San Fransisco

Worth paying the toll.:)

A big part of our family trip was fulfilling Chris' dream of visiting his beloved Alcatraz. We did not make the mistake of waiting to buy the tickets last minute. We successfully navigated through the city via cable car, street car, bus, foot and ferry boat. Sunny blue skies paved the way. The kids even enjoyed the audio tour on the island. It was funny because Abigail kept pausing hers, so she was listening to things that were way behind where we were on the tour. The most interesting facts that we took with us were that kids lived on Alcatraz (with their mothers and fathers, prison guards) and took the boat to school, prisoners would play "find the button" in the blackness of solitary confinement, and the best cells near the windows could hear laughter and music from San Fransisco on clear nights when the wind was blowing the right direction.

For San Fran, the weather was perfect!

View from the cable car of the switchy street

Little too early in the season, they hadn't reached the pier during their migration

Vacation food at the Pier

Tuckered out

For the love of "Full House"

An old couple offered to make the kids balloon animals...just because

I hope to reach out when we get "that old"

***Note: If you are trying to get to the "Painted Ladies" at Alamo Square Park (the one from the opening credits of the show Full House), do NOT take the street car to the last stop at Castro Street. We made that mistake. Thankfully the kids were looking up at all the rainbow flags, so we were able to shield them from the 4 men in their birthday suits. Yikes!