In the afternoon we met up with my sister and brother-in-law at his parent’s home for a Father’s Day barbecue.

They live right around the corner from where my parents lived for many years.

We went swimming, ate lots of yummy food, played croquet, and enjoyed some beautiful California sun.

Thanks Doug and Nancy!

Erik lost a tooth in the pool while he was swimming.

Amazingly my brother-in-law was able to find it and fish it out of the water so the tooth fairy could collect it when we came home.

We headed to San Francisco to spend time with my sister and her family for the next couple of days and explore the city.

On our way we stopped by the cemetary to put fresh flowers on my dad’s grave and pay tribute to him on Father’s Day.

Ralf lead us in a family prayer and we talked about how we all miss Grandpa.

It was peaceful and sweet.

Never having lived in the heart of a large city, we all enjoyed visiting Ashley, Nick, and Hudson.

They live in an old warehouse building a block from the water.

We walked around their neighborhood with their two King Charles Spaniels.

The two older kids stayed with them during our 2 days in the city while we took the two little ones with us to stay at the Westin.

I must say there was a huge difference between the this hotel and our experience in Reno.

What’s a big city without a museum, right?

So the next day we visited the recently renovated California Academy of Sciences.

We saw a planetarium show, an albino alligator, a fantastic aquarium, a living rooftop, and a myriad of inspiring ideas on saving the environment.

The cafeteria offered new things to try like steamed pork buns, scones, and bread pudding.  Yum!

Can you guess who thought Darth Vader would be able to save the planet?

Since Ralf had the car at a business meeting, my sister was at a doctor appointment, and we were transportation-less, we called a cab to take us to to Fisherman’s Wharf.

I didn’t give out much information to the nice lady driving the big yellow van.  Being the “hick girl” that I’ve become, I figured as soon as she sensed we might be from Idaho she’d take us the LONG route through the city.

You can’t be too trusting of these city cab drivers, or so I’ve heard. 

We ate clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls, watched the sea lions on Pier 39, and did a little people watching before Ralf met up with us and we took a drive down to the beach at Chrissy Field.

Whew!  One more post to go.  Maybe I’ll get to it tonight.

Happy Wednesday!

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