California Remix: San Francisco

Saturday:  Today was our last day in Burbank.  Our last day in any place always makes me wonder why we go on these crazy trips in the first place.  Saying goodbye is always so painful that I make a mental note never to do this kind of thing again.  My mental housekeeping must not be as organized as my actual housekeeping because surely within a month or so I will have lost that note and be yearning for our next adventure.  But on Saturday, there we were- saying goodbye to our apartment, our neighborhood, our favorite places.  At this point though, we still had one more adventure in front of us so we managed to close the door behind us and walk on without too many tears.  The boys had their last improv class in Hollywood from 11:00 until noon and after they finished we headed up the coast to San Francisco.  We had originally planned to drive the PCH all the way up, taking two days and getting to San Francisco on Sunday evening.  Unfortunately we couldn't find a place to stay that was right about half way so we decided to scrap the PCH and just drive up the 5 and the 101 and get there in one day.  We did jut over to the PCH in Marina, about an hour and a half south of San Francisco, where we were welcomed by the wonderful larger than life cardboard cut-out of a farmer posted below.  We stopped at a gorgeous lighthouse were we watched a seal play in the water and Jon climbed down a cliff to grab the boys some rocks.  We jumped back in the car and drove another half hour or so before finding a beach to stop at for sunset.  The beach was practically empty and it was a beautiful night.  We had our sweatshirts on- which, after a month in LA, wasn't such a bad thing- and we stayed until the last colors in the sky had faded into darkness.  After another hour on the road, we made it to San Francisco just after 10:00pm.  It was a long day of driving, but I've always dreamed of seeing San Francisco for as long as I can remember and the boys have dreamed of it since they became obsessed with bridges and architecture.  We were finally here!

Welcome to Marina, CA?  Is this for real?!

 

Stopped along the PCH....

Saw a seal...



 And this gorgeous lighthouse!

 

Getting closer to sunset...

Pescadero Beach

My little beach boys

Sunset at Pescadero Beach

Sunday:  When we woke up, Caleb declared that he wanted "the best bowl of oatmeal in San Francisco" so that is what we set out to find.  Our search landed us at a little coffee shop in Pacific Heights called Café Murano and my little boy was certainly not disappointed...  they did indeed have the very best bowl of oatmeal in all of San Francisco.  I know this is a bold thing to say as it was our first (and only) bowl of oatmeal in San Francisco, but there was really no need to try any others.  The weather- chilly and drizzly- was a very welcomed change of pace and it felt wonderful to fill up with a warm bowl of oatmeal and a fresh cup of coffee.  After breakfast we headed out to Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39.  We had been warned that both are tourist traps which we were certain was the truth, but we still felt like we had to check them out.  The boys got to see a submarine and a war ship upon which they actually filmed a few scenes of the Titanic movie- so that was a big hit.  I got to see the sea lions which made my day.  And we got the world's best clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl and the most delicious crab cakes for lunch...  and Jon's mouth only went numb for a short while so that part was a bonus!  It was a fantastic morning and I'm glad we didn't skip that part of town even though we generally try avoid the big touristy kind of things.  After our lunch we drove over the Bay Bridge to UC Berkley which is where Jon's dad had gone to graduate school.  It was a gorgeous campus and it felt really neat to have the second and third generation of Paddock boys at Grampy's alma mater.  Caleb was SUPER geeked to get a sweatshirt with his name on it, though Matthew was a little disappointed that there wasn't one for him too.  If anyone knows of a University of Matthew please let us know!  We spent a few hours on campus before heading west to Muir Woods where we spent two hours hiking amongst the redwoods which was nothing short of incredible.  The boys were in Heaven, hiking and exploring and asking a gazillion questions.  Thank goodness Jon was able to answer just about all of them!  Did I mention that Jon was in Heaven too?!  I wasn't feeling too bad myself...  seeing the boys follow in their father's footsteps is more than I could ever ask for in life.  At times I fear that the world can't handle another Jon (or more imminently, I can't) but I know in my heart of hearts that the world is in trouble without more people like him, so if I can contribute two carbon copies I will have to consider my journey through motherhood a success :)   Anyways- after our hike through Muir Woods we stopped at Vista Point in the Marin Headlands to get some pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge before crossing over it.  The boys were more than amazed even though their infatuation with bridges has faded in the last year.  We stayed through sunset and even though it was pretty cloudy it was just gorgeous!!!  On our way home we stopped at Swenson's for an ice cream treat and finally got back to our place at 10:00pm.  We were all exhausted!!!

Caleb and his oatmeal

Sea Lions at Pier 39

Matthew ordering clam chowder and crab cakes for lunch!

 UC Berkley

The boys learning some choreography on campus!  LOL!

 

Grampy's alma mater

Being redwoods....

Incredible

So tiny!

Muir Woods

Because why wouldn't you see the Oregon duck at the top of the Golden Gate Bridge?!?!

