San Fran Fun!

On Thursday night, I boarded a plane with this cutie:

And left my other sweet baby behind, in the arms of Grandma.

(I'll make a quick note here that 5 hours before boarding the plane Ryan found out he had bronchitis....and the next morning Grandma took Aiden to the doctor and found out he had his first ear infections. Plural. Double ear infections. Signs of an ear infections? Zero. He didn't touch his ears, he slept through the night. So, while I felt terrible when I found out, I knew he was in good spirits (and good hands) despite the infections so I focused on that.)

So 1700 miles back in San Fran, we landed and who was waiting for us? These fabulous, wonderful faces. Best. Surprise. Ever.

(Being crooked, like the Crookedest Lombard Street, of course.)

We spent the next two days walking 15+ miles (no lie), visiting Alcatraz, marveling at Muir Woods, getting a flat on our rental car, drinking Irish coffees at Buena Vista Cafe, eating yummies at Ghirardelli Square, touring Napa Valley wineries, listening to sea lions, reminiscing about childhood while checking out the Painted Ladies (better known as the Full House backdrop), eating scrumptious breakfasts and dinners, and talking and laughing and talking and laughing. It was an amazing city, we had an amazing time, and amazingly, Aiden was just fine without us for a few days.

I told Ryan he gets an A double plus for the trip.....but I'd give him 10 of those. All of his planning made for a very relaxing, enjoyable time for everyone. I may, perhaps, be a bit of a stickler for itineraries when I plan trips. I went to all this trouble to make a beautiful spreadsheet - why would anyone not want to follow it? Ryan, however, was much more adaptable with his spreadsheet. Love him for that.

Here's a glimpse at the results of Ryan's awesome planning.

(ocean view on day one....what you can't see it through the fog? yeah, neither could we)





(view from Alcatraz with the fog starting to lift)



(STEEP San Fran streets....and there's a reason STEEP is in caps. it's been 5 days and my calves are still sore)

(Filbert Steps....Ryan accidentally took us on a bit of a detour....a 285-step detour....see previous mention of sore calves)

 (catching a breather halfway up)

(view from a Filbert Steps landing....pretty sure we weren't at the top yet)

(Muir Woods - trees so big four of us made it maybe two-thirds of the way around!)

(Cheers to Buena Vista Irish coffees!)

(and to the mustaches they leave!)

(V. Sattui Winery.....by far the best winery we toured. check out this amazingly delicious wine we found! pricey but the one time so far in life I've found an expensive wine that is worth every penny.)

(sea lions on Pier 39)

(use your night vision and you'll start singing: "What ever happened to predictability?/The milk man, the paper boy, evening T.V/You miss your old familiar friends, but waiting just around the bend.")

(trolley time!)

(trolley time!)