San Francisco or Bust

Now that baseball season is finally over we are free to go on vacation!!! Early July 20 we jumped on a plane and headed toward San Francisco. We had a lay over in Denver which was delayed but that gave us time to eat lunch and relax. The boys were so excited to take their own wallets with money on the trip. Each boy bought their own sweet/salty snack to take on the plane with them. As I was helping Landon through his transaction, I look over and Nolan has opened the bag of Reese's Pieces he just bought and they are all over the floor. He is quickly picking them up and eating them...that's one way to build up your immune system.

Beautiful view from the window

Nolan took a quick snooze during our last flight which was helpful because the three hour time difference threw us for a loop the first day.

With our flight delayed it made us late to the baseball game to see the Giants play but thankfully our taxi driver made up some lost time on our way to the game. We had amazing seats right by the foul pole in left field. The boys lucked out and score a foul ball tossed to them by the Giants left fielder.

After the game, we spent time playing in the kids section of the field. They had a huge metal slide through a Coke bottle sculpture.

We walked back from the game along the shoreline taking in all the sights along the way.

Our bodies were trying hard to adjust to the time change however the boys were up at 3am (which is really 6am our time). We managed to get them back to bed for a bit but we spent time burning off their energy in the fitness center of our hotel each morning.

Early Sunday morning we walked down to Fisherman's Wharf and also Hyde Pier. The water was so cold but the boys loved putting their toes in.

Just down from the beach was Ghirardelli Square which is where the original chocolate store is located. In the store they have a tour of how they make the chocolate along with a free sample.

It was delicious!

Next we jumped in an Uber and rode down to Baker's Beach on the other side of the Golden Gate bridge. It was very windy and cold at the beach. The bridge was so hard to see because of the dense fog.

For my birthday, my mom and sister bought me a ticket to a yoga class on the beach by the Golden Gate Bridge. I have been so looking forward to this! I did yoga while the boys explored the beach. Each person in attendance was given a headset to wear during the class. The instructor would talk through a microphone while music played in the background.

I had a blast. I didn't realize how difficult getting your balance for yoga poses in the sand would be. It was so fun!
The boys had a lot of fun too with Bob splashing and exploring along the seashore.

We decided to stop down to Pier 39 and see the seals. The shops were so cool. There was a brain teaser store and a rocks/mineral store that the boys had a ball stopping in to see. A store called "Legit Dough" was a new experience for us...edible cookie dough. We stopped in to grab a sample but I can't imagine being able to eat that much dough at one time.

It was time to eat dinner and Bob was requesting seafood so we stumbled into The Crab House. They served warm sourdough bread that Nolan could not get enough of. However he struggled when trying to cut it with the dullest butter knife known to man. He persisted until that loaf of bread looked like a smashed patty.

Nothing says family like this photo of us in plastic tuxedo bibs right before we are going to shove our faces full of crab and shrimp.
After we finished we waddled down to the pier where all the seals lay sunning themselves. It was quite comical to watch as a new seal would try to join the group and the rest of them would bark at the new comer.

On our way back to the hotel we stopped to watch this very talented and funny man who was balancing himself on 4 boards, 6 metal cups while juggling. The boys were mesmerized as I was secretly praying we wouldn't see him get hurt before our eyes.

Dessert is something us Boone's have a hard time saying no to. Carter found this place early in the day and had his mind set on it. The Baked Bear is a place where you can create your own ice cream sandwich. He had chocolate brownie sandwiching mint chocolate chip ice cream rolled in brownie bites.

Our hotel, Hyatt Centric, had a game room with air hockey, foosball, and ping pong that sucked our boys in each time we walked by.

On Monday we walked down to the largest Krisy Kreme factory in the United States. These are the doughnuts I grew up eating and I could eat my weight in them for sure without realizing it! Oh they are so good!

The boys were so interested in watching each part of the process in making these delicious donuts.

After our sweet treat we walked a few blocks down to the Joe Dimaggio playground. There were quite a few kids there from various summer camps but the boys still found a way to enjoy themselves.

Bob left to go pick up Maw Maw from the airport so the boys and I decided to explore the city a little more. We stopped over to the Public Library. Carter read a book from cover to finish while Landon, Nolan, and I created pictures using stencils and colored pencils.

Lombard Street...the crooked street was just a few blocks from the library so we thought we would walk. The incline to get up this street was off the hook. I know I am out of shape but Carter was getting cramps in his legs it was that steep. I am so glad that we made it up to the top because it was so neat to see.

Once Maw Maw arrived the first thing they wanted to do was beat her at a game in the game room.

We rented a car for the day and drove over the Golden Gate Bridge. I was so bummed by how foggy it was we really never got a chance to see it the whole time we were there without fog covering it.

As part of our membership to the Imagination Station in Toledo we can use our membership card at other children's science centers around the world. Right over the bridge was the Bay Area Discovery Museum. It was a small outdoor mostly science center where the kids could create and explore.

The boys worked together moving rocks and digging in the construction site.

This one room had metal on the walls with these tubes and tunnels the boys could move around to create a path for a wiffle ball to roll down.

Carter spent most of his time in the 3d modeling station where he designed several objects.

The outdoor play area was very unique. Nolan climbed in the spider web.

Maw Maw and the boys crawled through the trunk of a redwood tree.

We drove up to the highest look out point for the Golden Gate Bridge and the wind was so powerful that the clouds were covering the bridge and we were freezing.