Dinner with the Schnake's

Just for your enjoyment...a typical loud dinner with the kids. Enjoy!

November 2010

November was a blur to me. Between just the normal busyness, I was tired and dealing with appointments--LOTS of appointments. And not just OB appointments, dentist and flu shot and all that jazz.  Ky had his 3rd dentist appointment and once again we had a new hygienist and dentist.  They discovered a cavity.  I was shocked and appalled.  He doesn't eat sugary stuff very often--we don't even drink juice very often!  I brush his teeth in the morning and at night (talk about adding insult to injury).  And well--he's only FOUR! 

When I asked why and what we could do, they basically said "His teeth have deep grooves, there isn't much you can do."  "WHAT?!"  You're my dentist!  You are supposed to have solutions!  So yeah--we are done with these people as our dentist.  We will take Ky to get his filling and then go elsewhere for appointments.  ARGH!  It has been so hard to find a good dentist.  I am just getting tired of it all.

While I'm talking about Ky--This month we learned about animal classifications.  And then Ky decided Toy Story was the new cool movie...and of course like every preschooler he now has his very cute and mixed up saying "To Amphibians and Beyond" (Quoting Buzz Light Year).  And yes, that is really what he thinks Buzz Light Year says.

Okay...so to the November Pics...

I watch my neighbor's kid every other Monday (She does the same for me so we can both rotate teaching) and I decided that the kids should make something fun for Christmas.  So we started a LONG term project making ornaments.  The first week we made the dough.  They had a lot of fun!  They then rolled out the dough and cut out their shapes and left them to dry.  A few weeks later after they dried (and when Daniel came back) the kids painted them.  Then a few weeks later they put a clear glue coat on them to protect them.  And then finally put a string through them and hung them.  They had a lot of fun--and it was a great project because it took up a lot of time.

With the potty training--Alaina has been very proudly dressing herself (except for shirts--she can't do shirts yet.)  Several times now she has put her underwear outside of her pants.  VERY FUNNY!  And she doesn't seem to notice or care.  Silly girl!

We received our first snow in Madison, the very beginning of December.  Can you believe I was STILL picking broccoli until then?!  I can't believe it!  I will definitely be planting broccoli next year.  And because I was still selfishly picking broccoli, I did not get my garden turned over for next year.  ARGH!  It is going to be a LOT harder to do when I am 8 months preggo!  Oh well...good thing I have a WONDERFUL husband to help! :)

With November came---OUR NEW WOOD FLOORS and we got some NEW WINDOWS too!  YEAH!  The 20 year old carpet was pulled up from our living and dining room and saved (yes saved) for the garden next year.  They took two weekends for us to install, but we did it!  I will have to post pics of the finished product later.  It is beautiful!  And what a difference!

We also took advantage of the energy rebate and got enough windows to max it out.  What a difference that makes!  First of all we can see out our windows! (We couldn't in the winter before because they would frost up!) And secondly, they aren't falling apart!  Yes, we literally have some old wooden windows that are rotting--30 year old windows--who would think!  We have 6 more windows we need to take care of and we are hoping that they will renew the energy rebate and we will do that next year.

The kids did Operation Christmas Child again this year.  Ky got into it this year a lot more than he did last year.  We let him pick out what went in his box and we also let him pick out some toys for a boy his age in the area who needed gifts.  It is neat to see him year after year understand a little bit more of what he is doing and what kind of impact it will have on another child.  I love finding opportunities like this for him since he is so limited on what he can do at his age.

Alaina also picked out things for a little girl, however, she has no idea what she is doing.  So of course, she assumed everything she picked out was hers and I had to "take the stuff" away later so I could pack it in the box.  (Good thing we have naptime!) It all worked out!

November was such a mildly warm month.  I took the kids to the zoo and they had a blast.  I figured it also worked well into our "Animal Classifications" lesson plans.  Ky was identifying mammals, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and birds.  Alaina--well she was just everywhere...  I also learned that taking a newly potty trained child to the zoo in November is not a good idea when they close down the restrooms inside the park.  The only restrooms that were open were the ones by the entrance.  That made for a delightful--"run and carry to the potty before she pees on me" trip.  And then of all things--when we got there she says "I don't need to go."  Yeah--I made her sit until she had something to "go" with.  UGH!

