June 2014 - Part I - San Francisco

We spent the first week of June in San Francisco.  KC had to go there to take his oral board test. He had a study course there all week, and the test on Saturday.  So, while KC studied 15 hours a day, Pearl, Coby and I saw the sights of San Francisco.  KC isn't in even one picture of our adventures...he seriously studied the entire week.  I should have at least gotten a shot of him studying :s 

The first day in San Fran we boarded the BART and met my life-long friend Monica Madsen down town.  The BART is an under ground transit that makes spooky noises. 

 My kids loved Monica immediately.  She is so much fun.  

We explored the different shops at the piers and Fisherman's Wharf. 

Driving across the much-anticipated Golden Gate Bridge.

We stayed at Embassy Suites near the San Francisco Airport.  

Cooling down after a work out in the hotel.

Coby turned 5 in San Francisco.  We started the day at Ghirardelli Square.  

Chocolate ice cream in the morning is a great way to start your birthday.

San Francisco is truly beautiful.  

We loved seeing the creative sourdough rolls in the bakery windows. 

Tickets to jail.

The Exploratorium was really worth while. We spent 6 hours there:

building circuits,

drinking from toilet fountains,

 counting the rings of trees,

shadow dancing,

 Making sand sculptures,

 watching a tornado form, and a seeing a hundred other neat things.

 We met up with Monica again and went canoeing.  

We got quite chilly (San Fran is quite cold during the summer) and sought shelter in a museum.  It was a beautiful museum.  It had an Amazon Rainforest exhibit we walked through.  It was nice a toasty in there and we felt right at home. It had an earthquake simulator that Pearl and Coby really liked.  Below is the hands-on sea life exhibit and a huge aquarium.  I think I was getting tired of taking pictures at this point...but the museum really was fascinating.

After the aquarium we met up with another friend from Price, Julia Swasey Madsen, and her kids.  

We went on a hike with them. 

This was on our last day in San Francisco.  

Monica was our guide again and took us to this adorable hat shop,

And a candy shop with free salt water taffy!

This is Monica and the kids rolling down a hill.  I told you she is fun ;)

Breakfast at Embassy suites.  We did a lot more walking in San Francisco than we are use to.  We must have burned some serious calories because every morning Coby ate a half a loaf of bread's worth of  peanut butter toast. :)  We had a fun week. KC studied hard and ended up passing his oral board test!!!  We are SO grateful!!