San Francisco, Part Deux

As I mentioned in Part 1, I had a friend, Erin and her 15-month old son Sam, in San Francisco this time for a couple of days to do all of the fun, touristy things.  Sam could enjoy the sites a little more than Will, but we still had a lot of fun.

The hardest part for me was finding places to nurse Will while we were out.  Thank the Lord for nursing covers because I definitely had to nurse in public.  I always asked if there was somewhere more private I could go, but only at the mall could I find designated nursing areas (i.e. private rooms).  I didn't nurse in the thick of the crowds, but there were still people who walked by.  I think that there needs to be greater awareness in public parks and attractions for nursing mothers.  It shouldn't be so difficult for us to find a clean, semi-private area where we can feed our babies.  But that's a discussion for another day.

Back to our fun adventures...  We went to Fisherman's Wharf and saw Alcatraz across the bay.

As the day went on, the sun burned away the fog, and it turned into a gorgeous San Francisco day.

After lunch, we headed over to Sausalito and strolled the cute streets.  After walking a while, we stopped to enjoy the view and let the boys take a break from their strollers.

 

The next day, we drove to Muir Woods and soaked in the majesty of the giant redwoods.

Erin, Sam, Will, and me

After visiting Muir Woods, we went back to the city and parked the car at the condos.  I had seen on the news that morning that there would be a flash mob at Union Square in honor of Michael Jackson's birthday.  Those of you who know me well know that a Michael Jackson flash mob is like a dream come true for me!  I was so pumped!  No, it wasn't a surprise flash mob, but it was still fun to watch.  And the surprise was that we were on the complete opposite side of the square than the flash mob, so we couldn't see very well.  But here's a little snippet of what we could see.

It was the perfect trip to have someone else there with me because our husbands were working crazy hours.  The last night she was there, we didn't even get to have dinner with our baby daddies.  Since we were tired from a long day, we decided to go somewhere close that we knew would be quick.  Where else than Mels Drive-In?  I had only been there for breakfast, so it was nice to try it at dinner as well.  Sam shared his first milk shake with his mommy, and I'm pretty sure he had about 90% of it.  It was pretty late, so Will didn't last in the stroller long, but before he melted down, I was able to capture his first time at Mels.

After dinner, Will fell asleep in the stroller for the first time.  Given, it was late (and we were still trying to adjust to the 3-hour time difference), but it was still a first!  This is what I found when we got back to the condo.

{ What's that?  You like his new kicks?  A perk to San Francisco...three H&Ms within a few blocks of each other, and they all have baby and kids. :) }

We had so much fun together with our boys and can't wait until next year when the boys are older!

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I was very sad when Erin and Sam left because Will and I still had a week to spend in the city, and the work load was only increasing for Wayne.  He would leave for work at 6am and not return until 11:30pm.  In the past, I'm usually able to eat lunch with Wayne and always able to have dinner with him.  That was not the case this time.  I couldn't have lunch with him because no children under the age of 18 were allowed on the show floor.  One morning, I brought him a Starbucks, so he had to come outside and see us.  It was the first time he'd seen Will in three days...and we'd been there the whole time.

I know my way around the area where we stay very well, so I was comfortable getting around the city, but I was very lonely.  I'd go to the food court of Westfield Mall (which is not like typical mall food courts...they're actual restaurants - not fast food.  gotta love California!) to eat most meals for two reasons:
1) They have an awesome Family Center tucked away near the bathrooms that has a play area for kids, a family restroom, an entire wall of changing tables and sinks, and three private nursing rooms. (again - love CA!)
2) It was loud like a normal food court, so Will was drowned out when he did this (which was all the time).

Need another example of him fighting sleep?  This video was from one day when he was clearly tired, but wouldn't fall asleep.  Fun times!

When Will and I spent days walking around, he would never nap in his stroller.  I think there were too many new sights and sounds, and he was soaking them all in.  I finally learned that the only way he would nap while we were out was if he was strapped to me in the Baby Bjorn.

We also spent a lot of time in the room.  I was working a lot with him on sitting up, so we had fun playing and learning a new trick.

We took this inflatable duck tub for Will's baths since he couldn't quite sit up well enough on his own.  It turned out to be a great place to put him when I couldn't hold him.  I love his little feet in this pic. :)

Speaking of holding him, oh, how we missed his floor jungle gym where he spends a lot of time at home!  It entertains him much more than just a blanket with some toys.  He did not like being left on the floor, so it was extremely difficult for me to do anything without him attached to my hip.  We couldn't pack any type of seat for him, so the duck tub served a double function and was very handy.

I know I already showed this video here, but it's one of my favorites, so I had to show it again.

When Wayne's work days eventually got a little shorter, we enjoyed getting to see him more.  Can you tell Daddy was changing his clothes?

Will loved having his Daddy back around.  He makes him laugh. :)

Wayne and I even got to have a date night.  Metallica was hired to be the entertainment for the show one night, and we got to go.  Wayne was much more excited about it than I was, but at that point, I was willing to do anything for a night off of mommy duty!

Although I wouldn't consider myself a real fan of Metallica, I do like a couple of their songs, and they put on a good show.

During big shows like this one, Wayne's company does a big group dinner to end the show.  We enjoyed a delicious dinner at Espetus Brazilian Steakhouse.  It was such a treat to have dinner with Wayne again after several nights of eating solo.

Wayne liked Will's hat.

Wayne also decided to try the Bjorn for the first time.  Will loved being attached to his daddy!

The last couple of days there, I found a new lunch spot.  It's in a park that's been there all these years, but I've never known how nice it was.  There's a park for kids that will be so fun next year.  Will and I enjoyed eating outside and soaking in the beautiful weather.

Our last day there, Will got to see his first waterfall!  Think he'll remember it?

The morning we left was a super-early morning.  We were picked up at the condo at 6am to head to the airport.  I have to say, the San Francisco airport is probably my favorite airport I've ever been in.  It has separate terminals and security lines for each airline, so it's always so much faster and easier to get through security.  And the gate is right there...no train to catch or escalators to ride.  So once we get through security, we always eat at Perry's.  Will enjoyed his first time there.

As Murphy (and his stupid law) would have it, Will did great on the return flight.  Why wouldn't he?  Daddy was with us!  He still didn't sleep very long (45 min - his usual nap time), but he wasn't crying the whole time.  We could easily find ways to distract or entertain him.  He really enjoyed the Spawn Lite app on my iPad.  It even captured mine and Wayne's attention for a while!

The phrase "Home Sweet Home" had never meant as much to me as it did when we got home from this trip.  I definitely needed a vacation from our vacation!  It is always nice to be in my favorite city, but there is no place like home when you've got a little baby.

In hindsight, I think Will was teething while we were out there because his first pearly white popped through about a week after we got back.  That paired with different surroundings, a three-hour time change and not having his normal routine or toys made for a tough 10 days, but we survived!