You will also notice that there are some pics of Alaina with a little girl named Lana.  Lana is in our playgroup and she is Alaina's new best friend.  Alaina just ADORES here and ALWAYS asks about her.  It is so sweet to see them holding hands and running around.  A first friend!

At the end of November, I took the kids to the newly done Children's Museum in Madison.  The place was CRAZY!  There were TONS of kids EVERYWHERE!  I was hoping to miss some of the crowds by waiting several months after it opened to take them--but yeah--it didn't matter.  The new museum is very nice, but like I said, it was CRAZY!  I don't really have a strong desire to go back...especially after the tantrum Ky threw when we left.  UGH!  And normally he is really good about leaving places. 

You probably noticed the pic of Alaina and her dollhouse...that was our birthday present to her.  I had a lot of trouble finding an age appropriate dollhouse that came with accessories.  I finally found this dollhouse in November.  Rob and I figured it didn't really matter at her age when we gave it to her since she didn't know any better.  So there it is.  She loves it and so does Ky.  There have been many fights over it--meaning it is a good toy.

We celebrated Grandma Jan's birthday in November.  We had a really nice Mexican lunch and Nana took the kids on a walk to a new playground.  It was a nice relaxing afternoon--and yes I fell asleep that is how relaxing it was.  Extended family does not get better than that--you feel so comfortable you can just fall asleep. 

And finally--the homemade pine cone bird feeders.  When we were learning about birds, we made bird feeders and hung them up on the tree in the front yard.  Ky was so excited to see the birds get the seeds.  But we never did...the squirrels stole the feeders....so we made two more..and so the squirrels stole two more.  I give up.  The squirrels win.  Ky is crying.  There isn't much more we can do.  Sorry old chap...back to the old fashioned bird feeders it is. And that is that!  I am not making anymore!  Squirrels! UGH!  They totally ruined our fun!

And that was November in a crazy blur! Now don't forget to check out the video! Alaina decided she was getting married...hmmm...

Wrapping up October

The Saturday before Halloween, we had a wonderful visit with our Aunts and Uncle. They drove up from the Chicago area and spent the day with us.

The first thing on our agenda was to go to the Farmer's Market. The Farmer's Market had only one more week outside and it was a very nice Saturday considering how late in the season it was.

And of course the produce, cheese, and bakery was divine! Ryan was in town celebrating homecoming, so he actually met up with us on the square and enjoyed all the yummy goodness with us.

We bought two loaves of Stella's Spicy Cheese Bread (to last us through the winter.. Of course they really only lasted us until mid-November--but it was a nice idea.) And then some other produce like spinach and garlic.  If you have never been to the Madison Farmer's Market--there really is no other market that is better.  Give me a call and we will schedule a visit.  I KNOW you will find it all worthwhile.

Ky and Alaina enjoyed the extra attention from all the relatives--though Alaina was being a little standoffish with Ryan--which was weird.  Towards the end Ky had fun playing in the leaves and putting them on everyone's head--well actually only Uncle Ryan and Aunt Linda's heads!  HA! 

From there we returned home and had a nice dinner with Uncle Tom, Aunt Sue, Aunt Janice, and Aunt Linda.  At some point during the visit, Ky brought up the new baby and pointed out the ultrasound on the fridge.  We were planning to tell everyone at dinner---but hey--that worked too--and I think he was getting used to telling everyone.  :)  We all had a wonderful day and look forward to getting together again.

The next day was Halloween.  I have been having personal battles with the "holiday" myself and feeling really torn about the whole thing.  Up to this point, we had not ever gone trick or treating--and honestly I think calling it trick or treating is somewhat wrong in itself.  If you don't know my history, I grew up never trick or treating.  We were taught that it was a bad holiday and that the whole concept was wrong.  This year was the year we needed to decide what to do with the kids and trick or treating since Ky was now 4 and had heard from everyone else what happens.

Rob and I talked about it and I looked into the history of the holiday.  We also spoke with our church group about it.  Here is what I learned and what I decided about the holiday...

