san francisco summer

to cap off  a fantastic summer, we packed up for one last big trip...san francisco.  we have grown to love this city for so many reasons but a five-way tie for the best reason to visit goes to the west coast pilgreen family.

we jumped right into their daily plans the first couple of days and soaked up some amazing weather in the city.  i even took in my first giants game (finally)!

and then the bug hit.  for the next few days, we passed around a not-so-fun stomach bug while we tried to disinfect the entire house before it claimed any more victims.  once those of us who had been under the weather were finally ready to get out of the house again, we quickly made up for lost time.  ben and lee made a trip out to napa valley for dinner.  shauna and i drove over to hayes valley and pacific heights...two little pockets of the city i had never visited...and explored cute little shops, boutiques, bookstores, and more.  and of course, the boys caught up on baseball with uncle lee in the garage.

saturday, all eight of us made the trek to lunch and the farmer's market in noe valley and then onto dolores park to play.  we followed that up with a bus ride to get ice cream and then a loooong, steady incline of a walk back to their house.

i'm sorry.  i thought i had a baby boy, not a grown-up big boy!

sunday, we were blessed with another sunday at epic.  God is doing amazing things in and through that church, and we are so thankful to follow this journey with them.

this was perhaps the best weather we have ever experienced in the city.  brendan played legos and watched videos on the ipod with his cousins.  we left refreshed and ready for the upcoming year and all that God has in store for us.

asher giving brendan baseball advice, i'm sure

i couldn't resist

sam and brendan bonded over snacks and the ipod

spring break: san francisco style

in an effort to consolidate our week in san francisco into one post, i am going to categorize the pictures...i think this could be fun. if somehow the pictures do not convey it, we had a wonderful time and loved every minute we got to spend with our san francisco family.


first things first...let's start with the food.
(1) i finally enjoyed my first (and second) taste of in-n-out burger...yum, yum. (2) barney's is a local sf burger place near elijah's school...also delicious. (3-4) a fabulous cookie bakery...and no, the boys are not throwing gang symbols or anything. that is what brian wilson of the giants does after he pitches well (5) my "regular" at mama's...i love that i have a "regular" in san francisco. (6) an excellent pizza place that lee & ben visited before they... (7) ...brought us back some delicious cupcakes.
now obviously we don't love food more than we love the boys (and ben & shauna), so without further ado:
(1) sam, the bird-scaring monster (shauna & i decided we should create a monster book during this trip) (2) sweet brothers on a playground before elijah's first baseball game (3) more cool kids on a different playground (4) sam being sam (5) asher loving life (6) a rare moment of all three together & still (7 & 8) asher & uncle lee (that kid loves him some uncle lee!) (9 & 10) elijah and sam's swim lessons (11) a cool crosswalk (12 & 13) the very first epic church life groupi mentioned baseball before. elijah did not just have one baseball game but two! and an opening day parade!
(1 & 2) opening day parade for san francisco little league (3-4) game #1 (5) sam bunting & asher giving the signs to uncle lee (6-7) game #2
the sights of san francisco...
(1-2) elijah's school play yard (3) the painted ladies! (full house theme song, anyone?) (4) coit tower (5) this house says a lot about the city (6) epic kids :)

the pacific ocean! (see if you can spot baby pilgreen)