the way. I must first explain that whenever we are in some type of crowd (i.e. a comedy show, a cruise ship, a break dancing competition such as this one, etc.) Brandon, who never actually volunteers, is almost always called on to come up to do something. (As a side note this is a good time to reminisce about the dance competition he won on our cruise ship for booty dancing-that may have to surface on video here if I can figure out how to do it-very funny). Anyway, he was sitting down and was called up to stand there as a little 5'6 guy did a back flip over him (6'5)and another 6'7 guy as their arms were extended. Pretty impressive, but good participation Brandon!

Now, on to Ghiradelli. I want to start out by saying to Autumn that I was never mad during this adventure and now it is quite funny, but I was annoyed for a few reasons. 1. I was holding my almost 30lb toddler the entire time as we paced the streets of San Francisco, because he had finally fallen asleep and wouldn't go to anyone else, 2. We were told that "it was only a couple more blocks" at least 4 times, and 3. we passed like 3 perfectly delicious ice cream shops along the way. Well, Autumn said that this place was THE BEST so we all (and I mean all 9 adults and 9 children under the age of 10) began to walk looking for Ghiradelli, well as we walked and walked aimlessly, we realized it was up another street, and then another, and then when we saw the giant sign, it was still up another street or two. Needless to say, it was an adventure but we still had fun and the ice cream was great, and my arms are stronger from holding Jax! Love you Autumn! :-)

For a fantastic end to a wonderful trip, I got to see Siera, one of my very best friends from high school, and her husband Josh. Thanks for coming to visit guys, wish we could have seen more of you!