Taytay is here

Last week my cute niece, Tay-tay, flew into town. My kids were so excited!! I was so excited, also. Tay is the star of the show, out here. Everyone wants to sit by her, stand by her, sleep by her, eat by her, read by her, swim by her.... etc. My kids just can't get enough Tay-tay.

This last weekend we went to Gilroy Gardens and San Francisco. IT was a lot of fun. It was nice to get out of the Fresno Heat (108 degrees) and head to the cool Coast (low 60's). It was a really nice change of pace.

On Friday, at Gilroy Gardens, I had put my cell phone in our bag. Then I gave the bag to Travis and said that we would split up (I took the little ones, he took the older) and meet in an hour or so. We did not decide on a meeting place. Big mistake. After an hour, Travis called me to see where we should meet. He had my phone. He then took the kids and started looking for me. Around that same time, the little girls decided that they wanted to play in the water. I decided to get their swim suits from Travis and play in the water. I went to grab my phone to call him.... oooops!! No phone. I talked the girls into helping me look for dad instead of swimming. We rode the monorail, the train and the cars while looking for dad. We circled the park. 2 hours later I am trying to bribe an employee to let me use their phone so I can call Travis- he thinks he will have to get his supervisors approval- when a sympathetic guy in the line behind me steps forward and lets me use his phone. I call Travis. He is just around the corner!!!! It was a hot 2 hours of searching for each other, and not too much fun for the kids, but we learned a lesson and decided that we would always have a meeting spot assigned, even if we do have phones to call each other :)

San Fran was a lot of fun. We learned a lot of things on this trip that will make future trips better.

1. Call ahead of time to schedule tickets to Alcatraz. You can't just go there and decide that you want to hop on a ferry to visit. Nope! If you don't call ahead, you won't get to see Alcatraz (except from shore).

2. Bring Bribes. The bathrooms there are the most disgusting things EVER, EVER, EVER!!! I had to promise each and everyone one of my kids that they could buy a treat if they would not cry and complain about using these gross facilities. Those bathroom trips cost $15 each time.... without the bribes, there is no way we would have gotten our 3 youngest to use those restrooms!!! Livee (as seen in one of the pictures) chose a chocolate sucker for one of her treats.

3. It is better to stay in your car and fight traffic, than to think that you should park far away from the Piers and just take the trolley in..... you never get on the trolleys!!! At least, we never got on the trolley. But we tried. 4 times. And we never got on. We ended up walking with our kids. The kids were great sports, but the 2 mile walk (each way) was very exhausting.

4. Pack lunch. It is very expensive to eat in San Francisco!! I will not tell you how much we paid for our lunch that day, but lets just say that we could have bought a new car for how much we paid for lunch at that quaint little joint :)

5. Remember your stroller. If you forget, buy an inexpensive one from target for $15, it will be worth it. And it was. We forgot our stroller, and I knew that we would not want to carry our children around all day. That stroller was worth its weight in gold. All the kids took turns using it.

6. The Golden Gate bridge is not on our route. Don't promise the kids that we can drive across. Or even walk across. Promise only that we can LOOK at it, if it is not too foggy. Tell them that they Bay Bridge is on our route and it is less drive time than making your way to the Golden Gate Bridge and adding 45 minutes to our drive.

7. Don't go on a day when the San Francisco Giants are playing... it will be PACKED!

8. Don't go on a Saturday. It will be PACKED.

9. Don't go on a Saturday when the Giants are playing.... IT WILL BE PACKED TO CAPACITY, STANDING ROOM ONLY!

10. Enjoy your time there. It is a beautiful place with a lot of cool things to do. Don't try to pack too much in, just relax and have fun!