We have had an unbelievably gorgeous week in San Francisco. Friday and Saturday were probably the height of the beautiful weather we got to experience during our stay. On Friday, Doug took the three big boys across the Bay Bridge (Tav was dying to cross that feat of engineering!) to visit the USS Hornet Museum. The USS Hornet is probably the most famous air craft carrier in US military history, serving in WWII and Vietnam. It even was the craft that rescued the Apollo 11 space capsule upon its re-entry to Earth! At the museum site, they had plenty for the boys to take in and explore. Here are the pictures I got from Doug (with what I can remember of what each of them show)... That's the USS Hornet (and you can see how gorgeously clear the weather is!).
They have a hangar full of aircraft to see. Look how little Penn looks in comparison (K and T are to the right of Penn's left hand).
On the deck of the Hornet at the tail of a fighter jet. Pretty cool!!
Penn was apparently super nervous crawling up and down the very steep stairways throughout the ship. Look at his face...definitely uncertain!
The chart room. Doug was explaining to me that the Hornet had a GPS system on it that was developed around 1920. It uses the Earth's magnetic pull or something. Every naval vessel still has that type of GPS system on it today! Pretty amazing they had that figured out 100 years ago!
Here they are at the bridge, all getting a turn at the wheel. You can also Tav in the headphones. They had a free audio tour, so they all got to listen to their own tour of the ship (the boys were big fans of that experience).
Here's the capsule form the Apollo 11. Amazing!
They got to go in to the CDC room. I forget what that stands for...sorry! They have all the monitors and charts set up like it was for a battle in the Pacific in WWII.
Penn in the radio headphones (shout out to Grampa here!).
Very cool outing. I'm so glad the boys got to check that all out. Very important things happened aboard that ship, I hope experiences like this will start to instill in them an appreciation for those who have sacrificed so much for our freedom.
After that morning adventure, the boys met Jansen and I back in the city for a picnic lunch outside our place. It was too beautiful to spend much time indoors that day! After lunch, Doug swept the boys back out for another adventure. He had done some research and found there are some amazing playgrounds in this city, so they went to check a few more out. That's a pretty great dad. =) They were up near the Cable Car and Firehouse Museums, so they made a stop at both of those as well. Here's Koen posing for Grampa in the telegraph office at the old fire station.
And then here they all three are checking out the workings of the cable car museum, where the cables that actually still pull the cable cars up and down the steep streets of San Francisco are turning. A classic must-see in San Fran!
When the boys got back from that outing, we let them chill for a bit and then I prepped a dinner picnic and then took them all outside to soak up the last bits of sunshine before the sun dipped behind the skyscrapers for the evening. We ate burgers on a picnic table overlooking sailboats (while trying to keep pigeons and seagulls from attacking our meal and one even pooped on Doug's back!). What a full, beautiful day. Special shout-out to Daddy-extraordinaire!! He really keeps these boys busy and they need it - boundless energy!
On Saturday, we had another more family-filled day (Jansen had needed a good day of naps on Friday after a family day on Thursday). The boys headed out in the morning pretty early on to hit a few more awesome city playgrounds, but then we all met up for lunch. I walked with Jansen all the way to Fisherman's Wharf (3 miles from our place). There we had some local seafood. The boys were favorites of the wait staff there. How could they not be? Look at the ring leader of cuteness!
After lunch we walked around to see the ships docked there. I had no idea, but they have a working boat shop. We wandered in and got to talk to the sweetest volunteer who was so passionate about their work. It's the centennial year for the National Park Service, so in honor of that they are getting the Thayer (pictured below) ready to set sail again after decades of just sitting docked at the pier.
Here's the little shop where they do the work for the smaller-sized boats. They are currently working on building a replica of a workboat that was seen in photos of the Thayer when it was originally used (it was used in the logging industry I believe). It was really neat getting to see them work on it!
After walking around a bit, we split back up (me on foot for another 2 miles with the stroller and Doug in the car with the boys) to meet up at Crissy Field, a public beach. It was gorgeous and there were tons of sailboats and ships out in the harbor. Really fun to watch and the boys were ecstatic to be back at the beach yet again. They just keep busy running around, wrestling in the sand, building structures with sticks and their hands, etc. It's so great!! Look at this beautiful view with my big boys running in the foreground!
We stayed there while Jansen fell asleep on me (oh so precious!!) and then we took off around 4:30pm. I walked partway home while Doug drove all the boys home. Then I took a train the last few miles. I think I got in 7 miles of walking. A vacation dream for me, especially with the ocean vista at my side for the majority of it. What a treat!
