Afternoon In San Francisco

One of the many nice things about visiting California is that Matt has a ton of family there; it's like Family Central for his clan, and so not only do you get to see all the regulars when you visit, but if you're visiting for a occasion, such as a wedding or, I don't know...Thanksgiving?!?!...you also get to see many of the outliers, those relatives who live in Mexico or Germany or Washington or the East Coast, but who are also making their pilgrimage to Family Central for the event.

And that's also how you don't just go to San Francisco for the afternoon with your husband and kids--you go to San Francisco for the afternoon with your husband, your kids, their grandparents, their great-grandma, and their great aunt and great uncle. They drive, and they navigate, and they treat you to a restaurant that you'd never otherwise budget for!

We ate lunch at Fog Harbor Fish House, which I highly recommend if you're interested in trying seafood, because their seafood is sustainably sourced using the recommendations of the Monterrey Bay Aquarium, and so you don't have to feel too creepy about eating it. I was especially excited because since our mollusks study, Willow had been eager to taste raw oysters. At Fog Harbor, we had a sustainably-sourced menu from which to order a half-dozen raw oysters for whoever wanted one, and Uncle Carlos to demonstrate the proper handling, saucing, and sucking down of said oysters.

Dreams really do come true in San Francisco:
Add in a big bread bowl full of clam chowder, and all the warm sourdough bread spread with melty butter that a kid can eat, and Willow came away from the table with her tummy nice and comfy, indeed. I have no idea what Sydney ate, probably macaroni and cheese or some such nonsense, certainly NOT a raw oyster, but she came away with a comfy tummy, too, so lunchtime goal achieved.

After lunch, the rest of the family wanted to visit Ghirardelli Square, which is totally not our speed, and then to drive back home, which is TOTALLY not our speed, so Matt, the girls, and I unashamedly ditched them. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening sightseeing--

Chatting with a baker at Boudin as she makes crab-shaped sourdough bread

Posing in front of Alcatraz (We'll save that one for a future visit, ahem)

 --laughing at the sea lions--

 --and riding stuff:

Cable car!!! We also rode aimlessly in buses and trolleys, just so you know.

The pinnacle of our "riding stuff" adventure was catching the CalTrain back to San Jose that evening, arriving back home with two sleepy, sleepy girls who were happy to be fed a quick dinner and put to bed before the grown-up dinner.

Now, I love spending time with my babies, but I could get USED to that!