A Gift of Tin or Aluminum

I can hardly believe it has been 10 years since we pledged our lives to each other. Honestly, before I was married I never thought I would make it this far. I come from a divorced family and I never thought I would find someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, or he with me. But then I met my husband and all that changed. He is amazing and he helps me be a better me. These years together have been fun, exciting, challenging and gratifying. I know our next 10 years will be just a great.

We wanted to do something fun for our anniversary since it's the big 10 but with airfare so expensive and limited places to stash our girls, we opted to go simple this year. M took me out to dinner at Red Lobster with a gift card we received at Christmas and then saw The Avengers at the theater. M also got me some little trinkets, which I love. They aren't tin or aluminum but they work for me:)

 He always does a great wrap job.

 I love green and these earrings are so pretty.

 I love this pendant, it has part of a .357 casing on it.

If you don't give the real thing, at least you can wear them:)

Father's Day

We had a wonderful day Sunday celebrating dad. The weather was gorgeous and we relaxed around the house before and after church. I took the opportunity to take some photos of the girls with their dad.

 M showing his goofy side.

 The girls adore their dada.

 Daddy tickling the girls, so silly.

K made this sign before we woke up in the morning. 

Both girls made book marks for their dad at school, I gave him t-shirts.

U-Pluck Strawberries

The strawberries are large, sweet and ready to eat. We headed out to one of the local farms with some friends and picked over 3 gallons of berries. The girls had a great time eating and picking their own bucketful. When I got home, M and I smashed and cooked most of the berries so we could make 50 half-pints of strawberry jelly to get us through next year. We also made some tasty strawberry eclairs which we shared with our neighbors.

Not Quite a Fish

L has been taking swimming lessons through our local parks and rec. She took Tots first where she learned to put her head under water multiple times. Then she took Advanced Tots which she had to take twice. The first item through her teacher was not very good; the kids seldom got off the wall. The second time her teacher was amazing! He had her doing ice cream scoops (breast stroke) the very first lesson! She has done so well, she even got to jump off the diving board three times. She passed this class and will be taking Flippers in the fall. Until then, we will have to take her to the pool so she doesn't forget what she has learned over the summer.

They learned about water safety and how to wear a life jacket.

Doing the torpedo.

Back float.

She loves the water!

Jumping off the diving board.

Using the kick board.

Torpedo

Doing ice cream scoops.

The first time L got to jump off the diving board, she was second in line. The first girl was scared to go so she got down. I was afraid L would just run right off and jump without thinking, she is a bit of a dare devil. However, she went to the end and waited a few seconds, maybe 20, before she jumped off. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera that day so this video is from her second time jumping. She loved jumping off the diving board and wanted to do it again.

Preschool Program

L finished her first year of preschool with a musical program and picnic.They sang five songs in the chapel and then we headed to the playground for lunch. The families brought a sack lunch and the school provided drinks and ice cream. I forgot to take a picture of her with her teachers:( But we did get a disc with pictures from this school year on it. More things to scrapbook.

L had a set of twin boys in her class whom she really liked.

She had 16 kids in her class at the beginning of the year and 14 by the end. I love this preschool and we are excited to put her in again in the fall. She will be in school four days a week with another great teacher.

San Francisco Getaway

I had a chance to get away with some of my friends for Memorial Day weekend so we headed to San Francisco and had an amazing time. Four of us drove down from Oregon, two flew in and one had a police escort from her husband who is a California Highway Patrolman.
We got into town about 6pm on Thursday night coming in over the Golden Gate Bridge. We never got stuck in any traffic the whole time, such a blessing! We went to our cozy rental house and dropped off our luggage then headed out to dinner. Our friend Tannya used to live in SF and was a fabulous tour guide. She took us to all the tasty restaurants and shopping areas. She was also a great driver; they are horrific drivers down there. At one point I asked where all the cops were that normally would be ticketing the people who were running red lights and stop signs, speeding and cutting people off. I was told they had more pressing things to deal with. You definitely have to be a defensive but confident driver in California!

Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge

 

Jen, Kristy, Margaret, Tannya, Nicole, and Sandi eating at our first restaurant, Park Chow. Dinning in SF is very expensive, as is the parking. It costs $2.50 for a can of coke, one can. And the parking cost us $4 or more an hour. We did find one parking lot that charged $15 for 12 hours, that was really good! And all the meters have weird times and signs. We almost got our car towed at one point because we didn't understand what the diamond meant. For future reference, it means no parking after 4 because it's used as a bus lane.

The nighttime view from our balcony.

Isn't it beautiful?

Daytime View

Heather joined us before we headed out to breakfast.

All of us waiting in line at Mama's.

Tannya said it was amazing brunch food and worth the 2 hour wait.

 

I ordered Pan Dore and it actually was worth the 2 hour wait! 

Sandi got the Monte Cristo and it was also very tasty.

 

Margaret and me outside of Mama's.
See the hill behind us? I have never seen so many
hills in one city! Glad we didn't have a stick shift:)

  

I was in awe of all the architecture. There are so
many gorgeous homes, businesses, and cathedrals.

After brunch we went to Lombard Street and drove down. 

It is the windiest road in the world.

I had never heard of Lombard Street but was told it is famous.

 

Kristy and me halfway down Lombard.

   Great Spanish style house.

I loved the color and style of this house. 

Especially the stairway up to it.

Tannya told us Robin Williams lives here and at Halloween

he answers the door and hands out giant candy bars to the kids.

Down by Golden Gate Park

 

Visiting Officer N. while he was patrolling the area in preparation

for the 75th anniversary celebration of the Golden Gate Bridge.

 

Tannya and me.

 

We went to Chinatown and had a great time! So many fun sights to 

see. Most of us even got new purses while we were there!

Unfortunately we had to cut our trip short before our car was towed.

 

Tannya in purse heaven:)

 

On Saturday we headed down to Ferry Street Building and farmer's market.

There were lots of tasty fruits and veggies to eat. We also got some bread

to munch on during our long shopping extravaganza that afternoon at Union Square.

The mall and shops were huge and many stories there. 

You could spend a week just shopping at the mall!

 

Hoping on the trolley.

 

Most of us outside of the 7-story Nordstrom's showing off our purchases.

 

We took a ride on the subway to get back to our car. It was kind

of scary but once we figured out where we were going, it wasn't so bad.

Kristy and Sandi singing karaoke in Japantown. We paid $25 an hour for a small room. We should have paid extra for a large room (because we were packed in like sardines) and we probably will next time. Yes, I said NEXT TIME! We picked out the music we wanted and took "turns" singing. We all actually sang the songs but only a couple people had the mics at a time. It was so much fun and we all left feeling horse and hot. There is a video, but I won't be the first to share it online, sorry.

Sunday morning we went to Tannya's old ward for sacrament.

 

I love the colors of these houses. This is in Berkley.

Heading to breakfast at Squat and Gobble.

They are known for having great crepes.

 

I don't care for crepes so I got a breakfast croissant. It had 

eggs, cheese and bacon. It was bigger than my hand and so tasty!

  Kristy got strawberry crepes which were presented beautifully.

Sandi, Heaver, Jen and I went to Pier 39 and Ghirardelli Square 

while the others went shopping again.

 

Heaver and me.

Sandi and Jen

So many sea lions

We walked around for a few hours and then stopped off for a

tasty treat. I had a hot fudge sundae, of course. It was so good!

Taking a snooze and catching some rays while waiting for the trolley.

We waited for 2 hours to ride the trolley. It was so cold and windy waiting in line by the marina and when we finally got to the head of the line we had to wait for two more trolleys to go in front of us because they were going to Chinatown instead of Union Square. They were taking people from the back of the line to fill the trolleys. When we finally got on the trolley and found seats we were so happy to relax a little. On the way down a really steep hill the trolley driver was honking his horn and ringing the bell because a Winnebago was on the tracks. He finally was able to pull the brakes and get us stopped before we hit the vehicle and then he yelled at them to get out of the way. They moved and we headed down the hill again. Then a taxi pulled right out in front of us and we nearly hit him. Did I tell you we were going down a steep hill and that the drivers in SF are horrid? Well, we were and they are!

 

Here we are standing outside of our house getting ready to head back to our families. It was a wonderful and much needed weekend for us moms. I am so grateful my husband convinced me to go. I never would have had as much if I had gone with him. And thanks to my mother-in-law for watching the kiddies for a couple of those days.