We didn't really leave our hearts in San Fran, we went to go rejuvenate them because we had some sad kids when the school year was completed. Who would have thought? Usually kids are jumping for joy when they run out the doors on the last day. But here, Grant was saying goodbye to friends and a school he has been at for 7 years. It was a big deal. The girls had exceptional teachers this year. I've observed the teachers all year as I volunteered, as I went on Brenna's very rainy field trip to the zoo
and at class activities. Brenna lucked out with this intern. We know she will be a great teacher in Texas! We loved Mrs Christensen.
She was so motivated and organized. She had excellent structure and helped the kids feel confident and comfortable. We were lucky to have friends from the neighborhood in Brenna's class. That helped a lot with it being her first year in the school. Here are Brenna and Kinley when they received the Leader in Me award.
Katelee was always sad when Mrs Clayton missed a day of school.
Mrs Clayton had a challenging personal year, but she brought fun and enriching activities to her class. She knew each kid so well and invested in them individually. She was phenomenal. Their class put on a play called 'Character Matters.' It was scheduled for the day after Katelee's moped accident. Katelee insisted she could not miss, so we got her there for the thrilling performance.
By the next week when it was county float time, she was healing nicely.
We were grateful for good teachers this year! While it made it sad to say goodbye, we know the kids will look back with fond memories and lots of growth. School got out on a Friday and the very next day, we caught a flight to California. When we planned the vacation, we thought we'd split it up between my first choice of the Redwoods and Dave's preferred destination of San Francisco. We drove a lot that first night to get up the coast. Katelee had eaten some contaminated food, so she got to experience the first views of the forest as she lost her lunch along the side of the road. Ewww. She then puked in the middle of the night, but quite make it to the bathroom because she couldn't find the door handle. Thankfully, she was better in the morning so everyone was able to enjoy the view from our hotel.
We had arrived late so we didn't even know how gorgeous the location was until we woke up. I'm surprised we made it to our little condo-it was so hard navigating in the pitch black in our ginormous vehicle. When we arrived at the airport the previous evening, Dave went to get our rental's keys. There had been a mix up and we stood in the parking lot. I told my kids at least we weren't given the gigantic beast painted a very unique gold. When Dave returned, he had been given the keys to the very SUV I had referenced. So, we lovingly dubbed our ride the 'Golden Nugget.'
The kids grew very attached and wherever we were, they would race to it. Harrison still talks about 'the Golden Nugget.' Ha! We took that car on many miles! Our first stop was the furthest north part of our trip. We stopped at some Redwoods and hiked Fern Canyon.
It was lush and fabulous. The next day, we walked the Lady Bird Johnson trail, as well as a couple other small hikes.
The trees/forests are magnificent.
The kids told me they couldn't believe the trees were real! Harrison and Grant (and Dave) drove me crazy on one of the hikes. Of course, grabbing sticks to walk with is a necessity, but apparently, to boys, whacking every living bush is also required. It got so loud and violent I think we very possibly would have been banned from the Redwood National Forest if a ranger had been around. I try and gently coax people not to do certain things, but the 3 year old boldly told me that I don't know what I'm talking about. So, there's that problem.
We definitely could have spent another day or two there...well, maybe Harrison was good with what he got.
At the end, when we told him we were going on another hike, he was not pleased and wanted to be get in the Golden Nugget and get out of there! He told us his legs wouldn't work and they needed batteries. Luckily, day 2 wrapped up and we drove south. Not lucky for us that the kids had to use the bathroom every few minutes, it seemed like! It took us so long to get to the city, Dave and I were so tired, but we made it safe and sound!
The first sites of the city were seen atop a hop on hop off bus tour! We ate at Ghiradelli Square,
stopped at Chinatown. This was a very important stop because Dave frequently tells Harrison when he is being a stinker that he is going to send Harrison down to Chinatown. So, to be able to picture where he will end up was important for Harrison. Ha!
Very precious goods were purchased in Chinatown- fans for the girls
that provided hours and hours of fun...until Brenna's broke, of course. But, a whole song and dance was choreographed along the Embarcadero:
I can still hear them singing the "I've Got a Fan" song (and fighting about the notes/lyrics). It turned out to be a very moving piece of music. Ha! Harrison and Grant both got swords. This weapon came in very handy for Harrison when he chased pigeons that reside at Pier 39.
Again, I'm not sure the other people around us appreciated our violence upon the wildlife/surroundings, but we were protected from the pigeons. Harrison claims he is a hero and I'm not convinced, but saving me from birds is heroic indeed.
The next day we went to Alcatraz. We loved riding the ferry and seeing the city line as well as the island.
It was pretty fascinating. This was Grant's favorite destination. He was always ahead of us on the tour. Granted, we had to spend sometime explaining to the riff raff why you actually don't want to live in the cells!
After the tour of Alcatraz, we went to the Golden Gate bridge. Katelee was bummed because we had discussed riding bikes across the bridge. But, we decided against it for a few reasons-one being her broken arm. We also discovered that Dave has an irrational fear of us being on the bridge and bikes would heighten our chance of pummeling to the frigid waters below!
We still loved our time on the iconic landmark. We drove by Lombard Street but did not want to attempt that in the Golden Nugget. Again, as you can tell by the photo, we had a sad little lady not being able to drive it.
She is the most fun gal, but is pretty emotional. When we were home before the vacation, she and I were disagreeing about something. Dave walked in and Brenna yelled out to him, "dad, we are having a bit of a power struggle with the ten year old." Story of my life right now.
We had some yummy food in San Fran-at a local pizza place that had gluten free crust and also at Bubba Gump's. The kids had a good time at that tourist trap. Pier 39 is always a good time and we capped off our time in California going to the Exploritorium.
One highlight of the science museum is the drinking fountain. Everyone had to partake of the toilet water.
The Golden Nugget had a mishap with a nail, so Dave missed out on some of the fun while AAA came and changed the tire, but we had a great time with the different science exhibits.
San Francisco was a perfect place to jump start our summer!
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