Vacationing with Aunt Meme

My sister Mirriam came to visit us last week. (She's from Boise) We had a great time with her! The kids adore her attention, I enjoy her company! We gave Mirriam a little "sampling" of the Bay area and neighboring coastal towns. We went to the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz. The kids and Scotty played on the roller coasters and rides. Actually Jared had to sit out a lot because he didn't meet the height requirements, but he was a good sport about it. It was cold and we ended up buying sweatshirt souvenirs out of necessity.

We also went to Monterey, just briefly. We went to Cannery Row and walked along the boardwalk and pier near the Monterey Aquarium. I took these photos of the kids there. Caitlin was being very cooperative, Jared was humoring me. Most of the photos of him he's wearing a scowl. I LOVE this top photo of Caitlin. This is her natural and most endearing smile. The smile that is hard to catch on film. The one that usually is accompanied with a giggle.

The next day we drove into San Francisco. We took some pictures from Coit Tower and the Golden Gate Bridge. We drove down the curviest street in America (Lombard Street) and went to a fantastic little pizza dive near China Town. The pizza was terrific. It took us 40 minutes to find a parking space though, and 20 for Scotty to hike back to the car and drive back to pick us up.

San Francisco is an interesting city, full of character. I am just so glad I don't live there. I like city, but not one where it takes 40 minutes to find a parking space. I'm not crazy about China Town either. Too busy, too dirty. Even San Jose' is too big for me. I like little cities that have all the conveniences with a small town feel.
Aunt Meme also got to see Caitlin perform in her American Tall Tale Heroes play at school (Caitlin was a square dancer). I did a horrible job filming the play without the tripod I carelessly left at home. And the still photos weren't much better.