Emma's birthday and San Francisco!

 What a two weeks we have had. Josh's birthday was nice and then we jumped right into Emma's birthday. We all went to Brandon's first baseball game which got delayed because of some field issues, but they played well and won. Before it was quite over I ran home to pick up Emma's friends and then we went back to the game to pick up the boys and head to base to go bowling. It was fun and all the kids had a good time. Then we came home and they kids watched Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban while I made the cake and dinner, then we ate and did presents and all was fun and good. Emma had fun with her friends and enjoyed the day and repeatedly thanked me for all we did and that was nice. Since it was her golden birthday I had some gold decorations and she got golden Minnie ears to wear to Disneyland. She is a child of extremes but overall she is a sweet girl who wants to be good and kind and funny and she brings a lot of energy and excitement to our home. 

  

Then we had a nice Sunday and then Monday was spring break day 1. We spent all morning doing laundry and packing and getting the house ready for us to be gone. We also had time to finish watching the finale of Rock the Block while we waited for the last load of laundry to dry and then we headed out at 1:30pm. We drove to Dulles and parked our car and got the our gate in time to grab some dinner before we boarded. We had a direct flight to San Francisco and the plane was a nice big one. We all had our own tv screen with an amazing amount of movies and tv shows to choose from. My kids were in heaven and we all watched something the whole flight, except Josh who read. I watched Marry Me, Jungle Cruise and the Friends reunion. Our flight was delayed so we got in an hour late (with the tvs, no one noticed) which was already really late for us east coasters so we got our bags, a taxi and got to our hotel and immediately all went to bed. It was crazy the whole trip to be living what Josh and I had planned and thought about for so long. We specifically got a hotel close to the airport because we knew we would be tired and we were right and I was so glad we had been so thoughtful. Everyone slept well although Emma and Josh were up at 5:30 but they both went back to sleep. 

Day one of our California adventure began in San Francisco. We took a taxi to Pier 39 and walked around a bit, saw the sea lions, played on a super cool musical staircase, and took a boat cruise of the harbor that was really nice. I love being on the water and it was a gorgeous and clear day. We could see the Golden Gate bridge so well (not always a given in SF) and Alcatrez and the whole city. I really like SF because it is beautiful and clean. 

 

 

 

Then we walked down to Fisherman's Wharf and went to Boudin's where we had lunch. (except Josh who took an Uber to a pizza place owned by the guy who wrote the pizza bible and he got a couple of slices there and even saw Tony, the man himself, which made Josh's day). The kids and I got clam chowder in bread bowls and grilled cheese and it was all so delicious. I love sourdough bread and Boudin's is the best! We watched the bread factory for a bit and saw all the dough going through the rounder and then the proofing thing and then being shaped into baguettes. Then we walked down to Ghirardelli Square where we got brownie and hot fudge sundaes--so amazingly delicious. 

 

  

Then we walked up the street, quite literally up a very steep street, to the top of Lombard Street which would have been fun to drive down but we didn't have a car so we walked half way down and then back up where we caught a cable car to the Cable Car Museum. It is a cool place where you can see the actual cables that pull all the cars around the city. Then we walked through Little Italy to Coit Tower and we went up to the top of it, which was amazing. The views of the city were so beautiful and there was a funny lady up there taking silhouettes of people and she snagged Curtis. He was quite reluctant but it is a pretty cool picture so it all worked out. Then we walked back to Pier 39 because it had the best shopping and we were ready to buy some souvenirs. Emma got a sweatshirt and I got a t-shirt and I think some key chains were purchased too.

    

Then we called our cab friend (tough to find a car for six people so the guy that picked us up at the airport became our buddy and we called him whenever we needed a ride) and he took us to Alamo Square to see the Painted Ladies that are famous from Full House and then we went to Golden Gate Park. We saw the Pacific ocean and a cool Dutch windmill but it was super windy and cold and the sun was setting so we decided we were done, but our taxi guy had left so we had to wait for him to come back. We walked through the park a bit and saw some cool soccer fields and then played Heads Up until he came to get us. We walked about seven miles and saw most of the city and had such good food. It was an amazing first day in California. We got back to our hotel and went right to bed. 

 

Before leaving on the trip we talked with the kids about some life and gospel principles that were going to help us have a great trip. First was hope, then gratitude and then a sense of adventure. The kids did so well applying these principles and we would say things like, I hope the cable car comes soon (instead of complaining that it was taking forever) or I hope the wind dies down. We also did video logs each night saying what we were grateful for that day and if anyone got whiny, then we would ask them to say something they appreciated instead and it really worked to help make our trip more pleasant and positive.