Zoo

While Mark and I were playing in San Francisco the kidlets were having a BLAST playing with Gramps and Grammy in Draper!  We are grateful that my parents were able to watch them and I know these kiddos loved being with them.  

They had fun playing at home in the teepee, going out to lunch and one day Gramps, Aunt Melina and Aunt Megan took them to Hogle Zoo.  Jacob's favorites were the snakes and monkeys - the the zoo train!  I am pretty sure Sarah just loves everything - well...all animals anyway ;)

Thanks for the special times!

The Presidio

Today felt like we slowed down a little bit and it felt nice!  We slept in - which meant that we woke up at 7:20 (thanks kids for ruining our ability to sleep!!!) and lazied about getting ready.  We then hopped back over to the Golden Gate Bridge.  Mark wanted to walk out onto the bridge and that was fun - and noisy!

We then headed down to the Presidio.  We walked along Crissy Field which used to be an old army airfield and talked about what it must have been like to live in the barracks and other buildings that are still all around.  

Next we went to the Walt Disney Family Museum.  This was really interesting.  It was definitely a more adult museum - which I was expecting - but I was surprised at how much information there was!  We thought this would be an hour or so stop and we ended up spending over three hours there!  We learned a lot about this fascinating man and his life - he truly is inspiring in a lot of ways to all that he was able to accomplish.

  

We came back to our hotel quickly and changed into some nicer clothes and then walked back over to Pier 39 for our dinner.  This was more of our anniversary dinner (since we were too pooped the night before!) and it was great.  We ate right over the pier and it was so yummy.  I even tried swordfish (insert gasp here!).  

It has been an incredible trip and I am so grateful for this time that Mark and I have had to spend together.  It will be a trip we will always remember!

Muir Woods

This has been such a fantastic day - it is our fifth anniversary!  Mark and I have been separated the last two anniversaries and it felt so good to be together!

We wanted to make today extra special and decided to leave the city.  We rented a car for the day and headed out!  Our first stop was to the Oakland California Temple.  It was beautiful and I am so glad that we went out there to see it!

After the temple, we headed to Muir Woods.  This was definitely a highlight to me.  I loved everything about it - the sights, the sounds and the smells!  It smelled so fresh and I love the peaceful solitude of being in nature.  It was perfect.  Mark and I went off the boardwalk and did a trail that took us up to the canopy of the trees.  It was beautiful.  These trees are incredible.

Afterwards we headed to Point Reyes National Seashore.  The tricky part was the drive.  I never get car sick and I don't know what happened but immediately after leaving Muir Woods I was incredibly nauseous.  I ended up spending the entire hour and a half with my head in between my legs.  No fun.  I was bummed that I couldn't enjoy the beauty around.  

The seashore was amazing.  The closer we got to the seashore the foggier it became.  Unfortunately, we were too late in the day to walk down to the lighthouse but we still got to go see some of the shore.  We were also able to watch the elephant seals which are massive!  The fog was so thick and the air was just saturated.  It wasn't raining but Mark and I were both soaked.  It was a little crazy! 

  

By the time we made it back to the city it was 8:00.  We had planned on going out for a romantic dinner but after being soaked and tired from the day we opted for clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl which was oh so yummy!  Maybe tomorrow we will have our romantic dinner!

I cannot begin to describe how much I love Mark.  The last five years have been wonderful.  We have grown and matured and the best part is, we have done it together.  Mark is kind and loving and a great husband, companion, and best friend.  

I love you, hun.  I can't wait to see where the next five years takes us!

Alcatraz

Today was such a busy, great day!

We grabbed some breakfast and then headed down to Pier 33 to catch the ferry to Alcatraz.  We were both really excited for this part of the trip.  The ferry ride was fun and Alcatraz was fascinating.  The audio tour was so well done and learning and walking around was incredible.  I mean, where else can you walk around a prison?  It's sad in some ways, knowing that this was not a happy place, but it was definitely interesting and a highlight from the trip.  

The history of the island itself was also very interesting.  We walked all over the island - everywhere they would let us!  It was beautiful.  It is amazing what they have done there.  We stayed about four hours and then took the ferry back to the city!

We walked down Pier 39 and grabbed some lunch and got our first look at the sea lions!  We then hopped on the bus and headed down to Chinatown.  That was also so interesting.  We did a lot of walking and browsing and that was fun.  We had to resist strong urges to not buy the kiddos traditional Chinese outfits!

We then walked down to Union Square and were amazed at all of the fancy shopping they had!  It was fun to window shop and see the displays of the many stores.  After doing that for awhile we decided to grab the bus and head back up to Ghiradelli Square.  We got some dinner and topped it off with chocolate and waffle cones!

It was yet another great day!  

And it just keeps on getting better tomorrow!