Day 4:Fort Point and the Golden Gate Bridge

 We met up with our friends the Denhams for this fun-filled day of sight-seeing.  First we went to Fort Point, a Civil War soldier base that was built to protect the bay from attack.  Fort Point is located directly below the Golden Gate Bridge.

 Below is a view of Alcatraz Island from Fort Point.  It was a beautiful day and we also enjoyed watching the surfers riding the waves.

 There were lots of cannons here!  We also got to see the soldier's barracks.

 There was a park ranger on hand to teach the kids how to load and fire a cannon.  Each kid had a job and he tried to get them to do it quickly.  But there were a lot of steps and Brad kept running over to me because he was afraid that they were really firing the cannon.  And the ranger sent Lila back in the first 5 minutes because she was hampering the war efforts. 

 But, in the end, everyone got a certificate (well, not Lila, but everyone else...).

 Brad and David had fun running around in this large, open area.

 And Lila enjoyed the fresh air too. 

 Then we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge (we had driven across the Bay Bridge on the way into SF) and walked on the bridge for a while.

 It really is an amazing work and the view from the bridge is breath-taking!  I wish Ken could have been with us as he didn't get the chance to go on the bridge. 

Day 5: San Francisco Musuem of Modern Art

 This day was kind of a wash.  It was raining pretty much all day and we took public transportation to the SFMOMA.  So, we got wet. 

 Once in the museum, it didn't take long to discover that we're not really a cultured, art museum kind of family.  Brad kept touching everything, Lila spilled her water and cried incessantly, and everyone was pretty bored.  Sky did get to make a scratch art masterpiece and we did go on a family tour (although Lila cried through most of it). 

 Brad had his favorite dog, Bolt, with him and this painting resembles him quite well so we couldn't resist a picture.  All told, we spent about 1 hour there and then left before someone kicked us out. 

Thankfully this was a day when Ken was back early and so he took the kids swimming.  It was an outdoor heated pool but still very cold.  The kids had been begging me all week so they were so happy when they finally got to go swimming.  At the end of the trip, after seeing many wondrous sights, when I asked Brad what his favorite part was, he said, "The swimming!"  Kids!

Day 6: Chinatown and the Aquarium of the Bay

 On this day of our trip we went with my friend Malisa, her husband Andrew (he's a Talbot student), and their 2 beautiful girls, Serena (Lila's age) and Katherine (7 months old) to Chinatown.  Malisa grew up in Chinatown so she was very familiar with everything and it was wonderful to be able to spend time with her. 

 We went for dim sum which is this awesome brunch-like meal where the servers come around with rolling metal carts and you can choose whatever plates you want from the carts. 

 We were able to try lots of different kinds of Chinese food.  Malisa speaks Chinese so she was able to converse with the servers a bit to find out what they had. 

 Then we walked around the neighborhood and looked at all of the fresh produce along the streets, shopped at a few shops, and got a treat from a Chinese bakery.

 We were able to go to a fortune cookie making factory which was really more like a sweat shop.  That little old lady in the background sits there folding fortune cookies all day!  They charged me 50 cents just for taking a picture.  They did pass out free samples though. 

 That evening I took the kids to the Aquarium of the Bay.  Their sea nettles were really impressive.

 The kids got these shark hats. 

 The Aquarium of the Bay is right next to Pier 39 so we got to see the Christmas tree there. 

 These pictures got a bit jumbled up.  While we were in Chinatown, I let each kid pick something $5 or under as a souvenir.  Brad chose this sword.

 Sky chose this chirping bird in a cage.  Hopefully the sword and the bird don't meet...  Lila chose some weird looking purple dinosaur thing. 

 Here is Sky at the dim sum restaurant in front of some of the rolling carts. 

Day 7: Tilden Park and Fenton's Ice Cream

 Our friends, the Denhams, showed us around Tilden Park in Berkley.  The kids had fun feeding the farm animals celery and lettuce.

 We ate a picnic lunch with the Denhams at the park.

 There was a gorgeous view of San Francisco on the drive to Tilden Park. 

 After the park we went to Fenton's Ice Cream Parlor.  Fenton's was in the movie "Up" and it was really an amazing place.  The ice cream there was really good and the servings were HUGE. 

 Sky is really into root beer so she got a root beer float.

 Brad had a kiddie scoop of cookie dough and comlained that there was chocolate in it.  Robby and his dad Robert shared a banana split.

 Lila got a chocolate shake.

 After the ice cream, we parted ways with the Denhams and drove the 6 1/2 hour drive back home to LA.  Sky has a motion sickness problem and she got sick later that night in her bed.  So, my 10 loads of laundry turned into 12 loads.  But, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am thankful for laundry because it shows how much we have and I am thankful for a washer and dryer of my own too! 

Saturday at the Children's Museum

 We went with our friends, the Denhams, to the children's museum on Saturday.  They have a new exhibit called "Kings and Castles".  Sky really likes the bed there.

 Everyone got the hang of the archery except for me!  Brad and Robby were pros by the end of the day!  I love that Sky and Brad still do things like ride a rocking horse together (see below). 

 The older kids were able to take a Japanese art class while we were there.  They learned sumi-e, a type of Japanese painting with soot and water (we had seen some examples at the aquarium last week).  It was more difficult than it looked but by the end of the class they seemed to have figured out the gist of it. 

CATS!

 Today I had the privilege of taking Sky and her friend Savannah to a production of the show CATS! 

 After the show, we were able to get autographs from the cast and take pictures with them. 

 The show was put on by a local high school theater group and it was very good.

 Sky remembered parts of it from when we had seen BIOLA Youth Theater's performance of CATS a few years ago. 

 It was a very fun afternoon!  Savannah's mom watched Lila and Brad (and her 2 kids) while we were at the show.