San Francisco

Over the weekend Tyler, Winston and I flew up to San Francisco to hang out with Jess & Garrett before they move back to Utah. I originally wanted to go up over Labor Day, but then we found out that Brent, Aubrey and Colton were going to be there this past weekend so we followed suit and made a party of it!

W and I flew up Thursday afternoon to meet up with Jess and Aubrey before the boys joined us Friday evening/Saturday morning. I was a little nervous to take W on his first flight all by myself, but it was a successful trip! The airport crew and airline stewardesses were so helpful and with light packing and a perfect babe, I really had nothing to worry about. I decided to go ahead and take both a carseat and our big stroller and I didn't know how lugging them both, plus our luggage and baby bag, through the airport would be, but I was able to check the carseat (free of charge, who knew?!) at the ticket counter and then Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray was kind enough to help me get the stroller through security. Needless to say, I had "Every Morning" stuck in my head for the rest of the weekend :)

 I don't think W was as excited about his first flight as I was. He fell asleep before take-off and woke up just before landing. On both flights he was as sweet as can be! (Side note: When he's not sucking on his fist-pop, W is either staring at his fist/fingers or folding his arms across his chest. When he's awake he taps his fingers together oh so carefully. I love it!!)

 As soon as Jess, Ubs and Colton picked us up we headed over to Alamo Square across from the famous Painted Ladies- you may recognize them from the Full House opening credits.

On Friday we took Colton over to the Discovery Museum at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge. He loved every minute and it gave us girls some time to chat. It's so fun having Jess pregnant for the first time, me with an infant, and Ubs with a toddler and number two on the way, because we all have so much to share/ask each other. And watching Colton (who is an awesome two-year-old) made me so excited for Winston to discover trains, letters, dirt, etc.

 

After the museum we grabbed lunch and then headed to Ghiradelli Square for something sweet.

 We were all a little sad Monica wasn't able to join us for the weekend, but then we found her lounging in a fountain at the square :) This photo was taken on Jess's phone and unfortunately it is the least blurry photo I have of all three of us.

I was surprised at how close Alcatraz was to the city. Last time Tyler and I were up here we visited the island but it was so cold and foggy I didn't realize it's just right there.

 W and I chilling by the wharf

Tyler, Brent and Garrett joined in on the fun Saturday. We headed over to Baker Beach at the base of the Golden Gate and chatted while we watched Colton eat sand and a very brave man don a seal suit and dive into the water. Apparently he missed out on shark week, but I guess all the great whites were further out cause he survived.

 Our happy little family and the Golden Gate. (The Pett's happy little family is in the background.)

 The Golden Gate Bridge (The weather this trip was perfect! Sunny every day, but still cool. And clear skies meant we got a much better view of the bridge than last time.)

 Daddy and his boy

Sunday we all went to church at a very cool building and, as a bonus, Jess & Garrett just happened to be speaking. Afterwards we headed over to Golden Gate Park, which is HUGE, and wandered around a duck pond. Then Jess made us a delicious dinner and we headed back home.

Little fella all dressed up in his Sunday best

Tyler meddled around with our new camera and adjusted the setting to 'vivid colors'. I didn't realize this at first so some of our picture look really intense. Judging by W's eyes in the second photo I think he agrees that it is a little too vivid.

Getting ready to head to the airport- I think W had fun because he was tuckered out. And yes, we sometimes let our babe sleep on the streets of San Francisco :)

The last time we were in San Francisco we didn't have any local friends to show us around and we really only saw a few tourist destinations. This time was different and I fell in love with the architecture and quirky San Francisco style. However, I also discovered that San Francisco is way too organic for our family, and I didn't care for the naked men sitting around either.

Jess and Garrett were such gracious hosts, especially with two families visiting. We had sooo much fun and I can't wait to see everyone again and meet Baby Gee and little Lucy Pett! We're so lucky to have such great friends!