Guests!

Something about having guests come see us here in SF validates our stay.  Last week, Nick's brother and sister came and spent a couple days seeing San Francisco with us.  Trish brought her three kids, who are all the same ages and genders as my kids.  We looooove them.

I admit that I was excited to share our little space with them.  Ten people in this apartment means that everyone gets 64 square feet.  That's an eight foot by eight foot square.  You can imagine the sleeping arrangements with six children, six years and under!  Coming from Arizona, they arrived at three in the morning.  We tried to sneak the kids into bed.  Allie (the baby) slept in the bathroom and the two bigger kids were to sleep with Bethelle and Rigby in the bedroom.  Despite our good intentions, the kids woke up and started to party.  Then they had to go to the bathroom, so Nick took everybody downstairs and across the courtyard to the workout room and bathrooms, so that Allie could sleep.  What must onlookers have thought to see four tiny kids chatting excitedly and loudly on their way to workout at three a.m.?

For the first time since we've been here, Nick had a few days off!  Good timing for a visit, guys.  The next morning (OK, it was actually later that day, but that's just technical), we took the crew to Fisherman's Wharf and Ghirardelli Square.  Can you believe we hadn't been there yet?  The weather left something to be desired, but that's all part of the SF experience.  We saw the ships and the wharf and bought clam chowder in a SF sourdough bread bowl at the site of the invention of clam chowder.  Oh, Boudin Bakery.  Love.

 I'm not sure about the black border around this picture...

 This is where dreams are made.  My particular dream was of the peanut butter, chocolate, vanilla ice cream variety.

On the way back to our place, our guests got to experience just how bad SF traffic can be.  Not only was it the end of a work day, Obama was in town.  Fundraising.  On my dime again.  There were police everywhere, street blockages, helicopters.  I don't have a better idea, but reality bothers me.

When the kids were back in the safe confines of their 64 square feet, Trish and I went out.  I live near the best retail shopping in SF, so it was ladies' night until the stores closed, followed by a rough night of sleeping, not sleeping, and more midnight "workouts" for the kids.

The next morning we washed down our chocolate Cheerios with a walk to and through Chinatown.  Pictured below are the lanterns strung across the streets and some cute girls.

 This is the fortune cookie factory on Ross Alley.  The man in stripes sits at a hot, cast iron machine that spits out little pancakes that he pinches and folds over a rod, forming perfect fortune cookies.  We got some hot samples.  When I asked if I could take a picture, the reply was "Feefty cent fo peek-cha."  That's how you know you are really in Chinatown.

We bought a mixed bag of cookies.  I'm not a big fan of the strawberry, but chocolate fortune cookies are awesome.  As are chocolate anything.

Our walk back home.

 Thanks for the visit!