On Easter Sunday, we got to go to my cousin's church in Daly City. Her husband is the pastor there. It was a privilege to get to attend church with them and finally see their ministry there. The boys did quite well in the service and I was just happy to be with family and to sit there appreciating the huge family of God and how having Him in common is such a blessing. I had packed up lunch for Doug and the three older boys so that after church they could head out on one last afternoon adventure. They of course went to the beach. One last picture of them being creative in God's creation with the big, beautiful bridge in the background.
We are off to the airport tomorrow morning. It's definitely time to get home to the routine, but this has been a lovely break, a special family time and a great adventure. Thanks to our friend who got us here and put us up and to my cousins for their car all week. We've been so blessed by this amazing trip!!
I had to go back to my last post to even remember which day I had updated the blog through, the days on vacation so easily run together!! So we are on to Wednesday in the update (currently it's Friday...oops!). Wednesday morning Doug took the boys on an adventure out to the coast again. (Check out Penn's gang signs?!?!)
The boys are just loving time at the beach, so they went exploring. They found some more military bunkers overlooking the bay and a new beach to try out too. It was a big hit and they spent most of their time there! They have no sand toys, they just use sticks and their hands. It's so simple, I just love that they are so happy with some plain old fun!
In the afternoon, we planned to all meet up together. Doug took the boys up onto the hills in San Francisco to one of the top-rated playgrounds (and it totally delivered) and then we were set to meet to hike up to Coit Tower. Since the car we have been so generously lent by my cousins doesn't fit us all, we are getting pretty creative on getting around the city here, there, everywhere, every which way! This time I went on foot though. I love a challenge and pushing Janse in a stroller up a big hill is no exception. Here's a picture with curvy Lombard St. way in the background as I almost made it to my destination (almost 2.5 miles from our place).
This was satisfying...the view of the bay as I peeked up over the stroller (I was pretty much parallel to the road on the steep incline with my head down!).
For the final hike, we all did it together. Coit Tower delivered some beautiful views and we were there on an exquisitely clear day (you would never know from these pictures this week that we've been in a foggy city, we've had the best weather!). Tavin wanted to pose with the bridges in the background for his Kindergarten teacher. They did a unit about building, bridges and steel back in the Fall and Tavin loved it. He has been talking about bridge facts all week with the Bay Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge so often in view! Golden Gate is over his shoulder, the sun glare made it just barely visible in my photo.
Tavin and the Bay Bridge on Telegraph Hill.
Strawberry snack overlooking the city. So beautiful!!
Coit Tower and the crisp blue sky. What a beautiful day to be up on top of the city!
Family photo opportunity. A nice man offered to take it, so we went for it. Jansen is actually looking (too bad I look so weird!).
After taking in the murals on the first floor of the tower and the vistas of the city from outside, we wound our way back down the hill to where the car was parked, switched out some gear and headed on foot once again to Little Italy a few blocks away for some pizza. Well, that was the plan anyway. Here we are waiting for our table (at this point happy).
We had been told the wait would be 15 minutes, but after almost 45 minutes we were all a bit fed up and uncertain we would ever get seated (maybe they didn't like the whining children??). Janse was pretty patient from his perch on Doug's chest. Here they are browsing the menu before we made the call to get out of there!
We did a quick google search for a pizza place in our area and ordered some for take out to enjoy back at the house. Best call we could've made! Got the kids in bed only a little later than regular bedtime and all with full, happy bellies (and a cheaper bill too!). Phew! Near disaster averted (oh my goodness, you should've heard Tav ranting and raving about the restaurant NEVER seating us).
We decided Thursday would be zoo day!! We have a membership to our zoo in Pittsburgh, and they have a reciprocal agreement with many zoos across the country including San Francisco. That made it an economical outing in addition to a fun one! We've had the chance to visit quite a few zoos in different cities and I think it's becoming a family tradition. The boys just love animals and Doug and I love watching them discover new things and the walk around the zoo is always so enjoyable, not to mention it's fun to compare their differences and similarities. San Francisco's zoo was very nice. The atmosphere was very Northern Cali with the vegetation, etc. It was a pleasant walk through the different exhibits and they had some animals that we don't in Pittsburgh. We of course had to visit the Polar Bears though. They have a warmer climate to hang out in than our Polar Bears in Pittsburgh, look at this guy loving his spot in the grass!