Pumpkin Carving--in England it was to represent the souls captured in purgatory. In America it was developed as a separate tradition during the reaping of the harvest NOT Halloween originally...I have no problem with pumpkin carving assuming my children are not making things that look demonic and such...and well we don't believe in purgatory, but hey I grew pumpkins this year, so let's celebrate the harvest!

Trick or Treating--can in fact be dated way back to Christmastime in England when people dressed up and went door to door caroling and then received treats.  It can also be taken back to All Saints Day when the poor would go door to door and pray for lost loved ones to receive food.  And in Ireland people would dress up and perform tricks for money and food.  It is actually difficult to see the true roots of trick or treating--much like the true roots of Halloween in general (there are so many different countries that have done different things.) While I don't think any menacing tricks should be played on people--the fact is, they rarely are (or it is teenagers who would do it any other night..)  And who hasn't paid to go see circus clowns perform--this is pretty much the same idea--payment in exchange for entertainment?  Anyway, I guess I pretty much was able to come to the conclusion that I was okay with the kids trick or treating as long as they weren't going to dress up wearing ghoulish things.  So right now that is where my thoughts lay with it all.  There was no DIRECT connection with evil or pagans--much of that has come in the last century through horror films and such.  So for now we will treat it like another fun day such as Valentine's Day or St. Patrick's Day.  We will not go overboard with it -but enjoy the day when it comes and make sure to keep everything else in perspective. WHEW!--so there you go.

So the kids did go trick or treating for the first time ever this year.  We went with our church group which was nice.  Ky was Diego and Alaina was Boots from Dora the Explorer.  We made homemade costumes (which I would love to do every year--but at the same time, I may not put forth the effort if I can find a second hand costume for a few dollars and save myself the stress.) 

We had a nice potluck with our church group and then we went out.  A friend brought an extra duck costume which was warmer than Alaina's Boot's costume so we put that over hers.  It was getting pretty chilly.  We put Ky in pants.  Alaina started off in a pretty crabby mood (make sure you see the video---it is a hilarious duck screaming!)  Once she realized that she was getting candy for knocking on doors--she quickly changed her mood.  (Go figure.)  The kids had a good time and Rob and I had fun sorting through their candy and taking a small "chaperon/costume making" fee.  :)

October!

October! 

I will catch up on my blogs!

Early October my play group decided to go apple picking--so it was round 2 of apple picking for the Schnake's.  I think we had picked 70lbs the first time--though most of it was canned by the time our playgroup went.  So we picked a few new varieties, but thankfully I only left with about 10 lbs.  And yes we ate them all! 

One day Alaina was playing with the fridge magnets and when she was done she left a bunch on the stool.  I went to pick them up and was surprised to see that my girl had spelled out "nuts" and "corn".   A GENIUS!  That's what she is!  I keep wondering though if she meant to spell out "corn nuts".  HA HA!

Alaina had her 2 year appointment in October.  The nurse was new--and I believe she messed everything up.  She had Alaina weighing in at 35 lbs (and I know that she had weighed around 30lbs a week or two before.)  And then she had Alaina's height SMALLER than her last visit.  I wasn't concerned, but the nurse seemed very concerned.  I laughed it off with the doctor later--because according to those measurements Alaina is overweight--which she definitely is not.  She is average for a girl her age--and a little tall (already in 3T clothes!)  Oh well--I am not sure what to even put in the baby book!

October was a busy month for Ky as well.  He had soccer and swimming.  He did EXCELLENT in both.  He is my little soccer star!  The boy really enjoys running the field now and chasing the ball--so much different than his other experience!  His team was 4 & 5 year olds--and I would say Ky did AWESOME! 

As far as swimming-it took Ky a while before he would let the instructor let go of him "again."  However, by the end of the session he was swimming on his own (with a floatation device) and had no problem sticking his face in the water.  Hopefully we will be able to get him into a swim class this winter....though who knows since we are on multiple waiting lists.

We went up to Devil's Lake mid-October to enjoy the leaves changing.  I think we were one weekend too late though.  The trees were still pretty though.  We did a mountainous trail and Ky did really well.  He walked almost the whole thing himself!  I was very proud of my boy.  At the end the kids threw rocks in the water and got pretty wet.  On our way back, Alaina fell and got a nice cut on her lip.  She was fine, however the blood was pretty nasty (especially when we were a decent distance still from the car.)  She cried a lot--which always tells us when she is really hurt.  She is my tough little girl and she doesn't cry to just any fall. 

