San Francisco, here we come!

This whole week has been unpacking, unpacking, and more unpacking. The children stayed home with me this week, since we wanted them to adjust and rest a bit, so I've had a tremendous help from Gillian with Charlton. I thought I was going to have all unpacking done by the end of this week, but it was harder this time with a baby and three children around. However, I got a lot done. The living room, kitchen, dining area, bathrooms, linens, and guest room is done. I'm waiting for few bookshelves and dressers for the children's rooms as well as an office desk and chair for the office. So, I feel good so far for all the hard work, but I'll be satisfied when all of it is done.

Having work so hard this whole week (Elijah also started work this Friday), we thought we deserved some fun times. Our friends, Gary and Alice, invited us to spend the afternoon with them in San Francisco. We took the BART(Bay Area Rapid Transit)into the city from Walnut Creek stopping at Powell Street. We were going to ride the cable cars, but were discouraged by the long line, so we decided since it was a beautiful day to just walk across the city. I was glad we did that, because walking seems to be the best way to experience San Francisco. If I had to compare it to any other city, I would say it feels more like New York City than Washington, but it also has a lot of its own personality as well. I surprisingly enjoyed the fact that people were not in any hurry, but were enjoying the weather and each other's company. I liked the architecture, although very different from what I'm used to in Virginia. There were modern buildings as well as historical ones everywhere, and either of them had a lot of Spanish flair found in the roofs, doors and windows. There were a lot of palm trees found next to most buildings. Also, I saw a lot of orange and lemon trees along the way that really looked pretty. There were many restaurants in every block we walked by. We stopped and ate lunch at Vito's pizza (we had kids with us). Here are some pictures I took as we were walking through the city:The highlight of our visit was the Ghirardelli Square, home of Ghirardelli chocolate. It was located near the shore facing the Golden Gate Bridge and neighboring the Fisherman's Wharf, which we didn't get to visit because it was too dark. We all enjoyed some tasty chocolate and ice-cream treats, and then rode the Powell/Hyde line enthusiastically. The kids really enjoyed the cable cars, especially Jefferson, who was observing more the driver than the sights. He was really curious about the way these machines worked. We were very tired when we got home tonight, but very excited and a bit impatient for more sightseeing.


There is one picture above that I took just for you, Cindy. Can you find it?