Daily Jack

Here is a short video of the little man walking. He is getting more confident every day and I'm sure it won't be long til he's running! Watch out world, here comes Jack!

2010 draws to a close

Jack's birthday party and Christmas are now over, only one more big event next weekend then its 2011. Jack's party went so well, we had a great turnout and the little man was busy entertaining his guests the whole afternoon. We kept the decor simple, I had all of our Christmas decorations up and our tree, so we just added a little birthday banner I made and left it at that.

For lunch we had Tomato Basil soup, Turkey and Havarti grilled cheese, Goat Cheese and Roasted Pepper panini's, Swiss and Apple grilled cheese, and homemade Mac'N'Cheese. Kendra helped me make the cake, a lovely rich milk chocolate crunch with caramel chocolate cake that was to die for.

Picture via Martha Stewart

Jack was a little overwhelmed at first with everyone watching him. But once I gave him a taste of his cake he loved it and got down to business. However, I will not be using Red Velvet cake for a kids cake again! I honestly don't know what I was thinking on that one. Oh well, thankfully he only has one "1st" birthday. We were so blessed by all the love and support we've received this year, I can't believe how fast its gone by.

The week before Jack's party he did start to walk, well take 3-4 steps at a time. Since then he keeps adding, though he isn't walking consistently yet. For some strange reason he seems to do better when he's tired and its close to bed. I don't know, maybe not thinking about it quite so much. Christmas he was enthralled with his cousin, wanting to go everywhere she went so I think that helped too. We are so excited for this next step, but a little scared too. I'm forseeing many head injuries once he starts running! Maybe we should have gotten him a helmet for Christmas!

A couple nights before Christmas we decided to take Jack to PIR to see their Christmas lights display. I think we will have to give it a couple more years before Jack finds them interesting at all. While he was pleased to be in his big boy seat, his incoming teeth were bothering him so much he missed most of the lights from giving mommy the death stare for not bringing his teething ring. Oh well, next year, or the next year, right?!!!

Jack got a couple of new chairs for Christmas, some he can stay in, like the one below and some he can't. This picture was taken yesterday as he was watching the birds outside. He's very into his chairs and having a blanket to snuggle with.

Along those lines, my aunt got him a DVD on signing that we have been watching in the mornings. He will not settle down to watch it until he has his blanket and mommy next to him. What a crazy kid. He is developing such strong likes and dislikes now, trying so hard to communicate, and getting frustrated when I am not getting it. Hence the signing, I'm hoping that we will be able to alleviate some of his frustration with that. However, his vocabulary has lately increased from "Dada" to "Uh Oh", "Papa", "Dog", "Ball".

Well thats about it for now. I will try to post some better pictures of Jacks birthday, maybe some video. Kendra's fiance Jesse was a blessing in recording Jack's party for us. If you ever need someone to do video for an event he is your man! Much love to you all, and may this next year for you hold many blessings, surprises and adventures.

Say CHEESE!

I feel like my weeks are flying by at an alarming rate this month. Christmas shopping, baking goodies, Jack's birthday and more consuming my waking hours. Along with this I've been trying to find a picture to use for our Christmas card this year. I don't know about you but getting good smiles from the whole family is definitely a challenge. My sisters fiance took some family photos over Thanksgiving but Jack and Justin must have the same ideas when it comes to smiling for a family photo. This is what we ended up with...

...yes, like father, like son. Oh well. I'm sure I will be able to find something that will work. In perusing Ohdeedoh today I found the best "Christmas Card" idea ever. This family did a Christmas video instead. It is so awesome, I've watched it ton already and just had to share. I wish I had a smidgen of the creativity this family has got, but until that day I will just enjoy watching their Christmas video. Check it out here from Melancholy Smile.