The zoo had Indian and African (black) Rhinos. The rhino behind Penn (doesn't look like he is wondering what is over his shoulder?) is an Indian Rhino. I told Penn that he was missing his horn and he said, "so he can't go "beep, beep"?" How cute!
Cute little penguins! Koen got to see one dive into the water. I only saw them on their little shore cave area.
An anteater!! I've never seen one in person before. What a bizarre animal! Kind of grossed me out to look at it. That long snout is just weird!
Here's the hippo. We don't have those in Pittsburgh. This one just sat in the sun in his pool. Quite a big animal! Looks like they are pretty worried about his escape and the power he could exert...check out the fence!
Penn could care less about the real hippo in the pool. He liked the statue much better!
Probably the kids' favorite part of the zoo was the amazingly creative and huge playground area. We parked there for lunch after getting through about 2/3 of the zoo. Even Jansen got out to play (poor thing has spent a lot of time in the stroller and the Ergobaby this trip!). In this pic, Jansen reminds me so much of Tav as a baby!
After lunch and playtime on the playground, we headed to finish the walk through the zoo. The giraffe enclosure was really neat, they were very close up.
After exiting the zoo, we decided that since we were so close to the beach, we should just go ahead and make a day of it and go there next. I walked Jansen the almost 3 miles down to the particular beach spot so he could take a nap. Look at the view I had! It was crazy windy, so made for quite a workout pushing the stroller into the wind, but I loved it!
When I got back to the rest of the boys and Doug, they were kind of done on that part of the beach because of the intense wind (and resulting sand everywhere!). Doug thought maybe going down the road another few miles beyond Land's End to the beach they discovered the day before might be more enjoyable if it was more protected from the wind. We gave it a try. It would've been quite a long hike with the stroller, so Koen and I ubered over there and Doug and the 3 younger guys drove over. It was maybe slightly less windy, but still quite intense. We stayed for a half hour or so. The boys got right to work engineering (they are the ones with their bums in the air!!).
We left there about 4pm and went our separate ways. I drove the car with Koen, Penn and Janse and Doug and Tav took a bus and a train back to our place. The traffic wasn't supposed to be too bad getting back to our place, but there must have been an accident or something while we headed back because it was NOT moving as we got within a mile of our condo. Poor Penn was in dire need of a bathroom and Jansen was overtired and hungry. Doug and Tav beat us back to the condo, so then they started on foot to get to us in the car (that's how bad the traffic was!) so that I could jump out and walk J & P home with Tav to use the bathroom and get dinner started. Poor babies! Everyone was great about it and it actually became a highlight adventure of the day. Tavin was so proud to come to our rescue and Koen was proud to stick with Doug and figure out the traffic situation. Even when it's rough, I love a family adventure and how the boys can just rise to the occasion and show their strengths amidst difficulty and a change in plans! The traffic continued to be bad, so after another 20 minutes of barely moving, Doug just parked the car and walked home too and went back out to get it after the boys were in bed! Crazy!
We are on a special Spring Break this year with the kids...San Francisco, CA!!! We were here almost 5 years ago on our ten year anniversary and thought of how fun it would be to bring the boys back some day (then only 2 boys!) and here we are thanks to the generous hospitality of a good friend of Doug's who insisted we come out and use his place. It's been a great break from the routine back home. Even the kids needed a break from the usual school days (it's their Easter break), especially Koen, but Doug and I too have been looking forward to this getaway. Our biggest goal was to just soak up the time as a family on an adventure and so far we are totally achieving that goal!
Day 1 we flew out. The boys did great on the long plane rides, longer than they are used to to get to Gramma and Grampa's, Florida or even Texas. Even the time change wasn't a big deal as we arrived at 5pm San Fran time (8pm to their little bodies). The first night was a little intense with all but Janse waking up around 3:30am thinking it was time to start the day, but thankfully they all fell back asleep eventually (me included after many, many visits and re-laydowns).
When it was truly morning, we had a great start to the day with Doug whisking the big boys out quite early to try and beat the weekend tourist rush to Muir Woods. He and the boys found a not so technical parking spot and went in to check out the huge trees (having been there before I stayed home with Janse, allowing him a nice morning nap and me some quiet!).
Next they went to the Muir Beach overlook. They had fun checking out the old WWII lookouts and trying to catch glimpses of sea lions on the rocks below.
Next they went down to the beach below. And that is where they stayed for hours. They had lunch there around a fire a surfer had made (apparently they shared their lunch with him and he let them take over his fire...pretty awesome boy adventure!). There's nothing like an unplanned day at the beach with your jeans rolled up!
