cruisin'
let's go!
Sophia's First Cal Trip
Sophia's first trip to the Bay Area was marked by several memorable moments with Alexander, mommy, daddy, Grandma & Grandpa - first there was Zazie on Cole Street, a wonderful breakfast recommendation from Shokooh, where we enjoyed the gingerbread pancake with lemon curd and Bosc pear
later, we spent the day down at Embarcadero - went to Pier 39, saw the sea lions, stopped at Boudin and then walked down to Ghiradelli Square for mommy's favorite hot fudge sundae
the next day was Game Day, when Alex met Oski and directed the Cal Band!!
Sophia was exhausted by the end of the weekend with all of the excitement. We had a wonderful time with Grandma & Grandpa - thank you for joining us on Sophia's first trip to Cal!
Children's Museum of Phoenix
We had a wonderful time playing around the children's museum while visiting family and friends this weekend in Arizona. Alex climbed with Grandpa, made a stick dog (his choice instead of a stick person) with Daddy, a leaf rub with Grandma, played in a fort, raced cars with Daddy, went shopping at the "market" and even discovered a "noodle" forest!
on our way home!
Well, we're on our way home from our family vacation. We stopped by Casa de Frutas off route 152 and mommy definitely wants to check it out again once Olive comes and is old enough to enjoy the kiddie land with Alexander - it had a carousel and train there! Right now, it's nap time though. Next stop: In-n-out for lunch!
Mission Dolores & Sonoma
This morning we took a tour of Mission Dolores in San Francisco and went to mass at the Basilica next to the mission. We got to see the altar of the mission and the cemetery which had a big ol' redwood tree, plus an example of a home of the Ohlone Indian (which AAA said was actually a home for the okapi - because that's the word he heard)! Afterward, we visited downtown Sonoma and ate burgers, sandies, and hot dogs for lunch at Sonoma Cheese Factory. It was SOOO yummmy!! Once we were done, we headed over to Imagery Estates Winery where daddy got to taste the entire line of wines and ended up buying a petit syrah and a cab.
It was a wonderful day of activities. Here is a pic of Sonoma vineyards on our way out and the kids picking up Rebecca's toys after they bathed and got ready for bed.
Golden Gate & The Presidio
Our San Francisco adventure continued with a visit to the Golden Gate Bridge Pavilion (visitor's center just before crossing the bridge) and The Presidio, now a national park, that was a top-notch military base for many, many years. We had a really neat time learning about the different bugle sounds, walking around the grounds and eating lunch at the Transit Cafe.
the end of a busy day...
cable car ride!!
The kids all had their first cable car ride today! We went to the cable car museum - called The Barn - and got to see and learn how the cable car system works. It was so interesting.
Ferry to Angel Island
Today Alexander, Rebecca, Nicholas, (and Olive) took their first ferry trip! Our destination: the Ellis Island of the west, Angel Island. It is where most Asian immigrants entered the U.S., along with Russians, Australians, and other ethnicities. It was open as an immigration facility from 1910 to 1940. It was really great to learn a little about this part of our nation's rich history - not to mention to see how super excited Alexander was to be on the boat!
hotel!!
someone is/was excited about the hotel!
If you're going to San Francisco ...
be sure to first take a nap! Ha! Here's our lil boy, just after running around the Buttonwillow Rest Area off the 5 on our way to San Francisco for our Chavarela Family Vacation. In the first picture he's using his super-power to stop the rain from falling so hard (he needs to work on that) and then in the second pic he shows just how tired he is after we woke him up at 6am this morning to get on the rode.