October was a big month for Alaina.  We moved her to a big girl bed (since she was crawling out of her crib.)  That went really well for a while.  We did find her on the floor a couple of times, but for the most part she stayed in.  Just recently (December) she has begun getting out of bed at night and wandering.  Of course she started all of this while daddy was away on a business trip!  BLAH!  We have now told her that we will take away her nuk and she will not have it at night if she gets out.  We only had to take it away once--and that seems to have gotten the message across.  (Part of me was hoping she would keep getting out so I could just get rid of the nuk!) 

I also potty trained Alaina in October.  She had all the signs--however she has not taken to it like Kylan.  She is too easily distracted and does not want to stop playing to go potty.  She is fully capable of going when she needs to, she just doesn't always WANT to go.  UGH!  I guess this is pretty typical of many kids--so we just have to hang in there for a few more months until she gets things better under wraps.  Otherwise, she is in underwear during the day and I take her to the potty often.  (However if I don't take her and she is too "busy" to go--she will have an accident.)  At night she is in pull-ups.  It has been nice overall to get rid of the diapers.  Two less loads of wash a week (assuming we don't have TONS of accidents.) And when I see a good disposable diaper deal I stock up for the new baby. 

One Sunday we were in church and Ky was playing with his cars.  He then came up to me in tears.  His Tow Mater had broke.  He was so sad.  It was really touching to see his fondness of that toy and how upset he was.  I talked to Rob that night and we devised a plan for Ky to earn money to get a new "Tow Mater".  I made a chart of different chores he could do.  Every time he did a chore he would get a car sticker.  When the chart was full of stickers, I would take him to buy a new Tow Mater.  I figured this list would take Ky a couple of days, but he did it all in one day!  So the next day we went to Walmart so he could pick out his new Tow Mater.  Well, we couldn't find one, so he decided he was going to pick out a different car--and you know what he picked!  Lightning McQueen!  This wouldn't be a big deal BUT--the boy already had 3 other Lightning McQueens!  And the one he wanted was an EXACT duplicate of one of the ones he had at home!  I tried to talk him out of it--but he had earned it, so if that was what he wanted, that was what he was going to get.  So I purchase Lightning McQueen the FOURTH!  And he was so proud.  He told everyone how he had worked to earn it!  It is really neat for Kylan to see what hard work can result in.

Since we have an AWESOME membership to the Rockford Children's Museum, the kids and I made a fun day trip of it mid-October.  We had a great time!  We left a little late, but the kids had four hours or so to play.  I packed a lunch and we ate there.  I love that museum.  I will probably buy another membership next April.  It has been so handy--getting us into the Milwaukee Museums for free as well as the Madison Children's Museum.  So Cool!

After the museum, I stopped at the Salvation Army in Rockford and SCORED!  All kids clothes was $0.50!  I bought several dresses for Alaina and pants and shorts for Ky.  Can't beat those prices!  I then got all of us a giant soda to share for the trip home.  They were so excited!  (We don't drink soda often.)  It was a really fun trip!  I am going to try to go once a month now--it is so totally worth it.

Whew!  Done!  Next blog--Halloween and early Nov.... 

Alaina's 2nd Birthday!

On Alaina's actual birthday, I worked--BLAH!  I figured that we would celebrate afterwards and we had somewhat already celebrated the day before at the farm.  So daddy took the kids and subbed at the local high school.  HOWEVER, once I got off--we all headed to Culver's to get Alaina here birthday ice cream.  We went to the register to order and when we turned around, Alaina had pushed forward a high chair and crawled into it.  She was ready to eat! :)

Alaina enjoyed her ice cream as well as Daddy & Ky.  I had a burger--I know--me turn down ice cream for a burger!?  But with the pregnancy, burgers was one of my serious cravings.

That night, Rob and I worked to make Alaina's Dora cake.  Alaina LOVES Dora & dresses.  I had found the doll at a garage sale and purchased her just for this cake.  I figured this time around Rob and I would get to make a cake that was a little easier.  My friend Cindi loaned me her bundt cake pan, and that became Dora's skirt.  we then simply decorated with icing to look like a dress and "VOILA!"  Nice and easy--and Alaina LOVED it.  (Well let's be honest she would have loved any sugary cake--but you know what I mean.)

