Jordan and Pippen

Micah is playing his first season of basketball. He is very excited because he is on the same team as Noah.  Noah has really gained confidence this season (it also doesn't hurt that he is the tallest on the team) and Micah is playing a supporting role (meaning he passes the ball to his brother at every chance).  It's fun to watch these little guy play.  How will they do this season???

Goodbye friend

Today we said goodbye to Marshall Shields.  He was a member of the Smith Family who we will miss dearly.  Jay said it best, "all cookie recipes are made with a dash of salt to balance out the sweet" to which I added, "and Marshall was a cookie full of nuts."  I wonder what Marshall would say to that.

Post by Jawsh

Rascally Raccoon

Sure... she's cute.  Hiding under the deck behind the ball.  But she's also a nuisance who breaks in to the crawl space under the house.  We hired a no kill raccoon removal service and sure enough they got her to vacate the crawl space.  Where will she go next???

Rainbow Award for Micah

Micah received his Rainbow Award this week.  I find this one especially special because they have been learning about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. this week.  Micah's award is for "making a difference in the class by being such a responsible student."  I think Micah will be such a great leader and for being one of the youngest kids in his class, I am so proud that he is developing responsibility!  What will he do next???

New scarf

Our neighbors, the K Family, invited us over for dinner.  They have two boys who are 14 and 12 years old.  Noah and Micah are so infatuated with the boys because they are always up to something.  We see them laser tagging out front or on their skateboards.  They have been so sweet to the boys leaving gifts and treats for every occasion.   When we went over little did I know that they have snakes and bearded dragons which made their coolness factor jump up 50 levels.  I think they will influence our boys in good ways because they are good kids... what will it be like next time we hang out???

Palace of Fine Arts

The Palace of Fine Arts was Jawsh's highlight of our trip.  We even lodged near the Presidio because Jawsh wanted to be close to this area.  I have to say that the architecture was amazing and it was so peaceful and beautiful.  We walked the grounds, took a billion pictures, and then the boys got popsicles which cemented this landmark in their brains (when they get older we may have to reference this experience as the place where they ate a Spiderman and Spongebob ice cream). This was a great way to end our day in the city.  When will we come back to SF???

Hi Cousin Leo

While we were at the Exploratorium, we met up with cousin Jenny and her son, Leo.  This was the first time we met Leo and her first time meeting the boys.  The boys got a long very well but soon grew tired of the museum.  We walked to Fisherman's Wharf and had lunch and then we went to a small playground where the boys ran and had a great time.  When will we see them again???

"Her"

Today we went to the Exploratorium at Pier 15.  This museum has been written up as one of the most important science museums in this century but we stayed such a short time that we really did not get to experience all of it.  Here you see Noah and Micah's reflection on a computer screen.  Noah was conversing with the computer named Daisy.  It was pretty interesting to see Noah "talk" to the computer reminding me of the movie, Her, by Spike Jones.  Instead of falling in love with this computer he just said it was "weird."  What will we explore next???

Zzzz

Jawsh bought this book, This is San Francisco, before our trip so the boys would get a preview of what they would see and of course we brought it along so they could reference it.  This is what it looks like after Day 1 in SF.  Chinatown- check.  Golden Gate Bridge- check. Ghirardelli- check.  What does Day 2 have in store for us???

The world famous Ghirardelli sundae

If the Golden Gate Bridge was my highlight of the trip, I think Ghirardelli Square will be the boys highlight.  After the long walk on the bridge and a nice dinner at McCormick and Kuletto's, we walked over to the Ghirardelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop where the boys indulged in the World Famous Ghirardelli Sundae (it only took 45 minutes of waiting).  The boys loved the sundae and even got straws to slurp up the melted ice-cream goodness.  When will we come back???

Golden Gate Bridge

After Chinatown, we headed to the Golden Gate Bridge.  It was absolutely beautiful.  At first we thought we would walk to the first tower and head back but once we started walking we just continued to the end.  It is 1.7 miles one way across the bridge and the boys did okay (Noah needed some assistance from Dad on the way to the end and Micah got a lift on the way back).  Luckily, we were dressed appropriately and the boys were happy to find out that we would get them Ghirardelli sundaes afterwards! I will always remember this experience... what will we do next???

The original Chinatown

Happy New Year! We made our way into San Francisco with our first stop in Chinatown.  We had a nice lunch at Hunan Homes Restaurant and then we waited in line for 40 minutes for egg tarts at Golden Gate Bakery.  Too bad no one really liked the egg tarts!  The boys did love their lychee boba drinks and watching fortune cookies being made at Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company.  What will we do next???