Go fly a kite!

You have seen our photos from San Francisco so you know the wind was a constant part of the atmosphere. On the last day we bought a kite from a shop right at the pier and took it to a small beach to fly it.

Wouldn't you know, the one place we chose was sheltered from the wind so flying the "easy fly" kite was more of a challenge than it should have been! But Kyle has experience flying kites as a kid and he was determined to make it fly for Grace.

Grace also noticed the people (in wet suits!) swimming laps in the water, so she took off her shoes, pulled up her leggings, and rolled up her sleeves so she could get a little time in the water too. The swimmers said the water temperature was about 55 degrees but it didn't seem to bother Grace one bit!

What do you want to do today, Grace?

First, let me say "Happy Birthday" to my dad. We love you, Ba!

The one thing Grace kept asking to do in San Fransisco was to go on a boat ride. That seemed like a great choice for a place that has water everywhere! And, finally on Thursday the weather was perfect for a boat excursion to Sausalito.

The 30 minute ferry ride took us into the bay, past Alcatraz on one side and the Golden Gate bridge on the other.

Grace led us up to the very top of the ferry (are you noticing a pattern here?) where the sun kissed our cheeks and the wind blew our hair.

Our first close-up views of Sausalito again reminded me of southern Italy with the houses tucked into the side of the hill. I am guessing the real estate here is about as expensive as that on the Amalfi Coast and the owners are in good shape from carrying groceries up to their homes, just like in Capri.

Grace and I watched the sailing school (you can see the little sailboats in the foreground of this photo) taking place in the harbor as our ferry docked. All along the "bridgeway" there were cute shops, cafes, and galleries that were perfect for window shopping.

We walked along the rocks looking for crabs that were sunning themselves. They scurried to hide in the crevices when we approached. Some of the bigger ones were more bold and remained in view so we could watch them scrape moss from the rock surface and eat it! Cool!

On the ride back we were all tired from another busy day so we relaxed inside for most of the ride. Those cushioned benches were great for a short nap as we approached the city once again.

Cable cars

One of the traditional ways to get around San Francisco is on its cable cars. They are the best way to navigate the hills as the cars are pulled along the hilly tracks by an underground cable. We waited in the long line near Fisherman's Wharf to board the famous Powell-Hyde line that takes you past Lombard Street and over Nob Hill to Union Square.

As you can imagine, the cable car was crowded with tourists and locals but our seats at the back allowed for some nice views of the bay as we climbed the hill.

Grace watched some girls hanging from the side of the car so when it stopped she wanted to try that too!

I found out that there was a zip-line at the end of Market Street - a promotion by British Airways to entice people to fly to their tropical destinations where you can zip-line in the rainforest. This is one of the things on my bucket list so I was really excited to try it. But when we got there they were just training workers and said it wasn't opening until Saturday. The woman was NOT moved when I pleaded with her to let me ride since we were leaving on Friday.

You can see the orange zip-line sign in this photo.

One fun part of the day was meeting up with my cousin Greg for dinner and a visit to Washington Park. He works in San Francisco at a company called Drop Box. It was nice to see him after such a long time!

July 4th (okay, 3rd) fun

This afternoon we went to an annual picnic hosted by one of Kyle's cousins. Grace loved playing with the other kids and swimming in the pool for more than an hour. She is getting to be very brave in the water. I am glad we are starting swim lessons on Tuesday.

Flying like an eagle

For the picnic, I brought these:

If you need a quick dessert, I really recommend strawberries dipped in melted chocolate (I used white chocolate chips but chocolate pieces come in many colors now) and sugar (blue, in this case) for the festive "red, white, and blue" effect. The strawberries seemed to be a hit since they were all eaten when we left. Always a good sign....

It NEVER rains in late June

Oh really?

On Tuesday when we planned a day trip to Muir Woods and Sonoma wineries, the rain was non-stop. Our driver told us that in his lifetime (41 years) he had never seen rain at this time of the year. One of the things that makes the Sonoma region so good for growing grapes and wine production is that the climate is like the Mediterranean. The winters are temperate and wet but by the end of May it gets very dry with no rain until the fall. Apparently, this is very good for grape-growing.

Well, we broke the record as the rainfall this day was very unusual and it didn't stop for the 8 hours we were walking around. What was supposed to be a nice hike among the redwoods turned into a sloppy, cold walk. I should have planned better. I even had a rain poncho in my suitcase for Grace (from a rainy evening at Magic Kingdom in May) but did I think about bringing it with me? No. Because it never rains in June.

We tried to make the best of it, buying ponchos at the gift shop and playing a game of jumping and hopping over the puddles. Grace, to her credit, was amazing. She went along without complaining even though her feet and pants were getting soaking wet! Unfortunately, we really couldn't enjoy the giant coastal redwoods at Muir Woods and we made it only to the second of four bridges before turning back. New, dry socks warmed Grace up and we headed to our next stop - Sonoma.