Other than that not too much to report. Justin and I were able to get some much needed time out in our yard Sunday with the clear weather we had. I redid some outdoor containers with some really cool plants that I will share with you later. There is something really refreshing about working outside, could just be the fresh air versus stinky diapers, but I'd like to think its a little bit more! Hope you are well as the holidays rush down upon us, and hopefully for you couples out there you find yourselves some mistletoe!

Food Coma and a Christmas Garland

Thanksgiving was amazing. Jack had a blast stuffing his little cheeks like a chipmunk. As you can see below his cheeks look like he is storing some food in them for later, just in case we forget to feed him.






Kendra and I recently visited a super cute boutique near my house and saw an adorable Christmas garland. As soon as we saw it we both had the same idea, WE CAN TOTALLY MAKE ONE! So after a quick stop at the craft store we got down to business.

We used a 3" hole punch, a 2" hole punch, red and green sparkle paper,

fishing twine and Amazing Goop!

We punched out lots of circles using both sizes for both colors.

We laid out the circles in the pattern we chose, one for each side of the twine.

We put the goop on the circles, placed the twine across one circle and pressed the second circle to it to. Once done the sparkly paper would show on both sides.

Next weekend we are heading up into the woods with some friends to go find our Christmas tree. I really want to have it up before Jack's birthday party. We usually get a noble tree but this year I think I am going to branch out. I plan on making my ornaments like I've done the last two years, we'll just have to keep 'em up higher so Jack doesn't get them. I love this time of year, the lights, the music and the memories of Christmas's past. Justin and I are even more excited because this is Jack's first Christmas. Our first Christmas making memories as a family, creating our own family traditions to continue in the years to come. So yeah, we are excited.



Today a friend came to visit with her son. He and Jack are about 4 months apart. They don't really play together yet but they watch each other and play with the same toys. Its great to get Jack around kids his age, learning how to share and play nice. When it was time for them to leave Jack was sitting on my friends lap next to her son when all on his own Jack gave him a hug! It was so precious and I wish we had a gotten a picture of it but of course we didn't have the camera on hand. I probably shouldn't be surprised, Jack gives "loves" to everyone. He will grab you around the neck, sometimes grabbing your hair, and squeeze with all his little might to show you how much he loves you. I adore this and will be so sad when my little boy grows up to that age where hugs are fleeting things and only allowed when no one is watching. So that made today a snapshot that I'm storing away in my memory for those days to come.



Loves to you all, we are so thankful for you!

Daily Jack

Thanksgiving is just a week away and I for one have so much to be thankful for. Jack is almost a year old and other than a nasty little cold he got last week, a healthy, happy child full of personality with lots of "loves" to give. Here is Jack in an adorable outfit his Nana bought for him before he was born.

I am currently trying to get things together for his first birthday. There are a ton of ideas out there and some truly amazing 1st birthday parties, its a tad bit harder than I thought to figure out exactly how much to do or not do. That said, I am having a great time working on some of the homemade touches we are putting into his day. Our theme so to speak is nature, this because Jack loves going for walks and being outside. Earth tones, toadstools, owls and gnomes are just a hint. I will share more later after the big day.

However I will share my newest craft project with you. I found the idea on Etsy and found the directions here. We found a sewing machine here when cleaning out some closets and I have enjoyed learning how to use it more proficiently. This latest project is the next progression in my sewing aspirations.

Daily Jack

Have I mentioned that I LOVE this little man?!

Jack turns water baby

Hello, hello! So it seems that October has passed us by and my have we been busy. Jack and I just got back from a trip to visit family in California and what a great vacation it was! I love doing trips with family, because of all the extra help with Jack, it really DOES feel like a vacation. We went down to Palm Springs and enjoyed checking out the Living Desert Zoo, the local street fair, resteraunts, and of course hanging out in the pool.

Pretty much felt like we were on safari!

Note to self...DO NOT wear a straw hat in goat pen!

I swear he had fun!

