I Left My Heart in San Francisco

A short note: we spent most of our time at home with family - yay!  I do have photos but I am also aware that they may not like to have their photos posted here so I have respected that and have left this post to mostly the sites we saw in the Bay Area.

Did you know that Halloween is my favourite?  September and October is a great time to visit the US.  The stores are full of fun Halloween decor and costumes, Pumpkin Spice Lattes are available and the pumpkin patches!

Halloween Headquarters
We had some fun in here:

All this little girl wanted was a hug,

Aratas Pumpkin Farm

This was our first time at Aratas.  It was recommended because of the maze.  The maze was a lot harder than it looked!  It took us over an hour to complete!

We got the golden pumpkins too!

Muir Woods and San Francisco Sites
We didn't have much time for our usual San Francisco day trips, especially because there was a large conference in San Francisco so it was difficult to get in there.  So on our last full day, we went straight past the city to Muir Woods.

Shh!  Forest voice only!

Walking among the giants

Tree and Tree

We did stop for the "sites" on the way home

The Painted Ladies

And that's it for our 2016 visit!  See you in 2018...

Lake Tahoe

On the top of our ‘must do’ list was take the kids to Lake Tahoe to show them what real snow looks like.  I’ve been to the snow once in Australia and I was far from impressed.  I couldn’t find the snow!  Now here’s the thing, before I get jumped all over, we are not snow people.  I can only do cold in small doses.  It’s also not something we are going to do regularly during our winters here (we usually escape to the US during our winter).  Given that, we were recommended Planet Kids at Soda Springs for some snow play fun. We booked last-minute accommodation in Truckee, borrowed snow clothes (I didn’t keep any of DC wardrobe), and … ROAD TRIP!   

Prerequisite pitstop at In'n'Out

We were lucky and there was a dump of snow the weekend prior so it was still natural snow.  Yay!  The kids were excited by the scenery as we drove into the area!  But before hitting the snow, we checked into our hotel.  I have to say I was quite impressed by it; fresh baked cookies, mulled apple cider and hot chocolate in the lobby.  Yes, please!

We went for a drive to Donner Summit and a lookout was the perfect place to have a snowball fight.  We also found a discarded sled so Eloise spent the rest of the afternoon going up and down a small hill.

That evening, we had dinner at Smokey’s Kitchen in Truckee.  It was just what I felt like in the cold.  The problem was too much BBQ on the menu, we couldn’t decide.  It was all delicious!  After dinner, we played board games in the lobby (as you do) before turning in for the night.

Soda Springs

Yay!  It’s snow day.  We arrived at Soda Springs, picked up our “lift” tickets, and hopped on the Jeep to take us to Planet Kids.  Only breaking for lunch in Truckee, we spent 6 hours on the tube carousel, mini-tubes, building Olaf (we brought a carrot and buttons especially for this), throwing snowballs at each other and climbing snow volcanos (Eden) and learning to ski (Eloise).

On the "sled" (Jeep)

More snowballs were thrown …er, pitched (good form, buddy!)

This "Magic Carpet" took Eden up the sledding hill all day

Again!

Do you want to build a snowman?  YES!  I do!

Olaf

Tube carousel

King of the (snow) mountain

We were so proud of Eloise.  It was her first time on skis and this video is of her after just 2 runs down the bunny slope.

We had an awesome day at Soda Springs!  It was a great experience for the kids and one they still talk about today (it's Winter here).

Here's some parting knowledge for you:  Don't eat yellow snow.  Note: the snow was not yellow below.

Bay Area Adventures

Away, we go!

I left my heart in San Francisco

With Christmas and family visiting, this visit seemed to fly by… unfortunately.  We had a list of the highlights we wanted to do (and eat) and we were able to tick most of them off. Disclaimer: not all the adventures below are Bay Area.

Our first adventure was to a local favorite, CuriOdyssey and Magic Mountain park.  We really enjoyed our last visit here (in 2012) so with a few free hours before lunch, we ticked it off.  Funnily enough, at the park I ran into 2 friends from middle school with their kids!

Day Trip: Monterey

After Christmas, we went on a day trip (2 hours) to Monterey to see a dear friend who I have been missing since she moved back to America.  It was a beautiful winter day so we hired a people mover bike - all 8 of us on one!

Adventures by the Sea

Safety first!

Monterey Bay Coastal Recreation Trail

Reunited!

Looking for otters

All I see is ... Calvin???

Unfortunately it was time to say goodbye again.  Hope to see you all again soon!

Golden Gate Park & San Francisco Zoo

Buffalo Paddock

After a dim sum lunch in San Francisco, we went to the zoo via Golden Gate Park to after saying hello to the bison.  

We always really enjoy the zoo.  Firstly, admission doesn't cost as much as Disneyland (okay, I am exaggerating but it's very expensive now), it's flat (I've pushed a stroller too many times up the hills at Taronga) and you can actually see the animal in the enclosure.

Monkey see, monkey do

I like to move it, move it
(being lemurs)

A family favorite: giraffes

King of the Jungle

Penguin feeding

On New Years Day, we had a big San Francisco tourist day starting with driving down Lombard Street, the Exploratorium, walking to Pier 39 for clam chowder in a sourdough bowl at Boudin's, a ride on the carousel, and watching the sunset at the Golden Gate Bridge.

Lombard Street

Exploratorium (new location)

Thirsty?

My favorite exhibit: water drop photography

Spinning patterns

Angie and Miss E

San Francisco clam chowder in a sourdough bowl

Sea lions

Eden waving at the Blue & Gold Fleet

Pier 39 carousel

Sunset at the Golden Gate Bridge

Always on our 'food' list is Sam's Chowder House... yes, more clam chowder!  And Off the Grid events.  We had a food truck dinner with Laura, Ian and Roxy, the dog.  It was a short visit, but so glad we got to see each other.

Cousins at Sam's

OTG Johnny Cupcakes
(bigger than his head!)

A favorite for date night is La Fondue with one of our favorite couples: Mr & Mrs Martin.  We needed to be rolled out of the restaurant!  

Le Freak with a taste of everything on the menu including boar, alligator, antelope

We squeezed in a solid 3 hours of outlet shopping; tag teaming as we also had the kids with us.  Luckily Mr E was tired and spent most of the time like this:

Mission accomplished!

On our last day for sightseeing, we saved the best for last: California Academy of Science.

From the original Steinhart Aquarium

I see you too, Mr Octopus!

Patting the starfish

Naked mole rats

Monarch butterfly

The butterflies were attracted with Eloise's red coat.
She did not like them landing on her.

Finally, with 1 day to go we squeezed in a mini-reunion with high school friends.  The saying is true, you can go months without talking and when you reconnect, nothing has changed. 

Mat-eo, you know!

I didn't get to see everyone this time, but I hope to see you the next time!  And here's to it being less than 2.5 years to our next visit!

My back-track posts aren't done yet but I think I've given you enough reading for now.  Still to come: Lake Tahoe, Eloise's 6th birthday, Disneyland Surprise, and Bangkok.