A San Francisco trip

We took ourselves out of town for a few days at the start of February.  A much-overdue visit to Jill, Mark, and Sadie.  Although the days were rainy while we were there, we managed to pack an exhausting amount of fun into four short days.

The immediate fondness that Wyatt and Sadie had for each other upon seeing one another again was very sweet.  I think Wyatt asked to hold Sadie's hand in the car from the airport.  And Sadie insisted on carrying Wyatt around while we waited for lunch.

 
Our fun was punctuated by good food and sleeping.  We enjoyed Mark's crepes for breakfast and a yummy nearly adults-only dinner Friday night.  We enjoyed a lot of games and hanging out at their house on the rainy afternoons. And while we were there, Byron and Wyatt managed to get a nap nearly every day. I had a chance to catch up on some face time with Jill and hatch some new plans for collaborative projects and/or work.  Oh how I wish we lived in the same town!

We went ice skating -- and by "we" I mean Byron and Wyatt, the two Canadians among us.  They skated with Sadie, who is quite a capable little figure skater.  Wyatt loved wearing Sadie's pink helmet and thoroughly enjoyed being pulled around the ice rink by his arms.  He went down a few times, but he demonstrated surprisingly good balance overall.  The highlight for him, of course, was the Zamboni that serviced the ice after free skating was finished.  AND THEN . . . hockey players arrived, with "nets and face masks and a bucket full of pucks" as he was telling us over and over.  We watched the pick-up hockey players for a bit, then headed our own way.

I was so glad that we made time on Thursday to spend a few hours in Half Moon Bay visiting with a dear friend we haven't seen in many years -- Mary Ann Fiene.  She retired there from pastoring in Oxnard for many years and now stays busy with music and ministry in the area.  We shared a meal and got to see her home.  Wyatt and Mary Ann had no trouble becoming fast friends.  Hard to believe it's been 20 years almost since she married us!

Another day we spent a while at Rockin' Jump, an indoor trampoline park.  I jumped for an hour with Sadie and Wyatt, including bouncing myself into a giant pit of square sponges again and again . . . and again. Aside from losing my socks and fearing that I would never actually be able to climb out a time or two, it was great.  It inspired us to find a similar park here in Seattle.

On our last day, we headed to the city for a day at the Exploratorium with Jill, Mark and Sadie.  Upon arriving, we participated in a fire alarm, which required all occupants of the museum to exit and stand in the rain for about 20 minutes.  This was Wyatt's favorite part.  A real fire truck showed up, alarms sounded, flashing lights were going off, people were everywhere.  We pretty much still talk about it daily.

The Exploratorium itself was amazing.  So much to see and learn and tinker with and try.  By lunch I was over stimulated and hungry, so from there we took a little side trip to the Ferry Building for Blue Bottle coffee and macaroons at Miette, and then met up with the group for the drive home -- and then to the airport for our flight home later that night.

 

Looking forward to our next visit already.