When not out exploring Palm Springs, Jacks next favorite place was the hot tub. He earned himself a new nickname "Tadpole" as he loved the water and literally threw a fit each time we took him out. I've never seen anything like it. Jack liked that yellow floaty for about 20 minutes then decided he needed some freedom. The seat in the hot tub was just his height so he could stand with his head above water and walk around. Of course he had to push his luck and walk off the edge, when he went under I pulled him up and we waited to see how he would react. You would never guess what he did. He looked at me and SMILED! Is that normal? Don't get me wrong I'm not complaining but I would have expected some tears and crying. Same exact thing happened every time. If I didn't know better I would say he was part fish. Justin was very bummed to have missed out on all these fun things but I plan on bringing him next time. Nice of me I know~

Now we are home and Jack was so happy to see his dada, did I tell you he started to say that? Justin of course loves it, I keep pushing for Mama, however Jack just looks at me and makes his motorboat noise! Figures. :)

Jack has been very busy since we got home, rediscovering his toys, playing with the new stuffed doggy his dada got him, and watching the birds on the back porch. His great-gramma has a bird feeder at her house and Jack loves watching the birds when he's over there. So I thought it would be nice to have one at our house too. I was bummed though when no birds showed up... great-gramma said to give it a couple of days and then they would come. She was right, we have blue jays, a flicker, sparrows, and finches that visit our feeder. And as much as Jack loves watching them, I have to admit I love it too.

Next up on our agenda, pumpkin carving, roasting pumpkin seeds, and maybe a costume!

Daily Jack

This is what happens when he feeds himself. He thought he did pretty good!

A boy and his dog

We've had a busy day today; Jack took a walk with Henry, helped mommy put up a bird feeder, saw a Praying Mantis trying to fend off Henry, and snacked on some yummy melon. Yup, like I said pretty busy, and we loved every sunshine filled second of it! What did you do today?

Jack loves his Henry dog!

Jack's New Ride

I'm doing a Monday stand off if anyone wants to join me. I've always thought of the weekend as 3 days, but really anymore we only have one free day all to ourselves. This weekend or "weekend day" was really quite enjoyable. Jack's Nana came by for a visit bringing with her some new toys that Jack just loves and I have to say I'm enjoying them too. The weather was amazing, sunshine in the afternoon, so of course we all took a leisurely walk. Well actually Nana and I walked, Justin and Jack rode their bikes. Jack really likes his in case you were wondering.

Justin and I also watched the Oregon Ducks game. GO DUCKS! In case you are not a crazy Duck fan like myself, they were playing Stanford, who is ranked 9th in the Pac-10. Aren't you impressed with my college football knowledge?? :) That is about the extent of it, but I almost had ya fooled right?

So that was our weekend day, what did you do this weekend?

Daily Jack

Jack turned 9 months this week. That means I am only 3 months away from having a 1 year old. Yikes! Jack has been very busy since we've moved, he's been trying new foods, hanging out with friends, and been out on some adventures. Here are few pictures to catch you up on the little mans antics.

Jack has discovered Cheerios

And he LOVES them!

He was in the middle of a conversation with himself when I interrupted him to take this picture.

Jack and his friend "powder", bet you can't guess why thats his nickname! :)

Yes, another DIY project

I love fall, but unfortunately our number of clear fall days is much smaller than our rainy fall days. We have an outdoor fire pit area but no matter how amazing a fire is, its not much fun when you are soaking wet.

While perusing through Apartment Therapy I came across another DIY project, a personal fire pit. The materials only cost $25 bucks, This is totally one I CAN do and is perfect for under your porch while the rain drums outside! All this needs is a couple of friends and a cup of hot cocoa.

(via http://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/how-to-make-a-personal-fire-pit-for-cheap)

Yes, I do believe its officially fall

Dear Friends and Family,

We are still alive! The last couple of weeks have been incredibly busy as we moved our store and then our house! If any of you have done the moving thing you understand what a truly huge undertaking it is. This is our 2nd move in the last year and while we purged of un-needed items in our last move we still have quite a few belongings. I don't think our friends will help us move again anytime soon, and if for some reason Justin would mention such a thing I'm sure our belongings would end up "lost" in a ditch somewhere! That being said we are VERY thankful to have such great friends.

