First Family Vacation {Part 2}

{Part 1}

A beautiful view on a beautiful day.

We arrived in San Francisco on Monday afternoon and of course had to stop to take tons of pictures overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a beautiful day, super clear with a nice breeze. Squeaks was very happy to get a break from the car seat so looking at the camera was not a priority for her.

 The house we rented was just outside the city. It reminded me of that painting by M.C. Escher of all the staircases going everywhere. It had at least eight sets of stairs, two of which were spiral staircases. It had little cubby-holes everywhere, secret passageways, doors in closets with ladders to a loft, and crawl spaces that led to the roof. It was a super cool house. I was grateful Squeaks hasn't quite learned to crawl yet though. We had a great view of a beautiful beach and there were tons of skylights letting in lots of sunshine. Squeaks sat happily on the wood floors with her toys, and there were so many people in the house, she had a new playmate every few minutes.

We began our first full day in the city at Pier 39. Squeaks loved the sea lions and got her first ride on a carousel. She squealed every time we came around and she saw every one waving at her.

After lunch at Boudin's (where the service sadly wasn't so great), we walked a few blocks to Ghirardelli Square, which was fantastic. It was not easy to keep Squeaks distracted while we ate a mountain of ice cream. She really wanted some and I don't blame her!

We had to say goodbye to Josh's brother and sister-in-law at the end of the day so they could fly home to Seattle for work. It was great seeing them though, and I'm so glad they finally got to meet Squeaks.

On Wednesday we explored Chinatown. Squeaks drew attention here too. Two sweet little old Chinese ladies kept telling us in broken English how beautiful she was. It was so nice. The excitement of the week caught up with her a little though, and Squeaks took a two hour nap strapped to daddy's chest. Such a good daddy.

From Chinatown, we walked to Union Square where we briefly glanced at all the overpriced stores, and then had lunch at the Burger Bar. 

From there Josh's parent's and Grandma went back to the house while Josh, his sister, Squeaks, and I went to the Disney Family Museum in the Presidio. I never did really find out why there's a Disney museum in San Francisco. Josh thinks it's probably because a lot of the family is from there, but it was really cool! We got there a little late in the day so we couldn't go as slow as we would have liked. There was so much to see. They had great interactive displays, audio and video of early cartoons with Walt describing how they were made, and lots of great pictures and family letters. Near the end there was even a super cool miniature model of Disneyland. Squeaks slept a little in my carrier, but when she woke up she loved the old cartoons and drawings.

Did you know Walt and his wife adopted a little girl!? Apparently they went through quite a lot to grow their family (read the top left picture).

Thursday morning we made our eight hour drive home. Again, Squeaks did great up until that last hour or so when she and I did a joint "let-me-outa-here!!" dance. 

And because we're slightly crazy, the next day we spent twelve hours at Disneyland. A great end to a great vacation.