The Lost Hawaiian: San Francisco Days 3 & 4

Why we keep returning to San Francisco...

Weather - sunny and cool! I have Pantene commercial hair when I'm there! (The rest of the year here it's stringy, wiry and straw-like.) ;-)
Cultural diversity- of neighborhoods, architecture, people & food...we regularly gorge Mexican food in the Mission, Chinese and Ethiopian in Duboce, etc.
My brother is there- he's fun, he now has the cutest dog ever, and it's a place to lay our heads that also happens to be centrally located
Mass transportation/pedestrian-friendly- the thing I miss most about living in Japan and California is being able to walk places...great exercise, energy efficient and amazing endorphin boost!
Proximity/cost - CA is the closest destination...New York (our other favorite city) is double the time and price to get there.
Uniqueness - unlike most of So Cal where it's strip malls, fast food joints and chain restaurants...SF has almost none of that. It's refreshing to get fresh warm bagels around the corner for breakfast (and not gross McMuffin sandwiches).
They're green- we love hitting their well-tended, lush parks daily. It's clean, fun, free entertainment for the kids...something we lack here. Even the closest park or beach requires a car ride.

On our second day there we started our day walking Kona over to Alamo Square Park (a short walk from Joey's) because we felt obligated to point out the iconic Painted Ladies. Not surprisingly, they were less than overwhelmed, so after a few minutes at the playground there, they all left for a half day at the California Academy of Science with their Uncle while Rich and I ran errands (and by running errands, I mean we went to Trader Joe's and went crazy).

The Painted Ladies at Alamo Square

The California Academy of Science

After their day at the museum, we went over to the Golden Gate Bridge in the later afternoon.

That's my brother...always keeping things classy!

We kinda made them walk across it. I don't think they were too interested, but we bribed them by saying we'd go to a great park afterwards. And since Riki gets jealous anytime Ryan gets carried, we decided to give them a ride instead (Riki loved it, Keni was mortified).

Their favorite park in the city...the Koret Playground at Golden Gate Park.

The best feature of the park...the rope pyramid!

I always forget what a quiet little daredevil I have...but despite the height and difficulty of scaling the ropes (kind of wide apart for a 5-year old), he insisted on climbing to the top of this rope pyramid. I love that he has more balls than I do so he can override my anxieties!

Riding the carousel in the park

Ending the night with some good ol fashioned deer hunting (I don't get the appeal, but Keni is addicted) and Kona cuddle time (that poor pup was not allowed a moment of peace while we were there). PS- Dave & Cathy M...recognize the t-rex pjs?

Uncle Joey showed the boys the best way to wind down after a long hard day...

I mean, it's just wheat and barley, right? Those are veggies. Which means they're basically drinking V-8, right?! ;-)

Our last half day there was spent at Mission Dolores Park, about a 15 minute walk from Joey's. The plan was to tire the boys out before our long drive to Vegas. I was stuck to the outer perimeter of the park since I had Kona with me. I kept praying he wouldn't poop on my watch (he did). So lucky me- I got to scoop poop on my vacation. Also...other bodily fluids as well, but we'll keep those other fun events to ourselves.

Hands down, one of the best views of the city from Mission Dolores...we went there at night on our first day there and the lights were divine for us country folk to ooh and aah over.

We left the city around noon to head south to Tehachapi, where Rich's stepmother lives. It's a perfect just over halfway stop on the way to Vegas. The boys entertained themselves by watching movies (it reduces the bickering by about 99%) on the tablet during the 6-hour drive.

We stopped at Rich, Keni and Riki's favorite place to grab them each a western bacon cheese burger and fries- Carl's Jr!

One of our stops was at a truck stop where they got to pick out a treat of their choice. The only catch was...they had to move their slug okoles and get their blood pumping for a few minutes. :-) They thought it was hysterical.

We finally reached Tehachapi (a little over halfway to Vegas from San Fran) around 6:30pm. Kay has the cutest log cabin up there and we wanted the boys to see and experience the cozy, woodsy, serene life she lives up in the mountains...