The house we just moved back into Justin has owned for some years now and we have been working to rennovate it. It is a great place with plenty of outbuildings and "man caves" for Justin. I'm enjoying the expanded cupboard space and many windows and Henry is loving his larger yard. But the best perk has to be its close proximity to the grandparents!

Little man Jack has had quite the time adjusting to a new home, room and huge expanse of wood flooring. Standing in footed jammies on a wood floor has resulted in a few slips and slides and head bumps, however he has thoroughly enjoyed exploring the new crawling territory. I promise to post some new pics as soon as I find my camera! Jack has been crawling for about a month now and is becoming more and more...confident, dare I say...at pulling himself into a standing postion. He frequently looks at me as he daringly takes his hand off the couch and stands alone for a few seconds, I love that he thinks he is such a daredevil!

Oh, I almost forgot his new thing to do is tilt his head to the side and hold my phone up to his ear. He loves "talking" to his daddy on the phone and gets quite perturbed when I take to long to talk myself. Precious!

Yesterday we went to the Oregon Ducks game. It was classic Oregon fall weather, drizzle and more drizzle! But as all Eugene people know, "It NEVER rains in Autzen Stadium!" This being said, we were in high spirits as we walked the ramp to Autzen stadium.

The U of O has really benefitted from being the starting place of Nike, as Phil Knight who is the co-founder of Nike and attended the University of Oregon, has donated a lot of money to the school. If you ever visit Eugene you really need to check out the campus, the newly built Jaqua Academic Center for athletes is amazing. We stopped in with some relatives to check it out and it is a stunning piece of work.

(via topboxdesign.com)

We had the game in the bag from the start. Oregon scored in the first 5 minutes and the resounding "O" from the crowd was awesome. It was clear that Oregon was much quicker on offense and defense and I kind of felt bad for Portland State as their QB got sacked quite a few times. The final score was 69-0 and while the game itself lacked the intensity of a close game we had a blast. I'm hoping we have the opportunity to make this an annual trip, but with perhaps some sunshine next time.

Football, rain, and pumpking spice lattes all herald that fall has officially arrived here in the northwest. I can't wait for pumpkin patches, Jack's first Halloween, and a crackling fire with some hot cocoa. What are your favorite fall things?

Well thats about it for now, Jack is napping, Henry is looking for squirrels, Justin is working, and its back to unpacking for me! Be back soon.

Awards and Birthday Wishes

So Kendra was given this award for her blog. Then she kindly passed it on to me. Now I tell you 7 things about myself.

1. I love coffee. Not like, LOVE!
2. I once ran 7 miles downhill in a 50 mile relay. Booyah!
3. I like to grow my own herbs for cooking. Especially basil...mmmmmm!
4. I enjoy traveling to warm places.
5. I love to read. Last author I read was Diana Gabaldon.
6. I like to play scrabble with my hubby.
7. Being a mommy is the best job I've ever had!

Thanks for the award sister! Happy Birthday, we hope you had a wonderful weekend, and are so glad you liked your Air Plants!

We shall succeed!

Last night Justin and I had a small victory with Jack. I'm sure a victory with an 8 month old is laughable in the grand scheme of things, but hey we'll take what we can get. This victory being a change in our night time sleeping (or lack there of) routine. Little Man slept in a cradle in our room for 6 months, we both liked having him near and he slept great. Well at 6 months we decided we needed to reclaim our room and move him to his own room. I worked hard on that room, we had to get some use out of it!

(giraffes we made, the tree is a sticker)

(letters from Pottery Barn kids the alphabet cards I had from when I was teaching!)

A friend had advised me to try the tough love approach and let him have a few nights of crying to learn how put himself back to sleep if he woke up. The first night we tried this Justin and I made a pact to let him cry it out, and lovingly if not a little sadly put him down to sleep in his own room.