From Vista Point, Marin Headlands

Monday: The boys wanted oatmeal again for breakfast so we started another morning at Café Murano.  It was cold and rainy- and again, it was very welcomed!  After we ate we drove down Crooked Lombard and past the Painted Ladies (but not before showing the boys the intro to Full House!)  Then we met up with some of our twin friends- Miss Jenn and Jack and Nick- who live about an hour and a half out of San Francisco.  We got to meet up with them in Santa Barbara two summers ago when we were in LA, so we were all excited to see each other again!  We met in Union Square which was a new part of town for us, but the line for the trolley was too long for four little boys to wait so we ended up driving over to Golden Gate Park to play at the playground and ride the carousel.  Jon went to the Yellow Submarine to pick up some sandwiches for a picnic lunch and the boys just had a blast together.  They climbed trees, played tag and Red Light/Green Light, and generally just ran around like little boys should.  The carousel was extra special for us since it is a Herschell-Spillman just like the carousel at Greenfield Village.  We have always heard that there are three carousel frogs wearing clothing in the whole country- one is on our carousel at the Village and the other two were on this carousel!  Our lives felt a little more complete after finding the other two :)  After the park and carousel we all went to China Beach on the west side of the Golden Gate Bridge.  We spent the afternoon watching the boys play in the sand with the bridge rising up behind them.  Jon entertained the boys for well over an hour by digging a giant hole that all four of them could fit into while Jenn and I got to sit on the blanket and catch up on all sorts of stuff.  As glorious as it was, it made me a bit sad to know I only get to see my best of friends every once in a while.  But I will take what I can get!  After the beach our friends had to head back home.  We drove back towards Fisherman's Wharf where we were able to finally catch a trolley car for an iconic ride through the city.  I can't for the life of me believe that in this day and age they actually let you hang off the rails as you careen down the streets of San Francisco!  It was so incredible!!!  Once again we rolled back into our place at 10:00pm- not usually our style but you gotta do what you gotta do when you only have two and a half days to see all of San Francisco!

Twins and more twins!

Picnic in Golden Gate Park

Silly boys

Playing tag!

LOL!

The boys coming up with a "plan"

Where's Waldo?

Herschell-Spillman frog!!!!

 

Matty picked an ostrich

China Beach

So hard to say goodbye to our friends 

Cable car ride!



Tuesday:  Tuesday morning was a bit rough.  No.  Strike that.  Tuesday morning was brutal.  Just plain brutal.  It was like a war zone actually.  The boys woke up in a mood that could rival Alexander's terrible horrible no good very bad day.  Caleb especially.  Matthew was more so just tearful but Caleb was outright defiant.  It took all we had to get everything all packed up and into the car.  Once again, the boys wanted their best oatmeal for breakfast so for the third day in a row we headed to Café Murano.  With a little coffee in our systems, Jon and I were able to muster up a little bit of extra patience and understanding.  We knew the boys weren't being difficult just to be difficult but that they were likely experiencing the same flood of conflicting emotions that we were.  At first it seemed like they weren't able to express that.  But while waiting for our oatmeal, Matthew's eyes welled up with the biggest, wettest tears and as they fell he said "I don't want to leave San Francisco.  I don't want to leave California."  I guess we hadn't expected the boys to have such a reaction to leaving.  They had left Burbank relatively well but looking back I think that was because they were excited to go to a new part of California and they knew we weren't leaving just yet.  But Tuesday morning we were leaving for good and they knew it.  While they were excited to be home to see our family, both boys had a very intense sadness and sense of loss at leaving California behind- and I think the conflicting feelings were just too much for them to handle.  Jon took Matthew out for a walk while Caleb climbed into my lap and cried- and luckily after some one on one time we were able to talk them down from the ledge and move on with our morning.  We gave each of the boys a chance to pick one last thing to do in San Francisco before we had to leave for the airport.  Caleb wanted to cross the Golden Gate Bridge again so we did just that- drove over, turned around, and drove right back!  Matthew wanted to drive down Crooked Lombard one more time but it was closed as they were filming a movie at the top- but they did let us walk down it so that was really cool.  We stopped to pick up some sourdough bread for Grammy and Grampy and then we were off to the airport.  It was a bit complicated checking all of our bags and then dropping off our rental car but we managed to do both with time to spare.  While I don't see it happening any time soon- I've got to admit I can't wait for the day we can travel without the boys' car seats!  We had a 2:40pm flight to Phoenix with just enough time to catch our flight from Phoenix to Detroit.  As usual, the boys were perfect little travelers.  They did the whole first flight (two hours) without any electronics though we did let them watch Mary Poppins on the second flight because Jon and I were just plain exhausted.  With the time change, we landed in Detroit at 12:30am.  By the time we got home, emptied the car, and got the boys into bed it as 2:00 in the morning!  Granted it only felt like 11:00pm to us, but the clock reminded me that we're going to have a looooong week of adjusting back to Michigan time!!