Alaina's party was the next day.  The normal family came to it--Grandpa, Grandma Debi, A. Lisa, Devan, Jordan, Dominic, U. Kirk & A. Barb, Nana, G'ma Jan, & Carol.  Of course our little girl had quite a good time with all the attention.  And successfully did not look at the camera for almost ALL of the pictures I took.  ARGH!  Kylan was not this difficult!

For dinner we had "breakfast."  An egg casserole, pancakes, fruit, sausage, etc...She received a Dora princess set from Grandma Debi and quite enjoyed her new wand and princess attire she received.  In fact everyone got into the spirit by trying on Alaina's new earrings and tiara. 

Unwrapping gifts was NO problem for Alaina.  She was happy to do it.  She received a Dora doll and Dora pj's as well as a Dora video (do you sense a trend?)  She also received a bench and some books and puzzles and clothes.  She was one HAPPY girl. 

When it was time to sing "Happy Birthday" she wouldn't take her eyes off the cake.  (Hence all the pics with her NOT looking at the camera.)  And then she would try to swipe tastes with her fingers.  Some things never change...

The next day we had her open Uncle Adam & Aunt Liz's as well as G'ma & G'pa Vander Heyden's gifts.  She LOVES here new baby set.  She spends a lot of time changing her babies diapers and feeding them.  She also LOVES her new purse and shoes.  In fact, for days all you could hear was the "clop clop clop" of her shoes as she walked around.  She is too cute.  She takes her purse and puts on her heels and says "Bye Mom, I go to work!" 

So TWO years old.  They have passed by SO quickly.  Alaina is so different from Kylan--she is truly her OWN self.  She likes to be girly and wear dresses, but she also likes to climb and be a tom boy.  She plays cars all the time with Ky (in her heels of course.)  At the same time she is so nurturing to her babies.  She wraps them in blankets and then "Shushes" them as she bounces them up and down gently in her arms.  She already has a "mommy's touch". 

She speaks (and has been speaking) in full sentences.  She uses words that surprise me.  Shortly before her birthday she told me "Look mom, he's upside down"  and sure enough she was pointing at a picture of a boy doing a cartwheel.  I haven't worked with her like I did with Ky.  There has been no need to.  She picks up things really quickly watching her older brother.  I have Ky practice tracing and writing his name several times a week.  She also then has to practice writing her name (of course it is just scribbles right now...)  She can count past 10...she gets somewhere around 13 or 14 before they start getting jumbled.  She has been singing the alphabet FOREVER.  She LOVES to sing.  Today she sang "Old McDonald had a farm E-I-E-I-N-G-O and Bingo was his nam-o"  (Too cute, I know!)

Alaina loves to shop and gets excited when I tell her we are going shopping.  She pretends to have coupons (that's my girl!).  She also likes to race Kylan. And she likes to growl...yeah...don't ask. Lately she has been crawling out of her toddler bed at night (we converted her crib since she was just crawling out of it anyway....)and wandering the hall.  She still likes her nuk--yeah, I haven't figured how I am going to break her of that one.  The bed was a big transition, so I didn't want to take away her "comfort".  And now with a new baby on the way, I don't want to take away her nuk and give it to the new baby...I think we may have to wait until closer to her 3rd birthday.  The nuk is just a nighttime thing right now anyway.   

8th Anniversary Trip to San Francisco

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE my husband!  He is truly the best. 

At the beginning of the year, Rob asked if he could plan a special get away for our 8th anniversary.  He then told me it would require an airplane. 

With Ky and Alaina being young, and with my frugality--it is always hard for me to splurge--but he kept on me and I said "YES!"  After all--isn't one of the most important things for a healthy marriage is investing TIME in each other.  It really was the perfect idea--no kids and just the two of us.  Isn't he romantic!?  (And PERFECT!)

A few months before, he let me know we were going to San Francisco for the Ghiradelli Chocolate Festival (does he know me or what!).  We then booked our flight and room.  We were staying on Fisherman's Warf which meant we were in the heart of the city and touristy area, as well as near Ghiradelli Square and we would not need to use public transportation or rent a car. 

