San Francisco Day 3

Seriously. When can we move?! I'm so ready to move to SF!!! It's funny, prior to having Ryan, I was all set to move to NYC. NYC, NYC, NYC...it's all I could talk or think about. And then on our last trip, it suddenly occured to me that while yes, the city does rock the party that rocks the party- I think that life and priorities must have changed over the last two years. Because in addition to being a little too far from friends and family in both CA & HI, I think I would much rather raise Ryan in SF.

When my brother Joey moved to SF four years ago I started to look at the city with new eyes. I've been to the city a lot (2-3 with my parents while in school, 4-6 times for golf in college, 5-6 times after college), but he really helped open my eyes to what an amazing city it is. It has everything NYC does (ethnic food, culture, street fairs, great parks, diversity, politics, entertainment, public transportation), but also has better year-round weather, is closer to Hawaii, is MUCH, MUCH greener, people seem a bit friendlier/casual, and is slightly cheaper (real estate)! The only potential downside I see is that SF always seems to have more homeless and mentally ill people on the street(s) than any other city in the US (I've seen more people talking to themselves in one day than I've seen in over 20 years in Kona)! Still overall, it rocks...so if I had my druthers- I'd be moving here tomorrow! I really do LOVE this city and would LOVE to live here once Ryan is a little older. In fact I'm already making plans in my head to try and get a place up here within the next 10-15 years so we can be part-time residents someday! Of course it means somebody needs to get a jobby job...but I'm sure someone will hire Ryan. ;-)

But back to our trip...

As I mentioned earlier, Ryan has developed a fondness for necklaces! And Uncle Joey was all too happy to oblige by getting more for him each day!

We don't dare leave the house without his necklaces! He even has a little compartment on the stroller that he stores the necklaces in when he's not wearing them! This evening in the shower we noticed how red and irritable the back of his little neck is from the heavy silver $ necklace scratching his neck all day... :-( But it won't stop him from wearing them of course! We all suffer for fashion.

On Friday morning we got up and hopped on a streetcar down to Fisherman's Wharf. We found a few small play areas for Ryan down there that included this neat little 'green house'! Pretty cool idea! I'm now debating whether or not this would look attactive covered with Roma tomato vines...I'm thinking it's a yes!

Ryan loved the noisy sea lions down by Pier 39! He and I sat there eating raisins and watching them (while I manically washed his hands over and over again in fear of seagull poop touching them whie he ate and Rich scarfed his obligatory clam chowder in a sourdough bowl)!

We finally asked someone to take a family photo so it looks like we vacationed together! (That's Alcatraz in the background.) Sidenote: If it looks like I only have two pairs of long pants on this vacation, there's a good reason for that...it's because I only brought two pairs of long pants on this vacation. We pack light and do laundry often so we never have to check in luggage (we haven't checked a bag in probably 7-8 years), so I only brought two pairs of pants and three pairs of shorts (which I have yet to really wear). I've found that camouflage pants are the BEST travel pants ever- they hide stains! I swear, if we wouldn't look like an elite commando team, I'd get Rich and Ryan some camouflage pants to wear too! ;-)

Ryan loved the streetcars (also referred to by him as "Thomas Train)! We loved riding them...and at $2 a ride, it was a little cheaper than the NYC subway and much more scenic (just much slower)!

Ryan even fell asleep in one on the way home from the Pier!

Later in the day, once Joey came home, he took us on a walking tour through the Mission Dolores district in search of some eats (settled on Yamo...a cheap Burmese noodle house with standing room only). I ordered mango chicken, and my poor, wimpy mouth was on fire for an hour. I have new respect for the Burmese- they have to deal with strict, military juntas AND hot chili peppers.

And as is typical with Joey...the evening was never boring! We capped off the day by stopping at a work-related fundraiser soiree of his, and guess who was listed as a major contributor to the cause (and showing up that evening)? None other than Mayor Gavin Newsom, who is soon to be Lt. Governor of the state! I've been a fan of his for quite some time and have closely followed his career for years (ever since he daringly married gay couples years ago, which was later overturned by the state). So I insisted on waiting around until he came by so we could get a picture. Though it looks like my son tried to ruin my precious picture by closing his eyes, he later told me that he did it to symbolize the blindness others have toward equal rights for all...such clever imagination that one! ;-) Our night ended with a trip to yet another park for Ryan (is there a greener city in the US?) and a trip back to get more lemon cookie ice cream (at $11.50 for a container, it's pricey...but oh so worth it)! And because it's Uncle Joey's house, guess which little 1-year old was sitting on the sofa, wearing his chains at 9pm having lemon cookie ice cream spoon fed to him while watching Thomas the Train?! ;-)