In our baby prep class they played the sound of a baby crying for a minute to give us a taste of what we had to look forward too. I think if they really wanted to prepare parents they should have played it for at least 15 minutes! :) When you listen to a baby cry it seems to last forever! It breaks your heart because you are the comforter, nurturer, the protector. I actually timed Jack one time to see how long he cried and was surprised that what had seemed like 10 minutes was in truth only 2.

But back to Jack's first night in his own room. Jack went to sleep great, no fuss, just a fistful of moms hair and he drifted off to dreamland! Justin and I were patting each other on the back thinking this was a breeze... then came the first wake-up of the night. We both woke up, and listened to his pitiful cries, this was a lot harder than we had anticipated. Then, finally, daddy broke, his son was scared, didn't know where he was and needed his daddy. This is why I love that man! So that first night didn't work so well, and well, we just couldn't do it again after that.

Fast forward 2 months and Jack has recently been waking and standing in his crib crying till we come and put him back down. At first we thought he couldn't get back down, then we realized he was playing us. Sneaky little guy! So last night we vowed to try the cry it out theory again. 1 a.m. rolled around and Jack woke up, stood up in his crib and cried as if his little heart was breaking. Then he paused and listened for mommy and daddy, then cried, then listened, etc... I sat up listening to this pattern for about an hour before Jack finally fell back asleep, on his own. What about that loving daddy you might ask, well I had to use all my persuasive powers to stop him for going in there but it was worth it.

They say letting your child learn to put themselves back to sleep is the greatest gift you can give them. And while I understand this sentiment, I think the gift of a late night snuggle just can't be beat.

I Love My Ducks!

I just got tickets to an Oregon Ducks game and I am so excited! We've been talking about going to a game forever and not done it and I finally put all the talk into action. My family has been Duck fans for a long time now. When my sister went to the U of O I was able to go to a couple of games and sit in the student section. If you don't know what its like to sit in the "student section" you have never experienced college football at its craziest! :) 20 somethings decked out in yellow and green chanting, screaming... Go Ducks! This video was made last year when the Ducks were on their way to the Rose Bowl and I love it!

Its Friday... woot, woot!

Lets all breath a sigh of relief because its Friday! Ready one, two, three..... ahhhhhhhhh. I don't know about you but our household has had a busy week.

Some of my favorite things from this week were: going swimming at a friends house on one of our REALLY hot days, (thank you friend for sharing your cool waters with us), visiting with family, and our new way to cook zucchini (yummy!).

Some not so favorite things were: cleaning out my vacuum cleaner, running out of ice cream, and Jack's biggest crash yet which resulted in a toppled piece of furniture and a massive bruise on his forehead. I didn't want to leave the house after that one for fear someone would put me in the same category as that lady on the Southwest flight!

Thankfully though its Friday, I hope you all have some fun things planned. We will be praying Jack's teeth come in so we can all sleep in! Its the small things in life! :) I will leave you with another video of Jack's noises because they just crack me up. Have a fabulous weekend and we'll see ya next week.

Daily Jack

Jack wanted to share with you his motor boat impression! He works on it every morning.

Sweets for my sweet!

When you are pregnant people always want to know what strange cravings you have. I've heard of some crazy ones, cheetos with tapatio sauce and lemon, mushed bananas with peas and chili sauce, if that doesn't make your tummy curdle I don't know what will! However luckily for Justin I did not suffer from the frantic middle of the night need for a particular food item, well maybe just one. Sweets! Compared to the above cravings this one seems rather blasé though. Our freezer was well stocked with ice cream at all times in the last month of my pregnancy. I'm pretty sure Jack liked it as well because he was always jumping around in the evenings when it was time for some sweets! :)

Today I still love my bowl of ice cream, but I would trade it in for an alternative my sister introduced me too! VANILLA JILLS... just typing the name makes my mouth water! They have frozen yogurt, which is not only as tasty as any ice cream, it has less calories than premium ice cream! I recently had some of their Vanilla Bean with Lavender, so yummy. However, their Tart is also very good with some fresh fruit. If you ever are in Eugene on a hot day you definitely need to check them out.

