San Fran Day 3

We decided that we would take our last real day in San Fran a little slower. We took the cable car up the hill to Lomard Street where we got to witness (and walk down) the crookedest street! It was beautiful.

Then we walked our way down to Chinatown, bought some trinkets for the boy and headed back to the room to rest before going to see a movie. After the movie we went back down to the bay, took some sunset pics and had dinner. WHEW! What a fantastic vacation!!!!

We had such a blast, but boy did we miss our little boy! So glad to be home to spend time with him again!

Alcatraz

I have always, always wanted to visit Alcatraz... ever since seeing the movie The Rock, it has been high on my list of "must sees". This weekend Brandon and I were able to go and observe all the sites the Rock has to offer. It wasn't as grand as I thought it would be and wasn't as "prison-like" as I thought either. I really enjoyed the audio tour and seeing Alcatraz!

How's this for a welcome kit?

Brandon in solitary confinement. These rooms were bigger, but they were completely dark. That would totally suck!

Taking a moment to smile for the camera in the rec yard.

San Fran Day 2

So we woke up early Sunday as we still weren't used to the time change and are terribly used to getting up early with Branson. We went and ate at a local hot spot (its a good thing we were up early since everyone decided to eat there by the time we were leaving). Then we cancelled our reservation for the Gocar (a very small, slow touring car - with our experience the previous day driving a real car, we decided a double decker tour bus would be safer and more relaxing!) and hoped on the tour bus bound for great tourist attractions! First stop was Alamo Square where you can see the 6 sisters or Painted Ladies that are featured in the opening shots of Full House (yes I am a fan!) We got off, took our pics and enjoyed the sereneness of the city. Next, we went to the Golden Gate Bridge and took some shots (we'd already driven across it the first day and knew that it was too cold and too long to walk! :) )

After that, we continued on our journey and stopped off at the Japanese Tea Gardens. They were exquiste.

We wrapped up Sunday afternoon with a trip out to Alcatraz! I'll put that in its own post...

San Francisco Day 1

Back when Brandon and I got married, we decided that we would go to Italy for our 5 year anniversary... at that time we forgot to factor in many things like kids and money... so instead of Italy, we settled on San Francisco. Day One was packed with excitement! We arrived at the airport at 5am for our 6am flight, waited through the lines and laughed to ourselves as a family in front of us got in a fight about a "hello kitty bag" that was forgotten. As the husband tried to defend himself for not bringing in the bag, the wife says "stop! its your fault!" then turns to us and apologizes for fighting in front of us, turns back and continues arguing! It was very amusing and became a running joke for our trip... "stop! its your fault!" So we arrived in San Fran bright and early and rented a convertible (both of our first time!) and drove to Muir Woods just outside of the city. The trees were beautiful!

Following the woods, we continued up the road to Napa and Sonoma. On the way, we saw a sign for biplane rides... after carefully weighing our options, we decided that things like this don't come around very often and we decided to go for it! We paid the money and climbed aboard! It was tons of fun even though the plane is basically only made of fabric!!! We had to wear parachutes and were shown where the rip cord was (YIKES!!!). We went up for 20 minutes and enjoyed some acrobatics before coming down. I tried to video these events, but as we were flipping upside down, I forgot the planes' top was right above us and ended up just videoing that! Oh well! We have the memories!




A perfect way to see the wineries and vineyards!

After our plane ride, we continued our drive, had a little lunch and then headed back to the city for an evening show. Getting back to the city wasn't bad, but the traffic, one way streets and nonexistent road rules nearly killed us, but we made it! We quickly changed clothes and headed out again (via cab this time) to dinner and our show. We saw Spamalot which was very funny!

Ok, so with a day that long, I wasn't able to stay up for the WHOLE show, but I did pretty good... I think I only dozed for 10 minutes or so!

Chuck E Cheese, Again!~

Well I was feeling a little guilty about going on vacation without Branson, so Friday Brandon and I left work early and took him to Chuck E Cheese to spend some quality time together. We all had fun and Brandon commented that Chuck E Cheese wasn't nearly as dirty as he'd remembered! :) Silly Dada!

Happy 5 Years!!!!

Today marks mine and Brandon's 5th year of wedded bliss! We've certainly had our tests of faith and love this year but through it all we have grown stronger and closer. He is still my rock, my best friend, my soul mate, and the love of my life. I could not make it through this life without him. We feel so blessed to have each other and to have our Branson who never ceases to make us smile! Thank you all for everything you do in our lives that makes us who and what we are today. Here's to many more years together!

Doctor's Report

Yesterday I took Branson for his 2 year well child check up. Dr. Cardwell said that he looked great! I asked him about a few "concerns" and he said not to worry about any of them. One of my "concerns" is that Branson can not undress himself. Dr. Cardwell asked if he could do other fine and gross motor skills and I said yes. He said well then... lets consider this a gift! He said that so many kids figure it out and then keeping clothes on them becomes a problem... he said not to worry and that Branson would figure it out in time. Branson's new stats are as follows:
Height: 34 inches (50%)
Weight: 25lbs (25%)
Head: 50% I don't remember the figure.

Dr. Cardwell said that Branson gained a little more weight than he would have liked over this 6 month period (we are talking a pound here!) He said that he would prefer Branson to stay around 10-15%. Who knew my tiny boy needed to start watching his weight already! Brandon was not real happy about this news and said that "Branson is just fine and is not going to be a fat kid and how dare the doctor say..." (simmer down Dada!!) So, doctor recommends switching to 1% or skim milk - Dada says "NO WAY!!! 2% is as low as we go!" (*side note - Brandon HATES skim milk and even 1% - before Branson came along that's all I bought and Brandon thinks it is white water so needless to say he has been thrilled over the last year with me actually buying MILK! Now his reasons are slipping away from him and he is a little perturbed!) Anyhow, Doc said Branson is doing great in all areas and he'll see us next year! (you gotta love it that we don't have to go every three months anymore!)

*oh and NO SHOTS at this visit!!! Branson was very excited!