San Francisco Days 1 & 2

On our last day in San Diego (Wed) we got up at before 6am so we could get in one more quick visit with Grandpa Paul before catching our flight up to San Francisco.

My brother picked us up at the airport and Ryan fell asleep on the car on the way home. Once he woke up, Joey fed us pasta with fresh basil, tomatoes, garlic, onions and vegan meatballs...then drove us over to Golden Gate Park so Ryan could play at the children's park there.

I'm not sure who ended up having more fun, Ryan...or us. Check out these super cool concrete slides! They're like, 25 yards long!

Ryan catching his first wave!

Joey and I are frequently mistaken for being professional trapeze artists (not sure if it's our lithe, hard bodies or the fact that we just ooze international sex appeal), so we couldn't resist scrambling to the top of these ropes! It's good to know that while the rest of the country's park systems are terrified of litigation, that the city of San Francisco stands firm in it's belief that 40-foot tall jungle gyms are perfectly safe! ;-) Best climbing fun I've had in years! Too bad Rich missed the shots of me doing aerial backflips off the top with the crowd cheering below!

Do I win Parent of the Year for this get up or what?! Ryan saw this 'pimpin Cuervo necklace at Uncle Joey's and just *had* to wear it out, so how could I stop him? :-)

Joey lives only a few min. away from one of Rich's favorite places to meander- Haight Ashbury!

Ryan LOOOOOVES french fries...so much so that we thought he would LOVE to take this picture. Guess we were wrong!

As a surprise, Joey got us tickets ($50!) to the California Academy of Science to see the amazing displays they have over there. We walked over there from Joey's house, stopping only to get warm, cheese bagels and coffee!

Ryan loved looking at all the fish and eels!

My absolute favorite display was the Living Roof...where over 9 varieties of plants are growing on top of the roof at the Academy! After we walked home, we had dinner with Joey and his friends- spinach salad with fresh strawberries, candied pecans and feta cheese, pulled pork (that simmered all day long before we ate it!), and foccacio with cheese, garlic and basil! And for dessert? His friend Sherry made a homemade chocolate bundt cake (which Ryan loves)!