Vanilla Bean with Lavender & Marrionberry with Chocolate Chips

The Daily Jack

Jack couldn't decide between his Huggies "Jeans" diaper or his dependable Pampers!

The "Daily Jack"

You always hear people say that kids grow up too fast. Everyday I look at Jack I see changes, and he is definitely sprinting towards being a big person! He just started crawling 2 weeks ago and is already pulling himself up on anything he can get his hands on. So, because of these rapid changes and the fact that my family lives terribly far away, I have taken to sending picture messages entitled "Daily Jack" as a way to share with them the daily changes, funny moments, and sweet snuggles of the little man. So here is the "Daily Jack" (well okay like 3 or 4)!

This is our shout out to the 80's...

... he was so proud of himself for standing up alone...

... that he had to try it in his crib...

... and he did it, which amused him very much!

DIY project and a goat

Yarn, fabric, tissue paper, glue, mod podge, pictures and more. I love doing crafty projects! Some of my favorite memories are of Kendra and I finding a cool new DIY project to try out. Safety Pin bracelets (Kendra rocked that project), hand crocheted scarves and hats, home-made christmas ornaments, wire picture holders and more. I currently have a growing list of DIY projects that I have seen in magazines or found online. My newest one is a hanging bed... yes, I know, how cool is a hanging bed. I've been in love with them ever since I visited a friends loft in which she had her very own, simply fantastic, hanging bed.

(picture from Ohdeedoh)

However, this project requires working with wood. Which, in hindsight I'm not quite that good with. My last project involving wood was to build a goat house for our goat. Yes, we had a goat. Not a cute little goat which comes to your knees but a full grown, I will head butt you goat. "Goat, goat" as it was dubbed (we had no clue as to the gender) arrived on our porch xmas eve in the arms of a friend who for some reason thought it was a great xmas gift. Let me add as a side note here that we are not goat herders. Dog people... yes, cat people... depends on who you ask, goat people... no! What possessed him to think we needed a goat is beyond me. Personally I wanted to return the favor with a pig or a ferret but Justin wasn't so inclined. Lucky for our friend. Our friend also generously included a leash, collar, and stake for the goat. Thanks!

This is what a day in the life of the goat went. Me: letting the goat off its leash cuz I felt bad, chasing goat because it was eating the plants on my patio, yelling at goat because it was pooping on my patio while running away from me. Henry: eating goat poop, pretending to herd the goat while chasing it around the house, eating more goat poop. You get the drift. Oh and as to the whole crop circle mystery, I would like to solve that one. Goat on a leash. It eats a perfectly round circle wherever you stake it. :)

But I digress, I felt bad leaving "goat, goat" out in the elements and decided to build it a shelter. Goggles in place I used Justins skill saw (? I think thats what it was) to cut extra boards we had in our barn. I spent a good 3-4 hours on that silly little creatures' house. But, by the time I finished the goat had something that looked like it came from a "Cat in the Hat" story. I'm thinking a builder is not in the cards for my future. Lucky for the goat Justin and our roommate at the time came to my rescue and fixed my haphazardly mess into a respectable little abode.

Which brings me back to my new fabulous DIY project... hmmmm, perhaps I will add that to my list of JDI (Justin Do It!) We will see.

Jack Crawls

Well somehow the end of last week turned into the first of this week. Things have been crazy around our house these days, some days I forget exactly what day it is I'm on. Never had that problem when I was teaching. Your days are mapped out in such detail you know each moment of every hour. But, back to Jack and his new lease on life. This video was taken with my phone so please excuse the poor quality. However I hope you enjoy this new milestone of Jacks'.

