Bucket Lists and Biking the Bay Bridge

Years ago I made a bucket list of things I would like to do and biking the bay bridge from Oakland to Treasure Island was on it. Alas, we had never done it. We found ourselves with a kid free day on Saturday and decided to do just that. We parked at the Cal Trans parking lot at 210 Burma Rd. From there it is just half a mile to the start of the bridge, so each way from our car to the end of the bridge was 3 miles. I was nervous about biking up the bridge. After all, the whole way is up and that looks like quite the incline. Well, I am happy to say that "slow and steady wins the race". I may have biked it as fast a a guy ran it, but I managed to do it without stopping and without wearing myself out. I was proud! If we do it again, which I would totally be up for, I think I would pack a picnic lunch and eat it at the end where you have a beautiful view of the bridge. Going down was where the true fun was. It felt fun to go fast and feel the wind. It also felt so freeing. So, so freeing. I loved that feeling. 

After doing this, I decided to look up the bucket list I made years ago. There are a couple things on the list we have done and a couple that made Ian and I chuckle. For instance, I put take the kids to Sea World. We have gone to San Diego twice and I didn't feel the need to go there. But apparently when I wrote this list I did. We are still talking about Australia. Ian says Willa has to be a bit older, as toddlers on a long plane ride are no fun. But we are planning for maybe in 2.5 years. I would love to take one of the kids to NYC, as a special trip and walk the High Line. As for snorkeling, I think Willa and Callum need to be a bit older to do a real snorkeling expedition. Now to just not be lazy and go watch a sunrise one of these days...I am not exactly a morning person. 

Walk/bike across the Bay Bridge

Go kaiking

Walk on the High Line in NYC

Ride in a helicopter

Visit Treasure Island

Go to North Carolina

Take the kids to Sea World

Go to Australia

Take the kids snorkeling

Watch a sunrise

Stay on a boat in Amsterdam

Take the kids on the Durango-Silverton Railroad

Visit New England in the fall

Let me tell you a funny story about the train in Durango, CO. We didn't end up riding it because it was a several hour journey and we didn't think the kids were up for it. But we parked along the track to take the kids to smash pennies...something I did with this very same train as a child many times. So, imagine this moment. I drag all of us to the train track to smash pennies. I have told the kids how cool it is. We lay the pennies out and step back. I get the kids set up to wave at the train. About when the train was even with the kids, it started honking its horn. The kids freaked. Isla ran and tripped over Connor. Both were on the ground, trying to get as far away as possible, as quick as possible. Ian said the train conductor was laughing. I am sure the passengers thought we were horrible parents. Thankfully, the kids quickly got over it and were excited to search for their smashed pennies. 

I wish this was my only parenting fail like this, alas it was not. Connor still talks about him and I digging up a crab on the beach in Hawaii and it jumping at us, sending him and I running away screaming. I digress. The good news is, I don't think taking your children on the bay bridge would cause any trauma! Well, maybe some complaining riding the slope up. Haha!

you can also find me on:

bloglovin // instagram // pinterest 

Ice Cream for Lunch

I've become really good at blogging like maybe once a week. Alas, I will trudge on, as this is how I keep our memories going. After we went to the Pacific Pinball Museum (a little over a week ago!), we crossed into San Francisco to go to Salt and Straw. This was the reason for the trip anyway. And it was obviously destined for us because first there was literally no one at the toll booths to get on the bay bridge. I've never seen it like this before. It was crazy. Then, we head to an ice cream shop in the middle of San Francisco and manage to score street parking right in front on the first pass through. WHAT?! The ice cream was obviously meant to be!!!

Even though it was past lunch time and no one had eaten yet, we basically used ice cream as lunch because, well, everyone got a lot of it! The ice cream itself was quirky and fun. I got a gingerbread cookie dough one and it did not disappoint. All the flavors were quirky and sometimes things like that can throw the kids off, but they liked it. Of course, I think the ginormous waffle cones Connor and Isla got helped! They ended up with ones way bigger than me somehow...all because they "split flavors". Apparently the 50 cent up charge for splitting flavors for a single scoop really is code for getting two scoops. It was kind of crazy.

It was a fun little stop in a cute area of San Francisco - Hayes Valley. We've never been to this particular area before, but would definitely go back and explore more as there were just so many cute shops all around there.

You can also find me on:

bloglovin // instagram // pinterest 

Pacific Pinball Museum

This past weekend was Ian's last holiday off until the end of busy season. It felt appropriate to do something fun as a family. We were going to go to the snow, but found out the snow level was rather high and decided to scrap that...we were hoping more for an experience like last year. Which apparently, now looking back on that, it was in March. So there is still hope for a really good snow for us to go play in. But I digress. Ian and Isla had read about a new ice cream place in San Francisco recently and we decided to go there instead. Except, driving to San Francisco just for ice cream seemed a little bit wasteful. So, I started searching for something fun to do. We have done tons of Bay Area activities over the years, so I was kind of looking for something we hadn't done yet. That's when I stumbled across the Pacific Pinball Museum. 

