San Francisco!

Ok, and the Redwood National Forest too. Or, as we call it in our family, Endor. Admit it, you do too.

The trees were so big and beautiful. The weather was just like you imagine it would be, warm but still slightly crisp. It smelled amazing. This shot was of Sawyer because Matt and the older boys were running around somewhere pretending they were in speeders and being Ewoks and Storm Troopers. 

Sawyer called me "Mummy Ewok" for about a week. 

I had way more pictures, but I think they got deleted somehow :( Maybe I'll find them someday. We found a tree called "The Big Tree" (someone was feeling really creative) and it's 6 meters in diameter. It was pretty amazing to say the least!

Then we went to San Francisco! I have been dreaming about this city since I was an Uncle Jesse loving kid. Matt had a conference to be at all week, and the idea of navigating this crazy city solo with the boys was slightly daunting to me. So, for my birthday, Matt bought my fabulous sister Leah a plane ticket and she spent the week with me. 

It was so amazing. We had wonderfully warm weather and since we were there during the week, we didn't have to deal with too many crowds. 

I didn't really mean to have them all in red shirts. It just happened. This is at our RV park. It was right on the water. We were a 2 minute walk from a pizza place, drug store and groceries. It was great. We rented a car because downtown San Fran was about 15-20 minutes north of where we were. In theory, I guess I'll admit that it was useful to have a car so that we didn't have to rely on the bus, sky trains or taxis, but I can honestly say that San Francisco has the most insane drivers on the planet. Even Leah, who lives in Seattle and is used to crazy freeways and fast drivers agreed. Without any exaggeration (I swear) it took me 10 minutes to cross an intersection. People literally ignored all the traffic signs and lights and just went when they felt like it. Semi trucks were going through red lights. And there's a major lack or proper signage, so getting lost is incredibly easy. People honk here like there's no tomorrow. I'm getting tense just remembering it all. Ok. End of rant. 

On Wednesday, we drove to the Jelly Belly factory. It's about an hour north of San Fran, but well worth the drive. 

They have these great factory tours (free) and you get to learn all about the history and making of the Jelly Belly. And then they have a tasting bar and you get to try all the flavours. My favourites were ice cream parlour  and raspberry chocolate dip. Oliver tried...beer. I don't even know why, but he ate it before he even told me. And he liked it. Weird kid. I bought a little box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour  Beans and made the kids eat them. Hayden actually liked the soap but they really hated the sausage. Hayden was brave and tried vomit too, and said it was the worst thing he has ever tasted. I think dirt is pretty awful too. 

Leah got these Pineapple Jelly Belly sodas. They were so disgusting. It was really just like drinking liquified Jelly beans. Blech. 

Peace, bro. 

Next day we went down to Pier 39. It was totally kitschy and touristy and awesome. There were more ice cream shops than necessary, 500 picture frames emblazoned with the golden gate bridge, and endless miniature mugs. All the useless crap that I'm a total sucker for. 

The only problem was all the birds. Poor Leah has a bird phobia, due to the obscenely large number of times that she has been attacked by them. No joke. I can't even count how many. And I really do mean viciously attacked. So Hayden and Oliver were great nephews and did a great job clearing the path for her so we could walk freely. 

We found this neat little magic shop. The guys who work there are all pretty good magicians (or at least slight-of-hand artists) and Oliver and Hayden both got to help out with some tricks. 

They got some help purchasing some age appropriate magic tricks that they can do for their friends and Dad. 

Later in the day, Hayden found a penny on the ground, and then dropped it a few minutes later. I found it, and then pretended I found it behind his ear. He was shocked that I could actually do magic. Amazed. I blew his mind. It was the cutest moment of the trip so far I think. 

He dropped it again about an hour later, and Leah found it behind his ear this time. Same shock and amazement. It happened a few more times (not even on purpose, he's just a little...prone to dropping things). He was blown away every time. Sometimes I think that I would love to be 5 again and live in a state of mind where anything is possible and everything is incredible. I love his spirit. 

So Leah and I spent the next couple days sight seeing, swimming with the kids, and eating ice cream. It's kind of our thing. Meanwhile, Sawyer was struggling with a pretty bad cold and sleeping a LOT. Which is not like him whatsoever. It wasn't getting better. One night he wasn't sleeping well and so he climbed into our bed. His breathing was incredibly fast, even asleep. So we took him to the ER. It was pneumonia. 

Have you ever seen a sadder face?

Poor little bug. But the staff at the hospital was great and we were grateful to have excellent travellers medical insurance. He perked up that evening and within 48 hours he was acting almost like himself again. 

Once we felt like he could be out and about again, we went to do the rest of the stuff on our San Fran bucket list. Like the painted ladies at Alamo Square. 

If that doesn't scream "Full House" I don't know what does. It was beautiful, Full House fan or not. 

The thing Matt was most excited to see was the Golden Gate Bridge. When we initially drove into the city, it was incredibly foggy and we couldn't even see the bridge when we were driving across it. It was nuts. So we went back and found a great little park and information centre. It was pretty neat. 

It was a beautiful, clear day. It was easy to see why so many people love this city. 

It was windy though. Like, really, really  windy. 

Aren't they just the best? I love how they are best friends. 

It really was a pretty great week. Good weather, good food (did I mention that I convinced Leah to try some of my salmon and she liked it?! I was really excited about that), and good company. I was so glad that Leah was there to enjoy it with me and the boys. It was definitely a very large and crowded city, and definitely somewhere that I could never live, but an awesome place for a visit.