Thursday night was hustle and bustle to pack.  I honestly don't remember what all was going on, but I was unable to pack until late Thursday night--which means--OF COURSE I forgot something....

We got up EARLY (4 AM) on Friday morning to drive to the airport.  I was dragging.  On our way to the airport we then also got lost thanks to detours due to construction.  As we were waiting for our shuttle and praying we weren't going to be late, I quickly realized I forgot my coat.  YUP--not a good plan, end of September and on the ocean.  Hey--I was already chilly in Milwaukee!  UGH!  I quickly decided my souvenir would be a coat in SF. 

We were fortunate that the security lines were very short at the airport and were able to make our flight without a problem.  I guess at this point I should add that I am pregnant--pretty sure I am pregnant and am feeling EXHAUSTED!  I know I was not the best company.  I slept a little on the plane, but really needed a nap.  When we got to SF, Rob had already purchased tickets for a shuttle to take us to the hotel.  (We were able to save money by doing it in advance--and we also figured we would know exactly what to look for.)  Well we were WRONG again.  We waited an HOUR for our shuttle.  There were so many other shuttles that came and went in the time we sat there.   UGH!  Note:  In the future do NOT purchase shuttle tickets in advance--it is NOT worth it.  So there I was TIRED, and now HUNGRY and feeling Nauseous (isn't pregnancy wonderful?!)

It was not a good start to our romantic getaway and I really felt bad for Rob, I know I was not the best of company.  (Yeah--I was complaining...)

We got to our hotel (after driving with a disrespectful passenger--He made a poor comment about someone who was biking--hmmm--we are from Madison--big "Bike" your way around city--and visiting SF--another big "Bike" the city--you know I made a comment back.)  And I honestly don't remember if I collapsed on the bed for a nap first or we went to get food first.  I was pretty hungry.  Either way, I was pathetic and took a nap.  We then went to walk the warf and find food and a coat for me. 

We were hungry so we stopped at a small seaside walk-up.  We ordered a crab sandwich & chips.  We are not big fans of fish, but we figured that since we were on the coast, it was the only honorable thing to do.  The sandwich was not bad.  I wouldn't eat it all the time, but it was fine.  That was when I decided that I must be a fish snob--perhaps I only like fish when it's fresh and not shipped halfway across the country? 

We walked by the Boudin Sourdough bread store.  They had neat loaves of bread shaped like just about every animal you could imagine.  The lines inside were also outrageous, showing what a tourist trap it was. 

I did find my coat.  I just bought a fleece coat to keep me warm.  I bought it from one of those outside flea tent things.  The ladies did not seem to happy with me pawing through their merchandise--it was kind of weird, like they just expected me to tell the my size and color and then they would get it for me.  But I don't shop that way.  Anyway...

For dinner we walked around the warf and ate a surf-type joint.  We ate outside.  It was chilly, but most of the restaurants have heat lamps to keep it warm.  The food was fine--nothing special.  We got burgers. 

Afterwards, we walked around the warf some more.  Check out the pictures of the seals--and the video!  They were fun to sit and watch.  One of the seals looked dead--but we weren't sure.  The rest were singing and talking to each other.  Really cool!

We stopped and got ice cream at Norman's.  This place was voted best ice cream in San Francisco several years in a row.  Honestly, we weren't that impressed.  We have definitely had better--but then again we come from dairy country (happy cows in California do NOT = better ice cream!)

Rob found a Lefty shop.  He was VERY excited.  They had lefty notebooks, scissors, coffee cups (if you grab it with your right hand to drink there is a hole and it spills all over you), pens (I guess the ink dries super fast so your hand doesn't smear the ink as you write)--and lefty everything else.  It was a fun story.  Rob was in LOVE! and purchased a lefty notebook for himself before we left. 

We did not visit Alcatrez, though we could see it just fine from the warf.  We chose not to spend our limited time or money on touring a jail cell--somehow it just wasn't romantic :)

There were all sorts of street acts.  My favorites was the men that were painted in metallics.  They would stand really still and then scare tourists as they walked by.  There were also plenty of painters, musicians, and even some acrobatic acts. And of course MANY homeless. 