The drive to Sonoma reminded me of the Amalfi coast with twisting and turning narrow roads that the driver handled with ease. Our first stop was a beautiful vineyard specializing in Italian wines. The Jaccuzzi winery is owned by the family who invented hot tub jets. Yes, THAT Jaccuzzi.The entire place was designed like an Italian villa and was just beautiful!

We were treated to a tasting of 5-6 wines in a private tasting room and then visited their main tasting area. Grace and I wandered into their olive oil room where she was able to sample a few flavored oils. But, we ended up buying popcorn flavored with their pistacchio olive oil. Yum!

The remainder of our day included lunch and more wine tasting in the town of Sonoma and a visit to Cline Cellars which is owned by the same family as Jaccuzzi. But, the two wineries were worlds apart - the style, the wines, and the people. Grace and I spent most of our time here outside on the front porch swing and feeding the fish in the pond.

Later that night, after a nap for all of us, we wandered the streets and finished the day with delicious ice cream from Ghirardelli. Mmmmm. I could use some of that right now!

Exploring the bay

East coast time worked in our favor on Monday as we all woke up early and beat the crowds to Pier 39 at Fisherman's Wharf. It seems San Fransisco isn't an early morning place. It was chilly and foggy most mornings we were there, so I can understand why the locals might want to avoid that weather and come out later when the sun is shining.

We started our day at the Aquarium of the Bay, a small aquarium devoted to study and conservation of local aquatic animals of San Francisco and neighboring waters. The aquarium is divided into three parts - Discover they Bay, Under the Bay, and Touch the Bay. Grace's interest grew as we progressed to the end. Personally, I thought the two tunnels that were meant to show the fish near the shore and in deeper waters were really cool.

But, Grace had the most fun where she could touch sharks, rays, starfish, and sea urchins.

We eventually had to coax Grace away to have lunch. It was really chilly and windy outside and she didn't want to leave the warm aquarium. We told her we would go see the sea lions at the end of Pier 39 but only a few were there. I guess they wanted to go somewhere warmer too!

Even with the wind, the pier was fun. Kyle was surprised Alcatraz was so close. It does look like you could swim it, if you happened to escape. But now we know about the cold water, strong currents, and sharks out there!

Kyle told Grace about the "jail for bad guys" and for the rest of the trip she kept talking about the place where the bad guys lived.

Our afternoon was filled with a visit to Union Square for some shopping and the Cars 2 movie. Look Nana, there is a flat iron building in SF, too!

I know it is "touristy" but we rode a double-decker bus to see the city. Miss Grace chose seats at the top of the bus all the way in the back. What windy fun we had, especially when the driver raced down some of those famous steep hills!

My favorite part was getting to see the Painted Ladies from the opening scenes of Full House. The view from Alamo Park was incredible. Now I need a tour of the inside of some of those old Victorian homes.

Back from the city on the bay

We returned tonight from 5 busy and fun days in San Francisco. Grace was an amazing little traveler. She was close to perfect on the 5 hour flights, did much more walking each day than I am sure she ever has in her life, waited in many lines without complaint, and even tolerated a rainy day hike and adult fun (wine tasting) in Sonoma. We did so much that the pictures and story will take several days to post.

Our Sunday morning arrival landed us right in the middle of San Francisco's gay pride celebration. Apparently, the parade closed down a lot of streets and, combined with gorgeous weather and a Giants baseball game, brought many more people to the city than on a "typical" Sunday. I should have known we were in trouble when we told the cab driver we wanted to go to our hotel in Fisherman's Wharf and he was very unhappy. We flew into the city from the airport but after about 30 minutes of bumper-to-bumper traffic along Embarcadero, we decided to get out and walk the last two miles along the water. It was a much better option than sitting in a hot cab watching everyone enjoy the sunshine. Our first view was of the Oakland-Bay bridge once we got all of our luggage onto the sidewalk. (I later learned that this bridge is 7 miles long - the Golden Gate is only 2 miles - and is mostly the same suspension construction as the Golden Gate. Makes you wonder why the Golden Gate is more famous...)

Not bad....even if we did look kind of silly wheeling two suitcases and pushing a stroller overloaded with carry-on items.

Grace was happy to get right into the hotel pool. In fact, she was in the pool at some point 4 out of the 5 days even during the chilly evenings. Luckily the pool was heated so as long as we wrapped her in towels when she got out, she was fine. On this trip she learned to do flips under the water. The kid is fearless!

Later that night we went to see the Cleveland Indians play the 2010 World Series Champs - the San Francisco Giants.Their stadium is right on the water and from one walkway in right field you can see people on small boats and kayaks waiting for a home run ball.

It was a sold out game so we only had "standing room" tickets. Grace couldn't understand why we weren't going to our seats. I think she was tired and wanted a place to sit down. Normally, she would be content wandering and exploring.

We kept her busy with ice cream, cotton candy, going down the Coca-Cola slide and hitting baseballs in a mini stadium for kids. She did a great job and was SO proud of herself!Forget soccer, maybe softball is going to be her game!