St George and When You Wish

For my birthday Vivian got me and Emry tickets to the Tuacahn When You Wish show so we decided to make a fun week out of it. We rode down to St George with Vivian who was up here visiting for something and spent the week hanging out at Grandma's house (Emry's favorite thing to do!). I'll let the pictures tell of our fun times!

We did some swimming. So glad to have a good grandpa who will get in the pool with us! Emry loves her Grandpa Gardner

 The water was a little too cold for Wesley to appreciate but he loved splashing on the big step and playing on the sidelines...

 We did a whole lot of swinging in St George. The first thing Emry did every morning when she woke up was head out to the backyard to the swing set. She didn't care that it was pretty cold in the mornings. She loved it. Again, we love our Grandpa for pushing us the whole time we were there.

The night we went to When You Wish. Emry loved it so much and it was so fun watching her enjoy it. When Ariel came out to sing her song Emry told me, "I know this one mom, so I'm going to sing with her!" She was enthralled. 

We met up with my friend Kate Davidson who used to live across the street from us and hung out at the splash pad. Her little girl Leah and Emry used to be best friends before they left. She still says they are moving back in a couple years and I really hope that's true because we've missed our friends!

 All the kids. I also found out that Kate is expecting and due about 3 days before I am. We will both be having little girls so it's just perfect!

Leah, Emry, Josh, Wesley

 Besties reunited!

The next day while the boys went golfing in the morning, we went and caught one of the town's parades. We had fun collecting a bunch of candy and waving to all the princesses. 

 That afternoon we watched the BYU/Michigan game and ate good food. Scott made us these delicious waffles.

San Francisco Day 4 & 5

Thursday -- Day 4

This was probably my very favorite day! Everything was much more relaxed and less stressful. It probably had something to do with the fact that we finally figured out which buses to ride and just took it a little easier. That morning we got up and got ready and headed out the door. We met my Mom and Grandma at the bus stop to catch a bus to head to Pier 39 area again so we could catch a harbor tour. We got there right as they were going to board so we hopped on! This was fun because they gave us headphones with an audio of all the things we were seeing. We felt like such tourists... haha! We went under the golden gate bridge and passed Alcatraz. The history of that place is amazing. We decided not to actually go to Alcatraz because we thought the kids would just get bored of it and I'm glad we decided to skip it. But next time, we are going to go because it looks fascinating.

After finishing up our tour it was lunch time so we walked down to Fisherman's Wharf where my Grandma got some amazing sea food. You see, I'm not really in to sea food and neither is my mom so we just kept on walking until we found something we wanted to eat. Which happened to be Mexican food. But really it was just an essential step in getting us to Ghirardelli Square where we could eat the best Hot Fudge anyone has ever made EVER! Ok, I'm really not exaggerating either. I should have brought this stuff home by the gallon. Wesley was so funny because every time I tried to semi-clean him up he thought I was taking his cone away and he would have a cow! He knew how good this stuff was! Also, I think he looks like a little puppy dog here! Cutest boy ever!

 Yes, she had to have her own...

 I don't know if you realized this, but the following pictures will be 4 generations of chocolate lovers... That's pretty impressive. It must be a dominant gene ;)

We decided to ride the trolley to Union Square. Those things are so fun. I was having a blast. Such a fun way to see the city.

Emry was really tired so I had her lay in the stroller while we shopped and within about 5 minutes she was out. She slept for a good 2 hours while we walked around the stores. Poor children on vacation...it's exhausting. We ended up having dinner at the mall food court so everyone could get whatever they wanted. Ryan had a little break before he had to go to his fancy dinner so he met us there to say hi while we ate. On our walk back to the hotel we walked through some gardens and took a picture in front of this cool looking building. Then it was back to the hotel for our last night in San Francisco. My mom and Grandma were flying out early Friday morning so we wouldn't see them again so we said our goodbyes and went to sleep!

2 happy shoppers

 Cool building and a funny girl

Friday -- Day 5

I thought Ryan was done working so we would have all day Friday to play together before our flights left in the afternoon. Well, I was wrong. He had to work all morning so it left me in San Francisco all morning by myself again. I spent the morning packing up all our stuff so we were ready for the flight in the afternoon. Of course that left the kids stuck in a small hotel room with not much to do. Emry did pretty fine entertaining herself but Wesley was a mess. He was so fussy and I knew he needed a morning nap really badly. So after I packed up all our stuff I decided we would just get in the stroller and walk. I thought if we walked around Wesley would fall asleep and have an ok nap before our day of traveling. Well, I was right. We walked and walked until Wesley fell asleep and I found myself at Gap Kids. Hmm... Don't know how that happened. So while Wesley slept in the stroller, Emry and I shopped. Then we stopped at Corner bakery and had an early lunch because I knew we would be dealing with heading to the airport and buses and such during lunch time. 

