Golden Gate + Baseball =

EXHAUSTION for poor Allstar. We rented bikes to bike across Golden Gate Bridge. Allstar did not take a very long nap to begin with, and was so tired for most of the ride. Then, once we got onto the bridge it was SO noisy from all the cars he got even more upset. Too bad. The ride had a couple little hills that surprised us, but it was a pretty good ride altogether. The bridge is very long and seemed to go on forever. All in all, it was a fun experience worth doing!

We stopped before entering the bridge for our tasty [and pricy] cheese & crackers w/grapes. YUM.

and to take the family picture

Allstar got so upset that we took him out of the bike trailer and I went totally illegal riding w/him like this. I was so scared on the hills, well and most of the time. Not from getting in trouble, but for the tiniest of rocks that could've caused a crash.

DONE. See, look at all those cars! So busy

After he fell asleep in our arms we softly laid him down like so, we should've done this the first time he fell asleep so he was more comfortable. Then, when we boarded the ferry they made us take him out, which meant waking him up yet again. Afterwards I wished we didn't tell them he was in there!

To end the day we were so excited to see this MLB game. Unfortunately, after getting there a couple minutes late, then figuring out what to do w/the stroller we forgot to think about, then waiting in the "Gilroy's famous garlic fries" line for 20 minutes, we saw like 2 innings before having to leave the game...the babe would just not be happy or sleep. The noise and the cold just was not in our favor. Darn, we were really looking forward to this. We had sweet tickets too. In all the crying and everything we didn't even get a very good pict of the whole field. Next time Allstar, there will be another and you will enjoy it!

He even wore his Allstar Baseball shirt!

Alcatraz

Alcatraz was very interesting to see and learn a little more about. We really enjoyed the tour and highly recommend it. Though there were a lot of people, the tour is very well designed for a lot of people to flow through it. We took the audio tour, which had a couple prison officials and inmates telling the main stories and facts of Alcatraz when it was a prison, which is what it is most known for. We have toured the Utah Prison, so seeing the cells were not new to us, but it does remind you how awful of a life it would be to have to live in such tiny, dirty, cement quarters for years and years. 1 interesting fact I got out of it: those in prison read more than the outside population, something like that.

Some of the re-reations were very neat, such as this head that was made out of wax, concrete and paint; made by the prisoners who escaped, to look like they were still in their cell.

We used this front carry pack a lot during this trip, when he got tired of the stroller.

San Fran Overview

We just got back from our vacation to San Francisco, CA. We went Mon-Fri this last week. It was a success, in that we were so tired when we got back to our room each night from going and going and going! Seriously, we need to learn how to take a vacation. So here is a quick overview, minus the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz, and some of the smaller sights we saw and did.

To start out...we stayed at a HOSTEL...for reals. It was right downtown, and it was the place where the price was right for us. Everything else was over $175/night. We got this private bedroom for only $90/night! We got some very strange looks walking around in there w/a baby, but we didn't really care, he was great sleeping at night and wasn't a bother to others. Buses, Cable Cars and Trolleys. We most likely took every route and bus possible in San Fran! We prefer to take public transportation when they have great systems, and this place did.

The Japanese Tea Gardens. This was the only hour that we really felt like we were on a relaxed vacation. Spencer really likes the Japanese type gardens in particular, and we will most likely have a little splash of this type in our perinnial gardens here at home.

Lombard Street a.k.a. the Crooked Street. It does have like 6-7 bends, very crooked, but beautiful with hedges and large begonia flowers spread throughout. There are very steep streets in this city as well.

Coit Tower, it's their overlook to the city. Definately not worth it. Most of the weather has fog, so you can't see too far. However, if it is for sure a clear day w/no rain, then it may be worth it.

Unfortunately, we didn't find as many great eats as we would've liked to, but by the last night we found the jackpot, and went back for lunch the last day.

Overall, it was a very eventful, successful vacation. We did almost everything you could do there, just like we usually do. From here on out, we have decided to slow down and try to relax and enjoy the city more. Traveling with a baby is DOABLE, just adds a bit more work and time needed to get from here to there. Oh yea, and a bit more stuff to take around everywhere with you. Another couple posts to follow...

Comical

It's the warm water...just relaxes those muscles everytime!

See you in a week with fun vacay picts.

Gettin' Down on the Farm

...lyrics from a Tim McGraw song, which I find very enjoyable I just wanna dance. It talks about kids in a rural area gathering together at the Barn to dance and have a good time! I love country music btw.

Anyway...we didn't really get down on the farm, we just took pictures in front of the barn! We're not country, but I guess we were a little bit of posers here. These family picts turned out darling, even if we were in front of a barn [which I don't usually love] but Carla did well with placing the family then turning on her self timer and running into the picture!

Then of course we had to shoot a million picts of Mr. Handsome for 6.5 months! Go HERE to see more of our darling little man.