San Fran

On Saturday we took a road trip to San Francisco for the day. We've been here over 2 years and haven't been to San Fran other than to go to the airport. So we figured it was time. With the help of our friends letting the dogs out, (Thanks Anne and Ryan!!!) we got to take our time and enjoy the whole day.
We started off by going to Muir Woods. It's a red wood forest about 20 minutes North of the Golden Gate Bridge. All of the trails were paved so it was stroller friendly, so cool! The forest was beautiful! Jack loved walking through the trees and looking in the streams for fish. It was really amazing to see!


Standing in the "goose pen" of the tree. Fires would cause little burnt out caves in the living trees that pioneers would use to corral livestock.







After Muir Woods we headed back over the Golden Gate Bridge. We stopped on the North side at a vista point and walked about 1/4 of the way over the bridge. It was so windy, I had a fear of Ty blowing away. Hahaha! It was really cool to see this huge structure that's just hanging in the air. It's a little scary too, especially when you look up and see the wire swaying and then look down over the side and see how high you are. Even scarier was the fact that Jack could fit his head through the slats on the wall of the walkway. Of course he wasn't going anywhere but I about had a heart attack and freaked out! After that we walked right in the middle of the walkway. Even after all that, the bridge was one of my favorite things we did Saturday.

At the vista point. (I swear I gave birth to both those boys, they used to resemble each other)

On the bridge

Super Wind

Super Insane-O Wind (Ty's face is hilarious)


After the bridge, we headed through town and went to Lombard street. This is the zig-zaggy road. We ended up driving down it and it was pretty cool. There are actual row homes on this street with driveways and garages. I have no idea how people could pull into their driveways, but it would be pretty cool to live there. (Minus all of the constant tourists) :-)




Here's Alcatraz from Pier 39. We opted to skip the prison tour. We didn't think the kids would like it and we thought they were too young for us to permanently scar them with nightmares of crazy prison inmates.



Next was Kara's Cupcakes. This is where I had THE BEST cupcake I've ever tasted...EVER! If anyone's ever seen Cupcake Wars on the Food Network, the baker who owns this shop has been on that show twice (that I've seen). Her shop is in Ghirardelli Square. It's this tiny store front, no bakery on site. The cupcakes were amazing! (Meagan....you would have passed out in cupcake heaven!) Tom and I had a chocolate peanut butter cupcake and Jack and Ty scarfed down a strawberry cream filled cupcake with cream cheese icing. Beyond yummy!!!


After Ghirardelli Square we walked to Pier 39 and Fisherman's Warf then headed over to the Ferry Building. I wanted to go there because the Ferry Building has all these crazy specialty shops. One of the shops is Boccalone. Chris Constentino who is the chef/owner is one of the Chefs in Chefs Vs. City on the Food Network (yes, I love that channel!) The bummer was we got to the Ferry Building when most of the shops were closing. I was looking forward to flavored olive oils, salty pig parts, fresh cheese, and gelato. We did get to walk through and see everything and I was still on my cupcake high so all was good. From the outside of the Ferry Building you can see the Bay Bridge perfectly. We had great weather so there was hardly any fog.

The Ferry Building

The Bay Bridge

And to wrap up our trip.....
The Infamous McMurtrie Picture Faces

Splish Splash

The sun is finally starting to shine here in Monterey. YEAH! It's been pretty dreary for the last 2 months or so. The marine layer never seemed to burn off and it would be foggy and dark all day long. Darn micro climate!!! :-) You could tell the lack of sunshine was wearing on people too! Everywhere you went you ran into some a-hole. People were miserable here which was wearing on me! So needless to say...I'm glad the sun is shining. Plus sunshine = water play. We love playing in the water. Jack really likes his Elmo swim trunks and Ty LOVES making a mess. :-) This week we got to fill up the pool twice. The boys had A LOT of fun!

Buddies

My friend Anne, and I got the kids together for one of our weekly play dates yesterday. We have the best time together, as do the kids. :-) I love our play dates! We get to talk, adult to adult, while the kids wear each other out and burn off that toddler energy. Our kids are pretty similar in age which just works out well. Anne's little girl, Madison, is about 6 months old and Andrew is Jack's age. My boys LOVE Madison. Jack is so sweet with her and Ty just points at her and screeches. It's hilarious. While they were here on Thursday I broke out the camera to try and capture all of them all together. Everyone knows how difficult it is to get 1 child to work with you when your trying to take their picture, let alone 4. I don't envy the people who work at those photo places like Picture People. Looking through all 23 pictures I took of the kids sitting on the couch was hysterical. In all the pictures there was always someone not looking, if not all of them, a finger was up a nose, Madison starting to teeter over, someone escaping from the couch all together...it was a comedy of errors. But I did get one decent shot.......



Finally, a picture of our crew! I think it's so funny how you can definitely tell that Madison and Andrew are siblings, however Jack and Ty look nothing alike. Jack and his brown hair, olive skin and brown eyes is soooo a McMurtrie and Ty with his pasty complexion, blond hair and blue eyes is very much a Davis.

Anne....Thank you for hanging out with us!! I really don't know what I would have done here without you!

Jack's 3rd Birthday

Jack turned 3 years old yesterday. He's getting so big and doesn't stop talking ALL. DAY. LONG. Hahahhah! It's hard for me to come to terms with the fact that we have a 3 yr old. That means I'm not getting any younger. :-)
Jack started his birthday with his Buzz birthday balloon.

After a breakfast of his favorite, Dad prepared, scrambled eggs with ham and cheese and a Jack special jelly burger (AKA an English muffin with jelly smushed together and eaten like a burger) we opened presents. Jack is very lucky to have so many people that thought of him on his birthday! He got his own piece of luggage, a new basket ball hoop, stompin' rockets from Ashby, Toy Story comforters and sheets for his new bunk bed, and lots of other fun stuff!!! Thank you everyone!!!


Aunt Lisi, Uncle Rick, Lexie and Ricky gave Jack a birthday plate that is now a new tradition in our house. Very cool! (He's holding the packing peanuts...they were just as exciting as the plate!)

Thanks to Boobie and Umpa for the Iron Man mask, it's a big hit for all ages!




After lunch we had cake. Jack wanted 2 cakes a cement mixer cake and a cake with "everyone from Toy Story all over it". I combined his 2 ideas. With my very amateur cake decorating skills it took me 6 hours. this is WAY longer than I thought it would take me. I still had fun and got lots of help from Tom (his engineering degree came in handy). My goal was to have something that at least resembled a cement mixer. I also made cupcakes for us to eat, they were easy to make! :-)





Happy Birthday Jack!!! We love you!!

Where a kid can be a kid.....

Today is Jack's 3rd birthday!! I wish I could freeze time! We celebrated a day early by honoring his request of going to Chuck E. Cheese's yesterday. We went on a sunny school day because I'm pretty sure I couldn't handle going there on a weekend or a rainy day. hahaha! Tom's classmate Joe, his wife Marilyn and their little boy Will joined us as well as our great friends Anne, Ryan, Andrew and Madison. We had pizza and then handed out tokens and cut the kiddos loose. It wasn't crowded and everyone had a blast on the rides and playing the games, including Ty and the dads!
Thanks to our friends for helping Jack celebrate!! We survived Chuck E. Cheese's and Jack loved every minute of it!!