Abandoned...

...at least that's how I worried Dylan would feel when Shane and I ran away on a parents-only getaway to San Francisco last weekend. I did know that he was going to be taken care of and loved by pretty much all of Shane's family so I knew it was silly to worry.

Shane was in San Francisco for a conference for work. I decided to join him on Friday afternoon and take a quick weekend vacation. Shane did a lot of research so we could use our vacation time to the fullest.

On Friday night, we headed over to Fisherman's Wharf to head out on a night tour of Alcatraz. As soon as we got out on the water, it was cold and windy (which was a nice change from the Phoenix weather)... I love old buildings--I love walking through them, hearing about the history of them, and trying to picture what life was like for the people that lived in/used them so this was right up my alley. For the night tour, they close off some of the sections open during the day, but open other sections and have special programs before you head back to shore. It was definitely creepier at night time, as you can see from some of the pictures.

{There were just a few hundred people with us on the tour...}

{Creepy Shane in a high-security cell}

{I wouldn't go farther than the opening of the isolation cell...I was afraid it'd close behind me...}

{The hospital wing was opened for the night tour... Conveniently, they only lighted each room with a single lantern. This is Shane in the operating room. Can we say creepy?}

We ended the night at Ghirardelli Square. Shane got a Coke float and I got a hot fudge sundae. I meant to take a picture before I ate my sundae, but I got a little excited and devoured it... I didn't remember the picture until it was all gone :)


The next day we set out on a whirlwind tour of San Francisco. We started over at the Golden Gate Bridge. At first I thought I was sad that it was so foggy, but in the end it produced some beautiful views.





Then we headed to Chinatown and were able to wander through the Moon Festival celebration, see lots and lots of meat for sale, and visit a fortune cookie 'factory.'



Then we waited an hour to ride a cable car... We had to get on at the start of the line because they would fill up there so there wasn't any room to jump on later. Luckily we rode it almost to the end of the line (and up many steep hills) to Lombard Street.




Then we stopped in Fisherman's Wharf for some clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl. Very San Francisco... (In truth, Shane at clam chowder. I took one bite to be a good sport, but it's really not my thing. I had pizza made on sourdough crust.) Then we visited an arcade full of old games.



Then we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner at The Stinking Rose. I got the braised short rib... It was oh-so-delicious! (Although I still tasted garlic while brushing my teeth in the morning...)

On Sunday, we headed over to Golden Gate State Park to pass the morning. We stopped at the beach, the Dutch windmill, and the Japanese tea garden. It was misting all morning, but it was actually quite refreshing. The Japanese tea garden was beautiful, and Shane was in bamboo heaven! I think we could've spent a lot more time there just taking in the views...










Then we hopped off the bus at Haight Ashbury... We loved looking at the old Victorian houses, but other than that, we felt very out of place there...so we just walked the length of Haight and headed back go our hotel and then to the airport.



It was short, but it was an awesome getaway!

********

Oh, you want to know what happened to Dylan?

Dylan spent most of the weekend with the Mikos family. He quickly determined that Aunt Amy was the chief caregiving in the household and wanted her attention at all times. All three kids pitched in to help feed and play with him, and Uncle Chance took it upon himself to introduce new foods to Dylan's world (including cheetos).

{An old pic of the awesome cousins holding a tiny baby... Who is that baby??}

Amy blacked out the windows in the room Dylan was sleeping in, and he slept better for her than he does at home: until 8 AM (he wakes up around 6:30 at home) and 2.5 hour naps!

He was in bed at our house when we got home on Sunday night. Shane went to get him Monday morning and he was so excited... Then I peeked my head over the edge of the crib and he went CRAZY trying to get to me. He was very clingy the whole day, but I didn't mind one bit...

S L C

I was asked to head up to SLC for a recruiting event at BYU for my work that just happened to coincide with Labor Day weekend, which meant a free trip home!! Shane was busy with things at home, so Dylan and I headed up together.

Our first day there, we met up with cousins at Wheeler Farm. Before we ate our picnic lunch, we visited the animals, including...

cows (Dylan didn't really notice them)

horses

goats

chickens

and ducks.

All the while, Dylan got in some quality cousin time, especially during our yummy picnic (where Dylan also got his first taste of chicken nuggets... He devoured a whole nugget because his cousins didn't want them!)

{Dylan felt left out of the sunglasses party... I remembered to bring them to SLC with me, but I forgot to put them in the diaper bag for this adventure...}

The next day I left Dylan behind for some quality Grammie time while I headed to Springville with my friends to visit Carly in her new abode. It was strange realizing that we've all grown up--on our trip we had one law school student, one med school student, one child life specialist, and one auditor/mom (and not with us was our friend the master's student).... Yikes! When did we get old? Sadly, I don't have any pictures of this event...unless I can track down the picture Carly posted on Twitter of Lahdan taking my vital signs... We ate at Art City Trolley and talked and talked and talked, until we realized it was time to leave so Carly and Lahdan could study some more.

On Sunday, we spent a low-key day at church and at home. My brother and family came back over for more cousin time...we have to relish in it when we're only in town for days at a time. We had scones, played with bubbles, and enjoyed each others' company.

Vera loved giving Dylan hugs and kisses, giving him toys, and helping him with books. She was so cute with him!

Somehow Dylan and Reuben ended up playing back to back...how cute!

They also learned some sharing lessons... Dylan's not old enough to really notice or fight back so there weren't really any problems.

We love Grampie!!

Oh, and the adults had fun too...

On our last day there, we went to a neighborhood pancake breakfast. It was actually cold outside, so Dylan got to wear long pants for the first time in a long time... Then he discovered the microphone...and that it works MUCH better if you just put the whole thing in your mouth...

Then Grampie donated his hat to the cause to create a bona fide rap-master...

...and then it was time to say goodbye...