Saturday, August 13, 2011

San Francisco Trip


In what has become a tradition we made our final "just before school starts" trip of the summer.  This year the location was San Francisco.  Three reasons....  the tickets were CHEAP....  the weather should be cooler than Texas in August...  and we could check off one more Major League Ballpark from our list.  It was a great trip.


We didn't hve many plans, a few things we really wanted to show M as this was not the adult's first trip to SF.  One of the first interesting things we saw was right by our hotel - note the sign - under "FUN" - Avis Rent A Car....  hilarious.









The first thing we did was walk along the wharf, a nice view of Alcatraz and, of course, the sea lions.










Next we found the Maritime Museum and visited all of the ships there, very interesting so see the history and how long some of them had been in operation.


































We rode the trolly and visited the trolly museum.














































We did manage to catch the Giants/Phillies game at AT&T Park.  It is an amazing park, very fan friendly.  The Giants weren't in it that night but we were able to catch our first fight where both teams cleared the dugouts...  made the whole game worthwhile.  Oh, and there was this really loud guy who sat next to us.... "HUNTER.... oh HUNTERMAN..... you're a follower".  He was a die-hard Giant's fan and razzed the Phillies outfielder Hunter Pence the whole game.  I'm sure Pence and other major league ballplayers have learned to tune that out but I really thing this guy got to Pence, even if just a little.  The funny thing was - Pence hit a homer...  priceless!

















After the game we walked back to the trolly stop and caught the trolly back to the hotel.













On Saturday we drove out to the Winchester Mystery House... if you haven't been you really need to find a reason to go, it is so fascinating.  The tour was different this time than last time and they now have a behind-the-scenes tour which was very interesting as well.

















On Sunday we made the round trip around the bay - over the Bay Bridge, across the bridge from Oakland to Marin, then back across the Golden Gate.  Lots of fog around the gate every day we were there.  We spent the rest of the day walking around and seeing what we could find.











We found a Duck Tour - it was a lot of fun!!  Below are pics from the day including the view of AT&T Park from the water in the duck, again, FUN!!!!








































Monday was our trip out to Alcatraz.  M really like it and we tried to lock him in a cell but he's just too quick for us now.  After we took the electric bus/street car downtown and watched the last of the Harry Potter movies.






























The weather was great, almost chilly at times, we were interviewed by a TV reporter who recognized us as being from out-of-town.  I don't know if we actually made it on the news but M really enjoyed the attention.  A nice, cool, and relaxing trip... until next time San Francisco!!

Deb

Friday, August 12, 2011

Summer Wrap Up

It's hard to believe but M starts school on Monday - 5th Grade.  We've struggled in recent weeks with which school he should attend and those of you who know the story know our struggle.  In the end we've decided to leave him at Temple for this last year of "elementary".  One day at a time, one step at a time...

So, in our rush to finish the summer in grand style we've worked on our "to do" list these last couple of weeks.


We stepped out for a Rangers game against the Twins, sat right behind the bull pen so M got to see all of the pitchers doing their thing, he was in heaven!



We sent M off to Church Camp with his best bud.  They had a great time and M is already planning his return trip.  Here is a pic of M and B at MAD Camp.



While M was at MAD Camp the love of my life and I drove down to New Orleans for some adult time.  Of course, no pics were taken during that trip.  But while we were there we found a shirt that was perfect for M and here he is modeling it.


Stay tuned for a summary of our final trip of the summer - San Francisco!!!

Deb

Friday, August 05, 2011

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Giants / Phillies Game - AT&T Park!
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