After Ryan was done working he grabbed our bags from the hotel and met us at the BART station to head to the airport. However, he was running a little late and we only made it to the airport like 30 minutes before his flight was supposed to leave. Thankfully, it was a little delayed and he made it with some time to spare. When we planned the trip home, I couldn't get on Ryan's flight (and I kind of didn't want to because it had a layover in LA) so I decided to take a flight that left a little later than his but was nonstop. That left me at the airport for about 2 hours by myself with two little children. This was probably my least favorite part of the whole trip. But we survived and Ryan and I landed about 10 minutes apart from each other in Salt Lake so it all worked out fine. 

 Wesley the pro traveler on the BART

Eating ice cream at the airport while waiting for our flight to board. I was desperate for something to entertain these kids. Wesley was being so cute and sharing with his sister

All in all, we had a really fun time with some neat experiences but man, it was a lot of work!! If I would have known how much work it was going to have been (and how much I wasn't going to even see Ryan) I probably wouldn't have gone but I'm glad we did because these are some great memories we'll have forever!

San Francisco Day 3

Wednesday--Day 3

Well Day 3 started very early. Since Emry fell asleep so early, she was up at 5:50 AM. I managed to get her to stay in her bed, semi quiet but Wesley woke up around 6:15 AM and since he can see us, he just wanted to snuggle. I finally got Wesley back to sleep in my bed around 7 am and snuck out of my bed to take Emry (who was making too much noise) downstairs to eat breakfast. We bought some milk and cereal from the market downstairs and enjoyed an early morning chat. Although it was early and I was pretty tired, it was fun having that one on one time with Emry. That girl is so cute and fun to be around!

Just happy to be! 

 

We headed back to the room a little before 8 to get Ryan up, but Wesley was still sleeping so to keep Emry quiet while I got ready, she got to watch a little more Robin Hood. Wesley woke up around 8:30 and after some breakfast (milk and cereal we bought the night before) we headed out to explore San Francisco. I didn't exactly know where I wanted to go but decided to make our way to Pier 39 area and stop along the way to see stuff. So after a frustrating while of not being able to find the bus stop, we finally made it on the city car and went to the Exploratorium. This place was a blast and, again, I wish we could have stayed longer. It is like a huge science center with tons of hands on exhibits. The kids got to run around and touch whatever they wanted and it was great! 

 This was the day that my mom and Grandma had flown in but they had to check into their hotel, get their stuff all situated, and then figure out a good route to meet me so it took awhile before we finally met up (they ended up taking the wrong buses to the wrong places, etc.!). But we finally caught up with them at Pier 39 where we had lunch and wandered around the pier. Emry and Grandma rode the carousel, which of course is Emry's favorite. Then we walked to the end of the pier and saw all the famous sea lions. Emry thought it was pretty funny when they were crawling all over each other! 

 She loved hugging this statue at lunch and I thought it was hilarious!

 Best picture I could get of Grandma and Emry on the second story of the carousel

 Looking out off the edge of the pier (Wesley fell asleep in the stroller thank goodness)

We decided to explore a little more and take the buses to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a long ride with lots of transfers but we made it! 

We finally headed back to the hotel. We had a little time before dinner so we went swimming in the hotel pool again. Emry wanted to show her Grandmas how good she was at swimming. That night Ryan had to work so my mom, grandma, the kids, and I went to dinner at a little Greek place and then headed back to the hotel to put the kids to bed. My mom and Grandma went back to their hotel and we called it a night!

San Francisco Day 1 & 2

Ryan had a Salesforce Conference in San Francisco, like he does every year, so this year I decided it might be fun to tag along. I really hate those times when he is away from work so I just thought, I'll go with him and have a little fun! I convinced my mom and Grandma to meet us in San Francisco so we could explore and I wouldn't be by myself with 2 kids in a big strange city but the problem was they were only there for a day and a half of the five days I was there. It still turned out to be really fun but also really stressful! I was totally exhausted by the end and ready to come home for sure!!

Monday--Day 1

We arrived on Monday evening. Both kids did really well on the flight--Wesley slept for most of it and Emry played with her toys and watched Robin Hood on the iPad. Easy, uneventful flight--just like I like them :) The easiness ended there. Haha. If you've ever been to San Francisco you know that mostly, people rely on the public transportation. What they don't tell you is that San Francisco is not very kid friendly. So we got on the Bart to head to the hotel but finding all the elevators to take the stroller up was a little pain and then as we were getting off one of the elevators, Emry got her fingers stuck in the elevator doors. Gave both Ryan and me a heart attack. I thought we were going to end up in the ER on day 1 but thankfully her fingers were swollen and bruised but not broken. Hallelujah! Anyway, we made it into the city and then began our mile long walk to the hotel which was actually fine for me as I was pushing the kids in the stroller, but Ryan was lugging all our suitcases a mile, through crowds, and up hills. We made it to the hotel around 630 pm California time (7:30 pm Utah time) so we were definitely hungry. We met Ryan's coworkers at a burger place for dinner at 7 and really, I was super proud of my kids. For starting dinner at their normal bedtime, they did awesome and were actually very well behaved. We hurried home after dinner and the kids went to bed at 9:00pm (10 Utah time!). We were pretty exhausted from the long day of traveling so I went to bed shortly after that but Ryan had to do some work that night at the hotel so he worked while the rest of us snoozed. Sorry because I took zero pictures on day 1. I was just trying to survive. haha!

