Wonderful Week in CA

What a wonderful week we have had here in Southern California. Many mornings began with Griffin waking us all up with several kisses on the forehead and then him screaming that he wanted to go to the "Wobby" to eat breakfast. Breakfast was always nice sitting down as a family and Graci being so independent that she had to fix her breakfast by her self every morning. Griffin was the "king of the suite" and everyone heard him coming a mile away. He would let everyone in the "wobby" know exactly where we were sitting and how awful the food was at times. He ruled the roof, that's for sure. The last day here he walked around like a little "hottie" in his seersucker pants and polo shirt......he even wanted to wear the peach tie with sailboats and the coat to breakfast but I told him it wasn't church. He said, "Mom its my costume".

We visited the Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose. It is one of the largest museum of it's kind in the nation. The kids really enjoyed it and it's really well equipped. Both of them loved all the hands on equipment, the craft room and playing chef in the pizza room. Griffn loved the firetruck, ambulance and tractor that he could climb on. Graci's favorite part was the WaterWays. They enjoyed playing with the colorful balls and guided them through the many waterways and tunnels. Graci loved pulling the pulleys and watching the balls fly up and water splash all over her. Many times Thomas and I would just sit down and watch the kids learn through concrete interaction, touching, exploring, manipulating and experimenting. In fact, every day they asked to go back.

Welcome to the Alcatraz Island!! That is what we heard on our cell house audio tour. We heard it from the men who actually lived it from correctional officers and inmates who lived on the island during the infamous Federal Penitentiary Era. We took the Alcatraz Cruise and the viewed the San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge from the island. It was amazing, in fact, it was breath taking. It was quite an interesting experience visiting a federal prison and trying to explain to a 3 and 6 year about prisoners. Griffin was scared that if he did anything wrong he would be sentenced to "life in Alcatraz". I can't forget to tell you that the distance through the Alcatraz is equivalent to climbing a thirteen story building. So we have a 3 year old who is constantly saying, "carry me" and a 6 year old who has just had ear reconstruction. What were we thinking?? The trip including lots of walking up steep and hilly distances. However, I must say it was an inescapable experience!!

We couldn't leave without going to the Golden Gate Park. It is a large urban park that consisted of over 1,000 acres. It is often compared to Central Park in NYC. It is the ultimate haven away from the urban chaos. It was definitely a place to play and relax after riding in the busy city trying to find the ends and out of the Park. There is so much to do there from gardens, museums, recreation to the ocean view. We only saw a short part of God's beautiful nature and only had a short time to explore the park but it was by far the most beautiful and calming place I've ever visited.

Later leaving their Mommy had to visit Chinatown. I had no idea it was the largest Chinatown outside of Asia. It was total nightmare trying to find it but when you did it was obvious you were in "Chinatown". It is about 8 blocks long and many shops are open and the streets are busy. Griffin did get to try on a San Fran Fire Dept. outfit with the Fireman. It was a pretty cool moment with Grififn on the streets of Chinatown rocking the Fireman gear. Let me make sure I mention that parking isn't just scare here, it's almost non-existent which can be very frustrating.
Leaving Chinatown wasn't fun............we ran into afternoon traffic and of course one of the biggest games of the UNC season was playing at 6 and we were stuck in traffic at 5:30. Not good for a girl who just spent over 100 dollars on pocketbooks and jewelry. Needless to say we got back to the room right before halftime and UNC still wasn't able to pull it through. So much for the good luck charms we bought in Chinatown.......Still Tarheels At Heart :)