On the Road Again...

Our last day in San Francisco was a bittersweet one, as are the end of most vacations.

We were once again awoken by a Jaclyne who liked to dramatically pull open those lovely

room darkening curtains that I love so much about hotels. Way too early, I might add.

I am glad she did because the kids and I could have slept all day long with all the walking we've been doing
and we definitely wouldn't have been able to do everything we wanted the kids to see and do.

It took us forever to get out of the hotel room as it did every other morning...
It was a hot, hot day. One of the hottest days in recent history!
The kids were glad that it wasn't windy or cold so a walk sounded nice to them.

Yank Sing for dim sum was our destination.
We were sweating bullets and had to diffuse tantrums from Kate at least 3 times
but we finally made it down there.

We had our dim sum in no time at all. I love that place.
It's so fun to try new things, everything in a mini portion.
Here are some of the things we shared...

The dim sum is wheeled around to every table in the restaurant on little carts like these.

Charlie really enjoyed this restaurant.
He's definitely our little foodie.

 Charlie is my budding photographer. He always wants a camera to capture
moments that are special to him. I love to let his creativity flow but man, am I nervous when he's
got one of the cameras in his hands.

After lunch the kids were dying to try a cable car. Getting on one, with two men

yelling at you to hurry up cause they have to stay on schedule while handling 3 kids and

a huge double wide stroller is humbling. I wanted to cry. Why are some people so mean?

Anyhow, we took it to visit China town.

The kids on the car. Take note that Kate is barefoot.

They are watching the guy who so rudely yelled at us.

Charlie in China Town

Visited Full House house
1709 Broderick St. in SF is the actual house in the opening credits to the show "Full House"
It was pretty cool to see it.

Painted ladies

I would totally live in one of these beautiful houses in this gorgeous neighborhood.

Golden Gate Park is bigger than Central Park in NYC.

I only wish we'd had more time and that it wasn't one of the hottest days

in recent history so that the kids could have run around

and explored a little bit more than we let them.

We wanted them to at least experience some of the park before we left for home so,

a ride on the carousel seemed perfect.

It's funny how I've been to SF more times than I can count but it takes

traveling with the kids to see the city in a whole new light.

One of my goals this summer was to let Charlie and Kate experience what it was to have waves crash on their feet. So far, I hadn't done that yet so when we found this spot completely by accident it felt like

serendipity. I was looking to go take some photos of the kids with the Golden Gate Bridge

and we got something that was 10 times better. They practically got to swim UNDER the

Golden Gate Bridge and I got to photograph it!

Getting them out of that ocean was quite the feat. They adored letting the waves washed up to

their knees and pretending that they fell into the water by accident but they really just wanted to jump right in and didn't want me to be mad that they wet their clothing.

Needless to say, I wasn't mad and I got to experience some of my favorite memories of the trip.

Our view from the beach.

On the one side you have the bridge and on the other beautiful downtown SF and Alcatraz.

After baby powderin' them up til they look like ghosts to try to remove
all the sand in every crevice of their little bodies we were ready tog o to dinner.

Here's what you do while the momma and J are trying to navigate

their way up and down the hills that send Charlie into a fit of giggles and

make Kate squeal like she's going down a slide.

Stick fruit Cheerios anywhere that they will stay.

J wanted to try this restaurant as she'd heard good things about their tacos

and so before we left we had dinner at La Taqueria.

Here are the cool kids waiting for their tacos.

and yes, they were good, but nothing that we don't have in Southern CA also know as El Taco...

After our last meal in San Francisco we started our LOOONG trek home.

Ella was asleep already and Charlie followed not long after her. So, we were

left playing "I Spy" with our little Kate.

Everything she "spied" was pink.

And after we guessed what she spied she would reward us with a,

"Good job, Mama!" or a "Good job, Jackie!"

Thank god for that trusty laptop for keeping those kids entertained while we

drove those long, boring hours of the grapevine and the 5 freeway late into the night.

Here's the last photo I took of our road trip...

A beautiful, almost full moon.

and then we were home.
It felt like we would never get there.

It was a fabulous trip. I loved everything about it.