day two in sf

it totally felt like our honeymoon.  just the two of us together in a big city with not a care in the world :) but seriously, day two was awesome.  we started out by eating at tartine bakery and i was in heaven.  the morning buns were out of this world.  and the bread pudding was good too...but the morning buns were amazing.  i kept begging danny to take me back again and again, but it was a little out of the way. perfect start to the perfect day.

after breakfast we wandered around the mission and stumbled upon the most amazing park ever.  our little town could learn a thing or two about playgrounds from san fran.  we totally wished that we had our kids with us, but then that would have defeated the purpose of our "honeymoon" so we decided that we would just have to start giving suggestions to the city council here :)

since neither of us own a smart phone (i know, i know...how do we survive???  some days, i'm not sure!) we decided to find a good, old-fashioned map and find our way around the city that way.  we relied heavily upon that map throughout our trip; it was well worth the $6 we paid for it.  however, we had to work for that map.  we walked about 10 blocks just to find a walgreens (since no one else seems to find maps important.)  we did walk into a little organic grocery store (san francisco is so organic + green!  my kind of city :)  and the cheese display was so darling i had to get a picture.  i would love that job--making little tags for cheese.  danny probably was slightly embarrassed since i kept saying things like "that is so cute!!" but i couldn't help myself.

all of this was done before eleven o'clock but finally, the bi-rite ice cream shop opened up and we got ourselves three scoops of some delicious ice cream.  we tried the balsamic strawberry, maple pecan, and snickerdoodle.  yummm.

since parking is insane!!! in san francisco, we decided to park the car at emily + elliot's church building and walk the rest of the day.  our wallets thanked us but by the end of the day my feet were not.  but isn't this church building the coolest ever??  we thought it'd be the perfect place for a little photo shoot...

we'd heard a lot about the farmer's market down at the ferry building so we walked...and walked...and walked all the way to pier 1.  on our stroll we passed some of the most beautiful buildings and houses (and billboards made with real t-shirts!)  i don't think i'd ever want to live in sf but if i could transport one of the houses...that would be another story.  the streets are also incredibly steep.  i have no idea how people park their cars without rolling them!  craziness.

the farmer's market was right up my alley.  fresh fruit and veggies all at such a great price.  we sampled some of the most delicious plum, peaches + apricots and eventually ended up buying a white + yellow peach.  i don't think i've ever had a peach drip down my arm so much.  it was wonderful :)

we walked to the end of the pier where there were at least ten guys trying to fish in extremely windy conditions.  not sure how that was going for them, but we had a great time enjoying the view.  such a beautiful place!

for lunch we went on a wild goose chase trying to find this hole in the wall sandwich shop called the sentinel.  i wish i had gotten a picture of the place!  it was tiny.  but the sandwiches were good.  and it was right off of jessie st. so how could we say no?  we got a recommendation from the owner to go eat our lunch on top of a nearby shopping mall and we couldn't have been more pleased with the surroundings.  plus, for dessert we ordered creme brulee from the creme brulee man.  we ordered the strawberry nutella and we a little disappointed when the nutella tasted like plain chocolate but it was still fun.

after eating and walking and walking some more through union square we finally made it back to our car and drove to oakland to do a session at the temple.  i don't think i've seen prettier grounds.  such a crazy contrast to go from the city to the temple grounds.  we had a wonderful time.

after the temple we had dinner at a little calzone shop in sf.  my calzone was a little doughy so we got free dessert but overall we were pleased with our dinner.  and that is how we spent our day together, alone, without kids, in san francisco.  pretty perfect if you ask me :)

san francisco: day uno

danny and i have wanted to go to san francisco together for a long time.  we have almost made the trip happen multiple times, but it's never gone through until now.  and everything about the trip was perfect.  the kids stayed at danny's parents (and they've reported that they were angels...hopefully that's true!) and we were able to stay at our friend braden's house in santa rosa!  score for not having to pay for a hotel.  our friends emily + elliot live out there right now for a summer internship, and we were able to meet up with two more of our couple friends: caleb + lauren & dave + sarah throughout the course of the trip.  it was quite miraculous to say the least.  danny drove out with braden and caleb + lauren on sunday and i met up with them monday evening (after my flight was delayed for four hours...no bueno!)

i have hundreds of pictures (as i always do when we go on vacation) so i've gotta break this trip up into daily posts.  enjoy!

since braden is from the area, he took danny and i on a tour of the city.  we stopped at coit tower and enjoyed the view (monday was the cloudiest of the entire trip!  we felt very lucky to be there when the weather was so great.)

we then ventured to fisherman's wharf and visited an amazing candy store where everything was extremely large.

a boat had just come in the the dock and they were gutting the fish right then and there.  it was pretty neat to watch them do their thing.

we walked over to the bay where you can catch a glimpse of alcatraz.  i couldn't believe how close it seemed to land.  i've always imagined it being way out there.  i suppose it would still be really hard to swim to shore...

and we also checked out a little penny arcade.  i was pretty freaked out by the whole thing...but i did find these mirrors entertaining :)

a tribute to our guide braden who is a lefty :)

and of course we had to stop and see the sea lions.

that night we met up with emily + elliot and their cute chubby baby henry and ate at tacolicious.  it was delicious and we had a great time.

and the view of the bridge at night is absolutely amazing.

day one did not disappoint and for day two, danny and i braved the city by ourselves :)  it was quite the adventure.  stay tuned.

holy moly.

i have so much to post about it is kind of overwhelming.  i just got back from a vaycay to san francisco with my honey and it was amazing.  that was my first time to that city and it did not disappoint!

however, i want to get all caught up on my pictures so a photo dump before the san francisco reveal is going to take precedence: 

+ avery's first ponytail!!!  this was a happy occasion.  she has hardly any hair except for right on top of her little head and there is now enough to put it in a pony.  cutest thing ever.

+ popcorn on the porch with the boys.  max loves levi + isaac so when they came to play awhile ago i had to snap a picture.  they are such good kids.

+ riding on max's trike (which he can now pedal all by himself!!  video to come soon.)  i caught this shot when neither of them were looking and it is hilarious.  they seem so serious!  silly kids.

+ swinging at the neighbor's house (since we don't have a playground...)  they both love the swings.  and slides.  and being outside in general.

+ our first 7peaks trip of the season!!  we got an amazing groupon on the pass of all passes so we decided to get them since we'll be spending half of our summer in provo due to danny's master's program (which he starts in one week!!! ahhh!)  we had a blast.  however, i'm not sure how i'm going to survive without danny there.  two toddlers near water with only one mama can be a scary thing.  we snapped some pictures before we got soaked and i am in love.  the first one is my favorite...max loves his little sister so much.  melts my heart.

+ max rode on uncle greg's motorcycle for the first time!  he was unsure at the beginning, but after seeing daddy + his cousin reed do it, he had to have a turn.  such a little stud.

+ we visited great grandpa's beautiful yard and enjoyed all of the hundreds of flowers.  he lives next door to danny's parents and they both keep amazing yards.  so many different flowers were in bloom (8 different varieties of poppies!) so we had to snap some pictures.  both kids spent a fair amount of time on danny's shoulders :)  such a fun time of year.