Monday, September 20, 2010

A Gay Old Time

**Caution: Long Post Ahead**

Bryce and I were able to spend last weekend in San Francisco - our first "alone" trip since Cole was born! Cole stayed with Nana and Pa, who took amazing care of him; he even got to have a sleepover with Joree. Thank you so much to you both - the trip was so much fun, and much needed.

We arrived on Thursday afternoon, and after checking into the hotel, went down to the wharf via cable car for our Alcatraz tour.Along the way, a "performer" hiding behind a mailbox, holding branches in front of him jumped out at us. It made me scream. I was not happy and offered no compensation for his "act."
The tour of Alcatraz was awesome - mostly because it was so foggy we couldn't even see it, so it was a little eerie.

This is the island on a good day:But this is what we saw - our first glimpse through the fog:The prison was a little creepy, especially when they let you go in the isolation cells:They also let us see the hospital, which totally gave me ghosty vibes. I would NOT be caught alone in this place at night.Friday morning, we rented a couple of bicycles, and off we went to the Golden Gate Bridge. See how beautiful?
Oh, you mean the whole thing was shrouded in fog and completely obscured? It was okay, because we biked down a canyon into a little city called Sausalito - which we absolutely fell in love with. Allow me to demonstrate.And wait, is that the sun?Feeling high from our bike ride, we decided it would be a great time to walk up Lombard Street. As you can see from the progression of pictures, it totally kicked my trash. But, what a great view!That night, we decided to do a little shopping at the swanky shops around Union Square. This is how I mostly felt doing that: Awkward.Saturday morning, we decided to explore a little more. We spent the morning in the pseudo-hippie area of Haight-Ashbury. We also visited the beautiful Japanese Tea Gardens.That afternoon, we spent a little touristy time at Fisherman's Wharf.And finally, that evening, we went to Chinatown, and enjoyed our final cable car ride.As enjoyable as all of that was,I think our favorite part was the food. Please excuse my ramblings as I gush about a few of our favs.

Eggs Florentine with Crab Cakes - Honey Honey'sMini Swedish Pancakes - Sear's Fine FoodSalmon Panini and Shrimp Panini - Cibu (Sausalito)Cupcakes - Kara's
Frui de la Mer & Linguine with Lemon Cream Sauce - Puccini & PinettiSalt & Pepper Crab - R and G Lounge (Chinatown) So greasy....so delicious.And finally, the best chocolate lava cake I've ever had. Sadly, the picture just did not turn out. I think the camera was overwhelmed by pure deliciousness.We had such a good time - Bryce and I promised each other it wouldn't be another three years before we took a trip!

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Farewell, Summer

Goodbye long, sunny days,
Biking to the park,
Swimming at the pool,
The smell of fresh-cut lawn.

I honor you with cake.

Hello, crisp fall air,
Apple & Pumpkin Spice Wallflowers,
Red leaves,
Scary movies and spooky books.

It's nice to see you again.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Capitol Reef

Over the Labor Day weekend, Bryce, Cole, and I went camping with the Englishs' and Brown's. It was our first camping trip staying in a tent, and Cole did really well. In fact, he did overall pretty well, besides one or two meltdowns while hiking.Over the course of the trip, we played with bubbles:AftonLukeGathered apples from a nearby orchard:Ate more salsa by the spoonful:Played in the river:And did some good hiking:One of Cole's favorite games was to say what rocks looked like. This one was dubbed, "Frog." I can totally see it!Luke and Cole filled to the brim with 'Nilla WafersShan was my fellow picture-buddy on this trip - although her camera is WAY nicer than mine, and she's got mad photo skills.I mentioned Cole had some minor meltdowns - this little gem was when he refused to go in the backpack, so I had to carry him, sleeping, most of the way back to the car in the burning sun.This was also following a temper tantrum. Bless Shan and her fruit leather!The one and only picture I got of all the kids. This was moments before Cole grabbed a handful of Afton's hair. I'm pretty sure he was contemplating it in this shot.The ladies - haven't changed a bit since high school - right?And some various gorgeous red rock shots. (This trip made me miss Lake Powell more than I can say.)
It was definitely a lot of fun, and great to spend some time with such awesome families!

PS - Duchess did awesome on her first trip...although I think she was non-too-pleased with how dirty she got.