Last summer, we were supposed to do an epic summer road trip from San Francisco to San Diego, with a stop along the way at Disneyland. When I got pregnant, however, we had to cancel, leaving us with unused credits for Alaska Airlines. This past weekend, we used the credits and had the most fabulous family weekend in San Francisco.
Friday:
We began the day with an VERY early 6:20am flight out of Dulles. That was very tough and we barely made it. We woke up around 3:15am but didn't leave the house until 4:15am, even though we intended to leave at 4am sharp. This put us at the airport and in the security line around 5:10am. Unfortunately, that wasn't nearly enough time because the security line was SO long and slow, and we were stuck there for an hour.
We ended up cutting people around 6:05am, with the kids and I running ahead to get to the people-mover train thing. Eric got our bags and met us on the train platform, where we realized that the bag with our snacks, kids' plane activities, and formula as well as Jasper's pacifier (!!) were all missing. Eric rushed back for everything, while the kids and I got on the train and ran to hold the plane. Eric couldn't find the bag and came running for the flight just as they were about to close the doors and not let us on. We got on board, apologized to everyone who I'm sure weren't happy seeing a baby and three kids, and finally sat down in our seats, grateful that we made it, and swearing that we'd never fly out Dulles again.
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| Last picture of our beloved snack bag in my left hand. |
Thankfully, the plane ride was very easy. It was actually a Virgin America plane, with tons of videos and movies for the kids as well as the ability to order drinks and snacks from your touchscreen, which the kids thought was so cool. We basically just relaxed, Jasper napped, and the kids watched TV the entire time.
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| On the train platform at SFO, where Deke was attempting to hide behind a plant. |
We arrived in SF around 9am, and made our way to baggage claim and the rental car center. While it wasn't that hard to do all this, it took about 90 minutes and about 10 elevators, a few sets of stairs, two trains, and did a ton of walking to get our car. We finally departed the airport around 10:45am and headed directly to a nearby Target, since we were out of formula for Jasper and he had a hungry look in his eyes.
After stocking up at Target, we drove down to Fisherman's Wharf, and just had the best time. We ate lunch by the water, where Fletch realized his dream of seeing Alcatraz, went on a cruise under the Golden Gate Bridge, and saw the sea lions and ate ice cream at Pier 39. The weather was gorgeous, and it was the perfect day.
By about 4pm, we were all beat, so we headed to the hotel (Embassy Suites Waterfront SFO). We were also starving. We checked into our room (which had a gorgeous view of the water and planes taking off and landing at SFO) and then attempted to find some dinner. To our dismay, there were virtually no restaurants nearby that had takeout and were open. We ended up at In and Out, which I wanted to try, but was disappointed to find out that it's no Five Guys. After eating, everyone was exhausted, and we all collapsed into bed.
Saturday:
Because of the time change, I was a little nervous that Saturday morning would be a disaster and the kids would all be up at 3am. Thankfully though, everyone slept in until 6-7am, which is great for our kids. After getting up, we quickly got dressed and ready to go because we heard breakfast was crazy at the hotel.
We headed downstairs to eat, where Fletch and Deacon found what was probably one of the best parts of the trip for them...the coy ponds in the lobby. They were obsessed with them, each of them naming the fish, pretending they were racing, dividing them into fish teams, etc. I'm pretty sure if we didn't do anything else on the trip but see these fish, they would have been happy.
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| Checking out the fish |
After breakfast, we headed downtown to the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. This was a fantastic museum, even though half of it was closed for renovation. The exhibits were very cool, and the aquarium and Amazon sections were amazing. We all loved it.
After eating lunch at the museum, we drove to the Koret Children's Quarter, which is a large playground also in Golden Gate Park. The kids had a blast, especially Piper and Deacon on the slides and Fletch in the sand pit and the spinning rides.
By then, it was around 2:30pm. We weren't quite ready to go back to the hotel, so we took the kids over the Golden Gate Bridge. As we were going over, Deke declared it, "the best day of his life." I admit--it was pretty cool. On the other side, we stopped for ice cream in Sausilito and to pick up some takeout for dinner.
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| Piper did like the ice cream but was pretty tired by this point int the day. |
After ice cream, it was time to head back to the hotel because the kids were begging to go swimming. After a quick stop at Target in Marin City to get water wings for Deacon, we returned, the kids changed into their bathing suits, and we let them swim. No pictures from the pool because it was absolute chaos, with tons of big kids splashing and horsing around. The kids loved it, but I was silently counting the minutes until they were ready to go back to the room.
The swimming finally wore the kids out, so they got changed and we ate our takeout dinner in our room. We relaxed and watched TV for the rest of the night, tired but happy with our day.
Sunday:
We all got up around 7am on Sunday, went to breakfast. and hung out in the hotel for a bit.
After eating, Eric's childhood BFF Jason and his family met us at the hotel. We haven't seen Jason, Lori, and the kids in years, so it was wonderful to spend the day with them. After hello's and hugs, we caravaned into the city to go to the Exploratrium. This was a perfect way to spend the day...the kids all bonded instantly, and ran around and explored together, meaning the adults could talk and catch up. It was so much fun (and the museum was very cool), despite the fact that getting the kids to do anything other than play was like herding 100 cats. Somehow 7 kids felt like 17 kids when they all got together.
We were at the museum from about 10am-3pm, eating (a very expensive) lunch in the museum restaurant. We left there and weren't quite ready to say goodbye to the Adams-Brown clan, so we all drove to Crissy Field to get some pics by the bridge and burn off last bits of energy before our flight home.
By the time we did all that, it was nearly 5pm. We said our sad goodbyes and headed to the airport for our 9am flight.
Security at the SFO was a long wait again, and by the time we got through, we only had an hour before departure. We hunkered down in the Admirals' Lounge, ate dinner, and then went to our gate.
Our plane ended up being delayed by about 40 minutes, but it was fine. The flight itself was fast and easy, with the kids sleeping for most of it.
We arrived back at Dulles around 5:30am, and drove home, tired but so grateful for such a wonderful vacation together. Good travels, good friends, and family time all made for a perfect weekend.