That night we slept in our comfy bed.  The next morning we went to Johnny Rocket for breakfast.  It was pretty yummy food!  We listened to oldies and watched the people walking by.  We then decided to explore uptown before the chocolate fest. 
If you haven't been to SF, it is VERY hilly.  The warf is naturally at the bottom of the hills.  As you walk up it is VERY steep.  There are signs posted reminding cars to park with their tires pointed towards or away from the curb (in case they "run away!) You will notice that I took a lot of pictures from on top of hills.  It was really neat looking down and seeing the bay and the GG bridge.  Of course the bridge was ALWAYS foggy, so you couldn't truly see all of it.  We did learn that the bridge can sway up to 28 feet and is made that way.  Isn't that incredible?!  (Doesn't really make us want to go on it--though I am sure it is safe--but I am just saying.) 

We didn't take any trolleys while we were there.  The trolleys seem to be mostly for tourists and the lines to get on are OUTRAGEOUS.  Plus we figured we could walk most of the trolley route. 

We walked down the windiest street in the world--Lombard St.  There were a lot of tourists driving down it and taking pictures. 

After our walk down Lombard St. We hung out by the water waiting for the festival.  The water was COLD!  And there were people swimming--mostly in wet suits--but still! 

After that we were off to the INCREDIBLE lines at the chocolate fest.  The place was crowded but well worth the wait.  Chocolatiers from all over California sharing their chocolate goodness.  We had tickets with 14 punches--meaning that each of us could sample 14 different chocolatiers--and taste we did!  (As well as squirrel some away for later.)  My stomach still wasn't feeling up to par--but I did well despite that.  MMMM--mmmm!

The festival was 2 days, but Rob and I had decided that we would just try to use up all our ticket punches on Saturday and spend Sunday in China town.

On our way out we stopped at a small brewery where Rob enjoyed a few local brews and I appreciated the architecture. From there we returned to our hotel and prepared for our Italian dinner at Capp's Corner.  This place was recommended by our concierge.  It was okay, but honestly I wasn't overly impressed.    And that was about the end of our Saturday.

Sunday morning, we returned to the Italian area because I had seen some AWESOME looking bakeries that I wanted to try (check out the pics) for breakfast.  MMM!

From there we walked our way to China Town.  Very cool area of the city!  Most signs were in Chinese--they even had a Chinese YMCA!  We stopped in a lot of the shops and browsed, and of course I bought some chop sticks!   For lunch we stopped in a Chinese Restaurant (Hang Ah) that had Dim Sum.  The food was DIVINE!  I loved my Lotus rolls!   The best part of the restaurant was our fortune cookies.  They were TOO ironic!  At this time we had a pretty good hunch that I was pregnant, but did not know for sure.  My fortune said "A short stranger will soon enter your life with blessings to share."  And Rob's said, "You will soon receive and unusual gift."  How funny!

From China town we walked towards the baseball stadium (Rob was bummed that they weren't playing otherwise we would have gotten tickets.)  But OF COURSE, we stopped at another local brew pub for Rob to try on our way.  And he got to see some of the Packer game.  We walked around AT&T park and then down the warf and back towards China town.  The water was gorgeous! 

Back through China Town we walked down the "less touristy" roads.  We got to see more of the "True" Chinese culture.  There markets were so neat.  Tons of dried fish, mushrooms, ginseng--you name it (don't forget the salted pig parts!)

From there we walked back to the warf and had a soup bread bowl at Boudins.  It was just the thing we needed to warm ourselves up.  We spent our evening walking the warf and enjoying each others company.  And then of course topped the night off with a Ghiradelli Fudge Sundae.  YUM!

Monday morning we were up early and returned to the warf for breakfast.  We shared 2 crepes.  One was stuffed with egg, cheese, tomatoes, etc...the other was stuffed with chocolate, bananas, strawberries, & nutella.  YUM!  We then returned to our hotel to pack and leave. 

Thankfully our trip back was uneventful and it was good to see the kids again.  We picked them up from Nana's and drove home.  We were all pretty tired. 

What a wonderful trip and a wonderful way to celebrate 8 GREAT years of marriage...now we just have to get back to planning our 10 year Hawaii Anniversary Trip!