Shopping, shopping....and more shopping!

San Francisco Day 2.

What a tired bunch we were!  We went to bed at 8pm and crashed.  We didn't wake up until 9.30 this morning.  We all woke feeling so much better than last night.  The girls have adapted really well to the change.

Yesterday it was a beautiful sunny day, about 15 degrees...not too bad for Winter.  However, this morning we woke to rain.  Apparently there was supposed to have been a storm overnight, but we certainly didn't hear anything.  We headed out for breakfast to Pat's Cafe (recommended on Trip Advisor).  It was only a 2 minute walk away.


Pat's Cafe

 

Pat herself was there and was lovely.  We all decided on pancakes...yum.

Lauren pouring maple syrup on her blueberry pancakes...she only managed to eat one.

 

Thankfully their coffee was SOOO much better than Starbucks, although my Mocha did come with whipped cream on the top...must remember to ask for it without that next time.

Then we walked a block down to Ross Dress for Less.  Here's where our shopping spree began (photo of all our goodies coming soon).  We also had a look at The World Market which was next door.  I could have bought lots for craft at school, but I managed to stop myself.  We did find some sauces that my brother Brayden would have loved....

What do you think, Brayden?

 

 Lauren was also impressed by the super sized popcorn and gumballs.

We headed back to our room, dumped our bags of goodies and decided to drive into Union Square to visit Santa at Macy's.  Bry did really well this time and managed to stay on the right side of the road (he did drive through a red light though...we'll see if we get a red-light ticket).

Union Square was as busy as we expected, but we managed to find a park in the carpark quite quickly. 
Macy's exterior was gorgeous.

First stop...Santa!

He was a lovely Santa too.  We had a good look around Macy's and then Bry saw that Macy's menswear was a whole separate store...so we had to go and look at that too. 

The view out towards the Ice-skating rink and Christmas tree.

Inside Macy's.
 

Poor girls were over it a bit by now......

However, the next stop was The Disney Store so they certainly woke up then.  They're even more excited about Disneyland now. 

Old Navy was our next stop and we shopped up another storm here.  By this time it was 5.30 and dark and we were hungry (we hadn't eaten since our pancakes) so we headed back towards the car.  We had to stop for some pics on the way

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also stopped in at the Ferrari shop.

 

 

 

 

How's this for an impressive days shopping............................................................................

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not a bad effort for one day.  And all for around $200US.  Scary thing is that Mum's buys aren't included here.

 

We decided to head down to Chipotle for dinner again.  They were so pleased to see us again that they gave us a free kids meal.

 

 

Then we headed to a sweet shop "It's Sugar".  Yet again, more super sizing.

 

 

 

 

 

We headed back to the hotel, via a Safeway Supermarket.   All about to head to bed soon. xx

 

Golden Gate Bridge

San Francisco Day 3

We woke up this morning after yet another great sleep.  Still raining but it started clearing as we headed out the door.
Our first stop today was Fillmore St (a place my friend Cheryl and I spent a bit of time in back when we lived here)

 

 

 

We had a very yummy breakfast at a small cafe where Mum and I got our first bagels.  Yum.  The coffee here was even better than yesterdays.  Starbucks seems to be the worst.

 

We had a wander up and down a few blocks, and as we were heading back to the car (we only had a 30 minute park..more on that in a minute...) we noticed a SFFD truck just down the block.  Of course we had to go and have a look.

 

 The lovely fireman were having a coffee break and got out to have a chat.  They asked all about Christchurch and how it was doing.  They invited the girls up into the drivers seat and even let Lauren ring the bell.  She was thrilled.  They then pointed out the station just a little further on and told us to go and have a look...so we did.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was very cool...the girls were dying to have a go on the poles, but knew they couldn't.

 

We then headed down to the car...and guess what...

 



 

 

Seems our detour cost us $62.  We had a good laugh, 'cos what else can you do.

 

I then took everyone on a tiki-tour around my "first' neighbourhood....the place I lived in for the first month I was in San Francisco.

 

House in Clay Street

 

We then headed back down Fillmore towards the Golden Gate Bridge.

 

Driving over the Bridge to Marin County

 

 





We stopped off at the lookout point so we could show the girls the view of Alcatraz and looking back towards the city.  Unfortunately the day wasn't very clear so the photos aren't the best.  (We also look all wrapped up in our Winter gear but it really wasn't all that cold..we just needed our coats for the on again-off again rain) Hopefully we will get a better day when we head to Alcatraz on Sunday.

 

Where the girls think they might be left behind!

 

 

A pic for Bry

 

We then heading off to Belvedere/ Tiburon where I used to live!! Quite exciting to see it all again.

