M&J Binns Visit SF

In late March we had the pleasure of hosting my dear aunt and uncle and their two boys -- Matthew, Judy, Nathan, and Sam Binns -- from Utah. I love this family dearly, and it'd been a long while since we saw them last, so I'm glad they made the trip! Plus, we always relish the excuse to see the beautiful sights.

Evette providing the obligatory piano recital, immediately upon arrival.

The Binns visited my office, this is my desk.

Thankfully he didn't buy these.

Chinatown!

Heidi and the girls met up with us at Sutro Baths, one of our go-to favorites when friends are in town.

Next we went to Fort Point for a clear view of the bridge.

The "clear view" was certainly delivered, via torrents of powerful wind.

Facing the other way, with SF behind us.

After all that exploring we went to Fransiscan, an impressively good seafood spot in Fisherman's Wharf.

Evette loved her chowder.

Crabs!! Butter!! SO GOOD. 

Sam was adventurous and loved it!

Evette loves loves seafood of all sorts. Squid took her a minute though.

Family pic outside the restaurant.

Heading over to Pier 39

Great acrobat/comedian performing that night

The girls shared this tea-cup style seat on the merry-go-round with this other girl, whose father made sure they kept spinning healthfully. They had a wonderful time.

Seals at the pier.

Humans at the pier.

The next morning, Nathan and I went running at my favorite jogging/biking/for-everything spot, Sawyer Camp Trail along Crystal Spring Reservoir.

Later that morning we found ourselves at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk.

^^ Evette's favorite ride, by far. Can't wait to do that again with her.

After the Boardwalk we found some surfers to watch while eating lunch. See all those black dots in the water?

Then we ended up at a beach ourselves -- just a few blocks from where Heidi and I stayed during our anniversary trip to Santa Cruz last Spring. Warm, wonderful memories. << Side note: A frustration I have living in SF is the indomitable size of our bucket list. I dearly want to return to Santa Cruz to basically duplicate last year's anniversary weekend, but we have so many other things we want to do that we haven't yet, that may be hard to fit in. :-\ Good problem to have? 

Evette and Miriam had a blast carrying this log around, building bridges and balance beams

That log above, as a balance beam.

After a day at a theme park and beach, what would you want to do more than roast some s'mores? I couldn't think of anything.

All cleaned up for church the next morning!

Me and the boys.

Who's next?

{Mom visits SF}

My mom jumped on a plane and spent her spring break with us up here in California!

Look at the little foot pop - someone (everyone!) was so excited to see Mimi!

We've been saving all the artwork we've done over the last few weeks to show it all to Mimim when she got here. It was like 2 massive grocery bags full. We do a lot of art at our house :)

We spent a day up in the city, and spent the morning at the Sutro Bath House. Unlike the previous week when Dan was visiting, it was perfectly beautiful weather the entire time my mom was in town.

We got there early in the morning and everything was still and quiet and beautiful!

Our next stop was the wave organ. It was super fun. There were a million crabs sitting out on the pipes warming themselves in the morning sun.

Then we ran across the street to see the Palace of Fine Arts.

We went to Sean's office and gave mom a little tour around the place. It's a very cool startup.

Then taco/mural tour time!!! Much nicer to do in the sun than the rain. 

While we were walking around some of the murals, we saw a lady painting. She was the artist of some of the work that we were looking at. She was so sweet and kind and took the time to talk to us a little bit about her work. Very cool experience!

So delicious, so happy!

It had been a big long day thus far, but we were not quite through, yet!

We decided to head to Pier 39 for some more fun times!

The girls went with Daddy and Mimi on the carousel and had a blast! They all rode the twisty thing together, and luckily, no one threw up - despite all the tacos we ate that afternoon.

That's Alcatraz in the background.

And of course, to stop and watch the big ol' sea lions.

And what could be a better way to end the day than with ice cream!? 

The night, Mom and I watch some Pride and Prejudice. A tradition of many years. Back when I lived at home we would watch one VHS of Pride and Prejudice (the real 6 hour long one) each day during spring break. We didn't get to finish the whole thing, but it was fun anyways.

The next day, we decided to head to the beach, specifically to see the tide pools.

It was super fun.

It took Evette a while to warm up to the idea of exploring all over the area. There were these little sea creatures literally everywhere. Evette couldn't decide if she was more scared of stepping on them, or of them eating her toes. She was nervous. After convincing her that they were strong and it was ok to step on the little tiny ones because they were hiding in holes, she was more apt to go exploring.

These little guys would try to grab your finger - it was fun and freaky.

Then we took some time to just play along the beach.

It was a bit breezy, but a lovely afternoon.

Mimi riding Sean's scooter :)

That evening we had hotdogs and smores for dinner - because that's what happiness is all about.

The next day was our last full day together. We went on a walk to the park and did some exploring.

That evening was one of my choir concerts, so my mom was able to be there! It was so great to have her come and hear me sing. She also got to help up front with the raffle that we were running. After the concert, we went out with some of my friends afterwards and had a grand old time.

We were so happy to have Mimi come spend a few days with our family up here in California. It's hard to live so far away from family, but it's a real treasure when they get to come and visit. 

We love Mimi!!!!