Old Family Photos

I've mentioned before one of my favorite websites/blogs Ohdeedoh which has a great collection of childrens rooms and kid-themed ideas. They recently had a post about people re-creating old family photos and it is such a hoot! You have to check it out!

Click here to view the article at Ohdeedoh

I'd Rather Be Jack Today

This is what I did today...

This is what Jack did today...

...guess who had more fun!

Giggles

Click here to view this video

Little Man of Action

Jack is now mobile. Froggy hop, inchworm, new terror on all fours, whatever name you want to call it, he has now mastered control and coordination of multiple limbs. And while I am ecstatic at this milestone he has reached, I'm also envisioning (insert sigh) the new supervision it will require. I took a gander at things around our house from a mobile Jack viewpoint... let me tell you the plethora of things that grabbed my attention was mind boggling! I will try to post a video later this week of the little man in action.

Oh speaking of video, I had an unfortunate discovery yesterday which reminds me of the love/hate relationship we seem to have with technology. Justin's computer crashed about a month ago, the air vent in our office was directed right at it, and while Justin had been faithfully cleaning out the dust, somewhere along the line the dust monster took over and killed the computer. 1 dust monster 0 us! The computer had to be cleared and reprogrammed or whatever it is that dead computers require. Meaning I lost all my video saved from our wedding, Jack's first photo shoot, bath, eating of solids etc. I literally mourned for those lost treasures, because while I have pictures of these events, the nostalgia one gets from watching old home videos of this and that is really something you can't replace.

Here is one video though which I thankfully had posted to shutterfly, its of Jack's first giggle/laughing session. Priceless!

Travels with the little man

This past weekend we traveled to San Francisco, CA for a business trip. Jack has never flown before and I was nervous. I mean who wants to be the woman on the plane with the baby who lets out ear-piercing screams as the pressure wreaks havoc on its eardrums? Not me, no way! As it was Jack did great, he breezed right through it, while mom sweated buckets watching him like a hawk and stuffing his binky in if he so much as raised his little eyebrow. I was so not going to be that woman on the plane! As you can see he was all smiles after the flight! Lucky me.

Once we settled into our hotel we immediately set off to explore, Jack in pack, we strolled down to Fisherman's Wharf. And then we strolled some more, and then some more! My feet and calves are so sore as I write this, as we probably spent 8 hrs each day walking around. Apparently this was the peak season for tourists to be there too, I recognized probably 3/10 languages we heard. Def not a linguist. Staying down by Fisherman's Wharf had its perks as we frequented, (pardon, I mean strolled) to the popular Boudin Sourdough Bakery, who also happen to have amazing Peets coffee!

We also took a ride on the historical trolley cars! Our first night there as we strolled along, we saw what appeared to be a large crowd of people on our way to the Ghirardelli chocolate factory. (Which on a side note have the most delicious hot chocolate and sea salt drinks! Yummy!)

Well the crowd was actually a line for the most famous trolley which takes you up/down the steepest hill in SF. Of course after seeing the trolley we just HAD to go on it, though we found a spot where you could get on with a much smaller line, because apparently strolling is much better than standing in line! :P

Along the way we saw the famed "Bush Man" of SF. Check him out on Youtube if you ever get a chance. The man sits on the sidewalk behind a branch and startles people as they walk by. While this alone is hilarious to watch its the added humorous sayings he spouts along the way. Bush man to a guy after he makes his wife scream..."When was the last time you made her scream like that?!" We literally couldn't stop laughing! These along with his ability to blend in or whatever you want to call it, makes for one entertaining sidewalk show. And when there is a show there is no need to stroll around! :)

Our trip to the bay city wasn't long 2 1/2 days, but we covered, quite literally, a lot of ground, ate amazing food, did a little sidewalk shopping, and enjoyed the flavor of the big city life. However, from the comfort of my computer chair, I must say there is no place like home and a nice parafin dip for sore feetsies!