To be honest, I wasn't sure how much the kids would like the outing. They always seem rather bah humbug about leaving the house. But they were actually on board...even though I'm not sure they were fully aware what pinball was. When we got there, they were totally excited. You pay a flat fee to get in, then all the pinball machines are free play. They start with the oldest machines, then get newer as you wind through the museum. The old ones are pretty neat because they are wood and you actually have to load your own balls. They also apparently used to have some gambling involved as well and say "minors not permitted" on them. The last room with the newest pinball machines in it was just crazy busy. Too busy for me, even though I did want to try my hand at the Monopoly and Back to the Future machines. But the added chaos (my kids were enough for me already!) just wasn't worth it. So we stuck to the other machines. And to be honest, I was plenty entertained by all the other machines and so were the kids. 

We stayed at the pinball museum for a couple hours before heading to get ice cream. But I could totally see going for a couple hours, then leaving and getting lunch or something, then going back in, as they have in and out privileges. It was a fun stop, one I am sure we will hit up again sometime, as the kids really enjoyed it. 

^^ My kids are total and complete suckers for those souvenir penny machines and of course walked away with a couple. 

^^ Callum was by far the most animated about the pinball machines. Which the museum had step stools for the kids, which was awesome. 

^^ Callum was very serious until the ball went in at the bottom, then would get super excited. 

^^ Loading the ball in one of the old machines.

If you are looking for something unique and entertaining to do with your kids, I highly recommend the pinball museum. 

You can also find me on:

bloglovin // instagram // pinterest 

A San Francisco Getaway

Ian and I managed to run away for a night this past week. With three kids, that is no small feat. It seriously sometimes feels like moving mountains to arrange leaving three kids for just one stinking night. But it happened and it was totally worth it. We ate our weight in dinner and still managed to stuff in a dessert meant for four. We shopped. I offered to take a tourist's photo, to which Ian told her I was going to steal her phone. We walked up and down huge hills. We stayed at a nice hotel, our 1992 volvo parked with cars that cost the same as houses in Modesto. We took coffee breaks, several in fact. We ate brunch at the tiniest most cramped restaurant ever, but it didn't matter because we didn't have three squirmy kids with us. We explored new places in the city we had never been to. We met the cutest old man coffee roaster. We talked to each other without being interrupted. It was a rather magical 30 hours. 

No matter how many times we go to San Francisco, it never gets old. There is always a new place to explore. Always new places to eat at. Always things to look at, things to do. It's a pretty magical city.

You can also find me on:

bloglovin // instagram // pinterest

Museum of Ice Cream

We went to the Museum of Ice Cream in San Francisco last week. I've been wanting to go ever since I heard about the one in New York City last year. When I saw it was coming to San Francisco, I was over the moon. What I didn't expect was how insanely difficult and stressful it would be to get tickets. Being in a virtual queue and being told there are more people waiting than tickets when you had been refreshing your computer screen every 10 seconds for several minutes waiting for the tickets to drop is just heartbreaking. Alas, I did eventually score tickets. I bought them in August, so we had a while to wait. Finally, the day arrived. And I must say, it really didn't disappoint...though I will also say it would have been easier and more enjoyable to attend without a toddler ;)

I'm going to warn you, there are a lot of pictures and there aren't even pictures here from every room we went through! 

^^ The room that was floor to ceiling magnetic and covered in pink magnetic letters. It almost made me want one in my own house...until my adorable toddler started throwing letters off the wall by the handful. 

^^ Cherry cotton candy with glitter on top, yes please! 

^^ Let me start by saying that Isla asked me to take a picture of her acting like she was licking a giant popsicle...and I'll end by saying that she may or may not have accidentally licked said giant popsicle in the process.

^^ This tiny little mirrored room was a fun surprise. My kids would have stayed in there for days, but there was a line waiting to get in it, so we only stayed a couple minutes. 

^^ Connor LOVED the rock climbing room and we literally had the room to ourselves. No one else seemed interested in it, so would just walk through. But Connor, he kept climbing to the top and jumping down, having the time of his life. 

^^ The sprinkle pool really does live up to the hype. It's really fun to be in. Ian and I got in too. The only bummer is that you can only stay in it five minutes...but it was the only part of the museum they had a time limit on. 

I was pleasantly surprised with how uncrowded the inside of the museum is. I knew that we had an entrance time on our tickets, but what I didn't expect is they only allow about twelve people in every five minutes, so it spreads people out. I think you are sort of supposed to stay together with the group you are let in with, but we only lasted the first three rooms with them, then fell behind. Also, by room three, we had people from the group behind us passing us. But I appreciated that the workers never hurried us along and let us enjoy each room as we pleased. We were told it would take 45 minutes to go through and it took us an hour and a half. The only treat the kids didn't really enjoy was the salted caramel ice cream, but Ian and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The mochi was my favorite, but I just love mochi. Connor said the sprinkle pool was his favorite part and Isla said all of it was her favorite. The swings were at the end and were pretty dang cool. I just love swings anyway, so to have them in fun decorated boxes was just cool.

I am really glad I was able to get tickets because it was something just totally fun and unusual to do as a family.

You can also find me on:

bloglovin // instagram // pinterest