Conservatory of Flowers

Today's adventure was to take my little flowers to the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers at Golden Gate Park (SF's version of Central Park).

The whole white building pictured above is essentially one huge greenhouse, separated into four or five sections, each one more muggy than the one before.

Bethelle was particularly taken by the many orchids.

But when she saw a flower on a real lily pad, she had another "dream come true moment."  Don't just take my word for it; that's how she puts it.

She called this the "bayou."  I'm pretty sure she was trying to live out The Princess and the Frog.

This girl is as pretty as any flower in the conservatory, if you ask me.  I would love to have a painting of that expression.  Don't you love her?  You must.

As we walked away from the conservatory, Rigby slipped and skinned his knees.  One bled.  This induced about an hour of crying hard and loud.  He finally cried himself to sleep in the car, poor little man.  He is now taking very good care of those knees, babying them as much as possible.

A Sunday Walk

We have been here in San Francisco for three months already and have less than two to go.  Time to check more SF moments off the list!

Sunday evening found us walking across the Golden Gate Bridge.  The kids and I have traversed it by car a few times, but Nick's first crossing was this on-foot venture.

Here we are, ready to go.

Pretty girls.  Check out those Curie pigtails!  That's a first for her.  Just another miserable sign that she is growing up.  Sometimes I comfort myself by going through a mental list of reasons that I can still consider her to be a baby.  Diapers, babbling, binkie, waddle, chubby cheeks, bibs, high chair...

Curie knew she looked good when she sat down here.  After a few "oooh, cute!"s and some pictures, she got up, walked about five feet, and sat down hoping for the same reaction.  She did this about four times.  Even today (two days later), she tried to repeat the process a few times while we were out, looking for places to sit and be cute.

The whole structure is just mammoth.  So impressive.

You can see everything SF from the bridge: the Bay Bridge, Twin Peaks, Crissy Field, the Palace of Fine Arts (we're headed there this weekend!), the Presidio (behind Nick in the above picture), Fisherman's Wharf, and so much more.  The skyline below is the financial district, near where we live.

That's our city.  We really do love San Francisco.  More every day.

Golden Gate Bridge

This shows just how big those cables really are.

The big cable is filled with hundreds of tiny cables.

Family legend has it that my maternal grandfather walked all the way up those cables on our local suspension bridge, the Narrows Bridge.  Maybe my mom can fill in the details in a comment...

 We caught a beautiful sunset over the ocean on our way back to the San Francisco side.

Good night, Goldie.

Crissy Field Again

I guess we've been here long enough when we make repeat outings.  But I love Crissy Field.

As I sat on the beach, it was hard to believe that I live so close to this.  It feels like vacation!  How does one just decide on a whim to pack up, drive four miles, and end up here?

We almost did not stay.  When we arrived on the scene, there were at least 25 dogs running around on the beach.  Animals are great in their place, but I just don't do dogs.  And especially not 25 dogs.  Where were all the owners?  Just as we were about to turn around, the ONE owner (or dog-watcher) whistled and they all came running.  And left.  Phew.

There are at least 30 pictures that I want to put on this blog post, but Nick helped me cut them down to nine.  Each picture I cut broke my heart just a little, but I think I have preserved the best of them for you.

We began by playing just in the sand, but when the kids ventured down to the water, they had found a new home.  I love watching them creeeeep hesitantly out, then scream and run in when a wave threatens, just to do it all over again like they don't expect that wave this time.

Nick says Curie looks like a news reporter doing a story about changing tides.

Just before it was time to leave, Bethelle was struck with inspiration to run to the water, get as wet as possible, then run back up and roll in the dry sand.  Being a kid has a lovely way of making that seem like a good idea.

We missed having Nick with us...

THE END.

Sun Bells

Thinking we should be outside when the sun shines, I packed up the kids for a walk around the city and a picnic at Union Square.

Was I crazy?  The heat was intense like the hills of San Francisco and the weight of my three kids in a double stroller.  I should not have worn jeans.

Our lunch break was nice.  Just look at these beautiful trees that we ate under.

 Can these things grow in western Washington?  I want some.

For now, I'll just be happy with some of these:

The Sun Came Out

And so did we.

I have realized recently that I do not blog as often when it rains.  This is because we don't go looking for fun as often in the rain.  And I will be moving back to the pacific northwest in two months.  I will have to get to the bottom of this problem...

Another day.

For now, the weather is fine!  We jumped from weeks of downpour to a record-matching heatwave.  I'll take it.

Tuesday, we met up with friends at the Academy of Sciences.  We had been there before, but not only was it fabulous, it has now been re-worked for spring.

Look at the baby chicks!

These chicks were each just a day or two old.  Their abandoned shells were still in the little chick-room next to this one.  Some of their fluff was still matted down from the journey.  Curie generally gets very excited about "birdies" and "quack-quacks."  She went absolutely nuts about these guys.

We didn't make it to the playroom last time, so getting there was a treat.  If I lived here permanently in a tiny apartment, I would get a membership here just for the room to breathe and stretch and play.

In the hot, sweaty rainforest (seriously, I can't stay in this magical bubble too long), I caught Bethelle standing like this for a long time (in kindergarten years), not moving a muscle.  She was trying to coax a butterfly to land on her.

 Ultimately, it was out friend, Mattingly, who looked the most like nectar to this insect.

Don't these zebras look real?  They are.  And they're stuffed.  Rigby finds taxidermy fascinating.  By the way, zebras are not black and white.  They are definitely brown and white.

Post-Party

Bethelle's birthday lasted a long time.  The actual date was Friday, the party was Saturday, and on Sunday, the kids at church sang to her, followed by a visit from Jen, her baby-sitter, with presents!

Jen brought a bead set for Bethelle, the crafter, and even a little gift for Rigby.  The little guy went crazy when he opened the little Buzz Lightyear toy pictured below.  He had just finished telling Jen that Bethelle had gotten a Toy Story Action Set for her birthday, which came with the little Woody toy he is holding but that there was no Buzz, and that's OK.  Maybe we can get him later.  Now imagine Rigby's big eyes and huge mouth when he opened the perfect little Buzz to go with the set.

 Since Buzz's arrival in the family, Rigby has rarely put him down.

I gave Bethelle her first chapter book for her birthday.  She fell asleep reading it the next night.  In all, she completed all 134 pages in 48 hours!  I guess I know what I need to be buying.

One more night of the birthday tonight.  We gave her the new Disney movie, Tangled, for her birthday, but it just arrived in the mail today, due to the release date.  We haven't seen it yet, so we're all pretty excited to watch it with Daddy tonight.