San Francisco

After our fun trip to Disneyland, Lisa, Linda, Joe and I took the kids to San Francisco to visit with Joe 5 and Joe 4. 6 and I had been hoping to meet up with Joe 4 since 7's birth so that we could get a multigenerational photo with all of the living Joes, and this side trip worked out really well, thanks to Joe 5. A weather delay caused us to arrive a bit late, but after checking into the hotel and renting cars, we headed to visit Joe 4.

Unfortunately, he has been having health issues, and was in the hospital while recovering from pneumonia. We didn't get to stay long, but did manage to take some photos, thanks to Lisa! We'll post them soon. Sunday was also Joe 4's birthday, so Dave and Diane had driven in to visit.

After the hospital we all headed to Grandma Ruth's home for a fun dinner. Ethan and 7 fell asleep in the backseat of the car and managed to sleep for the first half of dinner, while Linda, 6 and I took turns checking on them. Ruthie and James had plenty of energy to power them through the evening! We were able to visit with Grandma Ruth, her husband Dave, uncle Dave, aunt Diane and Joe 5 for a couple of hours before heading back to the hotel for the evening.

Monday morning we let the kids sleep in as much as possible, and after a yummy breakfast in the hotel diner, packed everyone up so we could head into the city. Joseph had fun playing in the car while we loaded up the strollers and carseats.

He goes crazy whenever there are buttons to push, so he was having a blast with the dash board! And since receiving his little red car from Aunt Jennifer for his birthday, he really gets the steering wheel, and will sit there pretending to drive for as long as we'll let him.

Once again, Joseph and Ethan fell asleep for a quick morning nap in the car. James and Ruth? Not so much. Once we parked and decided to wake the kiddos up, we headed to the end of the cable car line for some pictures and a round trip on the cable cars.

It was really windy, so we opted to sit inside. The kids had fun people watching and looking out the windows when the crowds weren't too big.

After the cable car, we headed down the road from Fisherman's Wharf to Pier 39. We all split up a bit to do some sightseeing and shopping. I hadn't dressed appropriately for the chilly, windy weather, and found a hoodie on clearance for $15 - I was happy to pay for it and wore it the rest of the day! I also felt bad that Joseph's overalls kept riding up, so we tried to find a blanket or tall socks to cover up his legs. After a few misses at stores, we found a pair of black and white striped Alcatraz baby pants, and layered him right up! Joe also picked up a 49er's hat, since he'd been looking to buy one for a while.

We then met back up with everyone and watched the sea lions lounge around on each other for a bit.

On our way to see the sea lions, we discovered a neat two story carousel at the end of the pier. We knew Joseph would love it, so 6 took him on a ride on the ground level, while everyone else took a trip at the top of the carousel.

Joe kept trying to get 7 to wave at me, and he'd finally start after passing me by and stop just before making the full revolution back around again.

By this time, we'd worked off our breakfast, and stopped for a yummy lunch of clam chowder in bread bowls. The kids ate some bread and fresh fruit, and Joseph had a lot of fun playing with the empty fruit cup.

Ruthie decided to check him out, and they were too cute not to film for a bit.




We wrapped up our trip to SF with a stop at Ghiradelli Square for some crazy good ice cream sundaes and free samples of chocolate. We decided to head back to our hotel before getting stuck in rush hour traffic, and put the kids to bed early, as we all had early morning flights back home the next morning. It was definitely a fun and memorable quick trip, and I'm so glad we were able to see Joe 4. We hope there will plenty more opportunities to visit again when he's feeling better and up and moving again!