Tiburon

Bry with our Dodge Caravan

 

San Rafael Ave, Belvedere, CA94920



 

 We headed off to the Marin Brewing Company (another old local) where Bry had a Mt Tamalpais Pale Ale.

 

 

 

Looking around Larkspur

 

 

We drove to all the shops at Corte Madera where Bry had a great time in the REI shop, and walked out with mountainbiking shorts, mountain bike jersey, mountainbiking shoes and some other bits and pieces..Heaven!

 

 

After looking in all the other shops (and not actually buying a lot) it was 5pm and we hadn't eaten since breakfast.  It was time for dinner.  We decided to go to the Cheesecake factory as it was right there.  The girls got corndogs and fries (only their 2nd fries this trip, Grandad!), Mum got pork, Bry got a sirloin steak (gotta say, it was far tastier than a steak at a restaurant at home...it just melted in your mouth), and I ordered, on recommendation from the waiter, avocado egg rolls.  They were absolutely divine. (pic from Website)

 

 

 We were so hungry that I didn't get a chance to take any pics of any of the meals!  Then we were so full that noone had any room for dessert....but you can't go to the Cheesecake Factory without having cheesecake so we ordered two to go_

 



 

 

The one on the left is Dutch Apple Caramel Streusel  and the one on the right is Tiramisu. 

 

 

They had about 40 flavours to choose from, so we might just have to head to another restaurant during our travels. ;-)

Anyway, it's now 9.30pm San Francisco time and I'm the only one still up.  Time for bed I think.  More tomorrow.
xx

 

 

 

 

 





We've arrived

Well, we're here.  It's 7.43pm  Thursday San Francisco time.  We're just about ready to turn in for the night after a long day and night.

Our flight was fine.  It was fairly packed so we couldn't spread ourselves out but we all manged to get some sleep...the girls had about 4-5 hrs each, as did Mum.  Bry and I dozed on and off.  We actually landed 40 minutes early but couldn't taxi to our gate as the previous flight hadn't left yet.

When we finally did get off the plane, customs was a breeze.  Everyone was really friendly and we hardly had to queue.  The girls were most upset they weren't old enough to have their fingerprints taken though.

Yay, we're off the plane!!!

We jumped on the Airtrain to the car rental place and probably had our longest queue.  We eventually got our Dodge Caravan and drove out of the carpark where Bry then tried to drive on the left hand side of the road...oops, 2 minutes in to his driving.  Mum and i yelled at him and he quickly sorted it.  I must say, he's done very well since.

We drove to the closest Mall and got ourselves 'Five Guys' burgers for lunch.  Yum!! Like home made ones, not plastic ones.  We had a look around, bought Taylor a booster seat for $25 at Target (Californian law says children have to sit in one until they are 8) and then drove to the nearest Radio Shack to get cellphones.

We made it to the Motor Inn at about 3, checked in and then headed to the closest Walgreens to get some bits and pieces.  On the way home we stopped at a delicious Mexican chain "Chipotle" for dinner.  YUMMY!! Bry and Mum got a delicious looking salad bowl and the girls and I got burritos.  Mine was stuffed with heaps of rice, capsicums, onions, guacamole, tomato, cheese, sour cream, corn, and salsa. It was huge and only $4.50.

Then we walked along the road until we saw the Golden Gate Bridge. 

We've arrived!

Now we're back at the hotel about to crash.  More tomorrow...we're all smiling.

Finally...

We’re on our way!! 

After not a lot of sleep last night (when I finally did get to sleep, I was woken by a little person jumping in bed with me at 5.30am!!! groan) and  a quick shower, we were on our way to the airport.  Our flight wasn’t leaving until 11, but Mum was arriving from Invercargill just after 8 and Brayden, Sarah and the boys were heading out to meet her so we decided to join them…better to twiddle our thumbs there than at home.

Our flight to Auckland was quick…the girls were quite excited because we were on the All Black plane.   I managed to grab the window seat and had stunning views all the way. 

Start of a very long day and night

 

Mount Egmont

  

 The girls were even more excited when they were asked to give out the lollies and were then given a cupful each to keep.

When we arrived in Auckland we had planned to get the shuttle to Butterfly Creek to catch up with a dear friend from our Pukekohe days, Robyn, and her daughters.  Because it was so nice, and because we had some time to spare, we decided to walk as it wasn’t too far away.  We had forgotten about the humidity!!!  Don’t miss that part of living up here.

Our visit with Robyn and the girls was great.  It was so lovely seeing them and catching up.  The girls had a great time running around.  We saw butterflies, crocodiles, tarantulas, farm animals etc.  It was a lovely bonus to our fleeting visit to Auckland.

Tay and Kyla playing with a new friend

Jessie, Kyla, Tay and Lauren

 

At the moment we are sitting in Auckland International airport, waiting out the 2 hours until we can board.  More later J