Tuesday--Day 2

On Tuesday I planned to meet up with my friend Sarah from nursing school who now lives in the city with her family. We got up, got ready and headed out to find somewhere to eat breakfast. The problem with being there during Dreamforce is that it is extra extra crowded--people everywhere and a lot of the restaurants are closed to the public for special events, which you don't know till you get there. So I planned out our route and thought I had everything planned until I got there and the restaurant was closed. And I know, San Francisco has restaurants everywhere but they are not all kid friendly. Thankfully, we were able to go to a different place, found it easily, pretty fast to get in, and the kids did great. After breakfast I had to find the place to buy our Muni passes for the week (public transportation to get us around). That was an adventure after trying to find elevators, not finding elevators, carring the stroller up stairs, trying to use public bathrooms (all of them are locked but an old man took pity on us and let us in because I had a 3 year old!). Whew I was exhausted but we finally bought our tickets, found where to go stand to wait for our bus and got on our bus to meet Sarah at Golden Gate Park. 

 Waiting at the bus stop (It was a little chilly)

 We made it on the bus!!!

Random funny sidestory--One thing about being in the city is that there really aren't like any children. I think I saw 1 child in the city the whole time we were there. So that means we got a lot of stares as we were walking around the city and when we were waiting for the bus, we even had people specifically move and stand next to us so they could look in the stroller and see Wesley. It was pretty funny and I felt like a spectacle!! Definitely not like Utah where no one blinks an eye!! 

Anyway, we arrived at Golden Gate Park after a 30 min bus ride and let me say, I wish we would have spent more time wandering around this park. It was huge and we only saw a little part of it. We were waiting for my friend to get there and Emry says she has to go to the bathroom. Well it took me too long to find where the bathrooms are and Emry had an accident all over my stroller (and herself). I am frustrated and she is crying because she wants new underwear (which I don't have because she hasn't had an accident in like a year!). Let's just say it wasn't a moment I want to relive EVER! Thankfully, Sarah had an extra pair of clothes with her so once she got there, we changed, got cleaned up and we were ready to party!! 

They had a carousel at the park and Emry was over the moon about it! Sarah's little girl Reagan is 4 so her and Emry had a blast together.

 Wesley is always scared to get on the horse so I have to get on with him. But once we are on, he loves it!

 These girls had fun!

After riding the carousel, we headed to the park where the kids played and Sarah and I caught up. It was so fun to be able to see her and her cute kids. She's my hero for being able to live in San Francisco and not be a stress case! Haha!! We parted ways and I attempted to get my kids lunch at some place near the park, but the place was going to make us wait 20 minutes and had no kid food, so I said no thank you and decided to head back to the hotel and find something to eat there. By that time Wes had fallen asleep in the stroller (huge blessing) so the bus ride was actually pretty peaceful since I just rolled the stroller on and let him sleep the whole way!

Waiting at the bus stop again. Emry was freezing and wanted to snuggle up and Wesley was snoozing away

When we got back to our hotel area, I asked Ryan where we should go for lunch and he said he was really close to us so he met us and helped me order and get the kids fed at Chipotle. It was all great except right when Wesley heard Dad's voice he was up (and not happy about it!). So after lunch I decided a little downtime was in order so we went back to the hotel. I attempted to get Wesley back to sleep (unsuccessfully) and Emry watched some Robin Hood--she watched that a lot this trip! Whoops!

After we were sufficiently rested (ok, not really!) we headed to the hotel swimming pool where we had the whole pool to ourselves and we had a blast. It was fun to just be more low key and relax after our crazy morning.

All ready to swim!

 Wesley is ADORABLE!!

 Emry loves swimming!

Ryan decided to come eat dinner with us so after getting all showered and ready for the night, we went to Melt to eat dinner. It was delicious. The whole not sleeping thing caught up with Emry and she fell asleep in the stroller at 7 pm. After dinner we headed back to the hotel and put the kids down and fell asleep shortly after them again. Those city days made me tired!! haha! All in all, we had some bumps along the way but our first full day in San Francisco alone was a success!!!

This boy loves his Daddy!!! 

This girl was TIRED!! Out like a light and didn't move until I put her in her bed!