Jansen and I had our own adventures. We took a walk after his morning nap to get a lay of the land around our condo spot. We walked to the ferry building enjoying the scenery along the way.
We eventually turned back around and went to the grocery store to stock up for the next few days (oh how I love urban adventures - how you can get something accomplished while you are on a stroll!). On the way back, it was just too gorgeous to go back inside already (and I had brought Jansen's lunch), so we stopped at a bayside playground. Jansen was perplexed by the rubber flooring. I like the way the San Fran skyline is in the background.
Well, our plan of tiring out the boys worked well and they slept much better the second night. Phew! Still some interruptions, but everyone went back to sleep and slept a lot longer. It's a good thing too because you know we had fun stuff planned for Sunday! We headed out to Menlo Park to attend church with my cousin and her family (another family of 6!). We are actually borrowing a car from another sweet cousin of mine that lives out here, but it doesn't fit our big fam, so Doug and Tavin took the train to church. They are officially travel buddies.
After church we went back to my cousin's home. She and her husband are amazing hosts. We had a delicious brunch...such a spread! Laura and Jamie, my cousin and her husband, are quite the team and Doug jumped in to help as well.
After brunch I put Janse down for his afternoon nap and the kids played for hours!! It was really special to see our kids together. I didn't capture it super well with photos, but it was a very pleasant afternoon with the kids entertaining themselves and the adults enjoying lots of time to chat. Couldn't have gone better!! Here's Koen and Tav and Meredith (about Koen's age) playing laser tag in the rain.
Jack, Laura's oldest at 15, was such a sweet pal to Penn (and Penn became his shadow...it was adorable!!). They were on a team together in laser tag.
Doug and I were so relaxed after our afternoon with Laura and Jamie. It was such a great start to our week! On Monday I took the 3 older boys out while Jansen took his morning nap and Doug got some peace and quiet. It was a beautiful start to the day (better than they had called for it seemed). The boys and I walked down to a playground adjacent to the Ferry Building. We made some stops along the way...
The boys loved the playground. Lots of equipment to play on and way more space to make noise and move than in the condo we are staying in!
Doug and Janse met us a little before noon and we then jumped on a street car (woo hoo!) and went to the famous Pier 39. We had to of course stop by the sea lions. The boys, especially Tav and Penn, were mesmerized! The sea lions were totally making a racket and putting on quite a show too. Very amusing!
Then we walked up to Ghirardhelli Square with the intention of picnicking on the lawn there overlooking Alcatraz, the huge historical ship there and the ocean vista. But the weather had other plans...the rain pushed us under the only cover we could find. We inhaled our lunch, walked quickly up to Ghirardhelli for our free sample and then back down to Pier 39 to catch a street car back to the Ferry Building. The street car was packed. Check out Jansen taking in the historical way to ride around San Fran!!
The boys had some much needed down time in the afternoon after so much walking and then we walked to dinner (out for pizza!). Loving this neighborhood we are in and pretending we fit in around here. =) Tuesday morning Doug had some work to do, so I took the boys to the local library. They loved it! We didn't pack any books with us, but thanks to a great program at the library here, we got to get a visitor's pass and checked out tons of books! After that outing, we had lunch at home and then it was time for another family adventure...Land's End! Here's a view from our parking spot of the Cliff House restaurant and some of the remains of the Sutro Baths below.
We had a beautiful day. It can be so fogged in and we had very clear skies and great views!
The boys were really into the information along the way. Especially the lighthouse and the shipwrecks.
Family Photo!!
Playing around in the ruins...
While the big boys stayed busy with Doug. Janse and I kept watch from afar (my balance isn't stellar with the Ergo on, so I didn't want to be crawling around on those walls!).
Look at this great picture of my boys!
After playing around at Land's End, we headed over to the beach area. Doug drove the boys over and I walked with Jansen. Look at this view!!
The boys immediately upon arrival stripped off their shoes and socks and rolled up their pants and they played, dug and wrestled in the sand. Beautiful!
Jansen and I, still Ergo-ing it. We had a nice little walk on the beach, but he still didn't tucker out for his afternoon nap!! Too much to take note of I guess!
That still wasn't the end of our day. After that we headed out to Golden Gate State Park and let the boys play at a playground. It was a lot warmer away from the wind at the coast and the boys amazingly still had plenty of energy to play (here's hoping they sleep really well tonight, not sure how else to wear them out, that was a pretty big day!). Well, we are up to date on our trip. Stay tuned for what comes next!
