San Francisco - Part 5 (and last)

Friday was our last day, and we had a couple more things to fit in!

The Painted Ladies.  Some were under construction.  Boo!

Lombard Street.

So many people there!  What a cool street, but what a pain it would be to live on!

The Golden Gate Bridge.

Then we drove across it to Muir Woods to see some Redwoods.  There were TONS of peoplet here, and we had to park SO far away and walk in.  We brought a lunch, so after getting into the park, we ate.

Seriously huge trees!  You hear about them, but you just don't appreciate them or realize just how big they are til you see them in person!

Again, it was cold.  But Collin had fun!

And Tate slept!

Quite a few trees had these, and all I could think was when Giselle on Enchanted says she'd like to find a "hollow tree!"  She definitely could have slept just fine, not cramped at all in one of these!

We were on the hunt for a banana slug and a yellow-spotted millipede.  We only found one.

But Collin was thrilled!  If you look close, you can see the millipede crawling away into the clover.

Then we paused to switch Tate, and everyone left us.  So we took a selfie with our littlest buddy!

Grandpa and Greg ran to get the cars so we all didn't have to make the trek, and while waiting these two entertained everyone by being silly!

After Muir Woods, we headed to Stinson Beach.  My dad had ties to that beach while in the navy, so that's why we picked that one.  It was a gorgeous beach, but was still a little chilly!

Collin and I (mostly me...) built a sandcastle.  I thought we were far enough away from the waves, but it was a good thing we dug a moat!  It saved our castle a few times!

Greg was the only one to brave the water.  It was already cold, and the water was colder!

His words "When do you get the chance to swim in the ocean?  Not often so you gotta take advantage!"

More family pictures!

SUCH a fun day!  Jam packed full of activities, but so fun!

After the beach, we headed back to the house to make dinner and get packed up so we could leave the next day.  My parents, Cassie, Justin, and Lewis were planning to drive the whole way back, and we were going to just go as far as we felt like and then finish the drive Sunday.

Overall, it was a fantastic trip!  We wish we wouldn't have packed it so full, but we wanted to see everything!  I'm excited to see what our next Smith family adventure will be!

San Francisco - Part 4

Thursday we were back in downtown.  We had scheduled a ferry to Alcatraz that left just after lunch.  We arrived just in time, and waited to board.

View of the island from the ferry.

Grandpa, Tate, and Greg ventured out to the front of the ferry to feel the wind and spray.

Getting off the ferry.  First stop was a video showing the history of the island.

While we waited for the next video to start, we explored the building and found the only place that you can see where the rock of the island meets the brick of the building.

Watching the video.  He didn't last.  We had to bust out the snacks...(shhh!  Don't tell!)

Group picture with the city skyline in the background.  It was SUPER windy and a little chilly.

One of our goals on this trip was to get a bunch of family photos because we had plenty of photographers!  This one is my favorite!

Hiking up to take the cell house tour.

Inside the cell house, laundry I believe.

Tate crashed again!  He didn't take many naps in a bed this trip because we were going, going, going!

We all enjoyed the tour.  It's really well done!  And though there were tons of people there, because everyone was at a different point in the tour, it didn't feel too crowded!

Typical cell.

Even Collin loved it!

Oh no!  Don't lock me in!

Inmate visitors center.  It was SO nice to have so many pairs of eyes (and hands) to help with the boys!

Because of how cold it was we opted to look at some of the tour through the windows.

After Alcatraz and dinner on Pier 39, the boys and Grandparents were sleepy, so they went back to the house to take it easy.  The rest of us went to Chinatown.  Cassie was on the hunt for a bag, and we just wanted cheap souvenirs!  We parked what we thought was close, but turned out to be way far away from the main street.  We got plenty of exercise.

Greg and I in Chinatown.

We got Tate an awesome Chinese hat.  And the sales lady talked us into an entire outfit for BOTH boys.  "I give you good deal!"

San Francisco - Part 3

Wednesday we went to Santa Cruz.  It was about an hour drive, so we tried to get an early start so we'd have enough time to see and do all we wanted to there.  We were still rushed (especially with little kids), so I wish we would have REALLY gotten an early start.

First thing we did was the boardwalk amusement park.  It was fantastic and everyone had a great time!

Dad is such a good sport to go with Collin.

My dad and brother, Lewis, rode this coaster with Cassie and Justin.

Riding the (can't for the life of me remember what its called!).  I was nervous with Collin, but glad Grandma walked Tate along underneath. 

This rockin' ride played awesome rock songs. 

Singing along!

The package we bought came with arcade credit that we thought would work with the carnival games along the boardwalk, but didn't.  So we payed for Collin to go fishing and get a prize.

He caught a couple of big ones!

Collin's first roller coaster ride.  He got to go with Grandpa!  Lewis was excited as well.

I think this may have been one of Collin's favorites.

There was a large children's section that we ended up at towards the end, so the big kids (ie: Cassie, Justin, Lewis and Greg) rode the big rides while Grandma, me, and Grandpa with a sleeping Tate watched Collin ride a bunch.

Grandma with grandkid #2

Dad came just in time to be Collin's "cargo".  I got him buckled and he asked, "But who's gonna be my cargo?"

My mom's favorite ride!  Cassie and I love how much my mom giggles through the whole ride.  

Over the years, we've gotten really good at making it spin a ton, and I think that made Collin more nervous.  That and our squeals and laughs.

We tried to hit some souvenir shops on our way to mini-golf, but they were all closing!  The package we bought came with 2 other attractions, and we decided to do mini-golf and bowling.  We did mini-golf first, which had an awesome pirate theme.  And we all had a blast.  Tate fell asleep again.  After we finished, we were starving!  So we found a pizza place and ate, and then went bowling.  By the end of bowling, we were all exhausted and still had an hour drive back!

It was such a fun day!   I wish we would have planned more time, and been able to do Santa Cruz two days.  Next time!