Christmas 2012 Adventure in San Francisco

Tonight we made our annual Christmas trek into San Francisco. The forecast of rain wasn't going to slow us down... and neither was the down pour on our drive in.

We used to head into Union Square each year to see the lights, Macy's windows, and the big tree... but last year we decided to skip that and go to Pier 39 instead. It was a hit... so we did that again this year. Less people, less traffic, less stress, and way more fun. 

We started off the night at Boudin with parmesan crusted grilled cheese, rustic tomato soup, and diet cokes. Our little monkey Ryan was so stoked to join in on the fun and was quite the celebrity... everyone who saw him had to stop and say hi.

After dinner we watched the Boudin bakers make bread and then we stomped through puddles and went down to the big tree at Pier 39 for pictures, checking out the lights and stores, and little mini donuts (Kevin's favorite).

Hooray for donuts!

Next stop was Ghirardelli Square for ice cream sundaes! This is Kevin's and my favorite part of our  holiday tradition and we were so pleased that the kiddos were so happy and well-behaved all night. Who wouldn't be if they got a yummy sundae like this all to themselves, right?

The only sad moment was when Andrew spilled his hot chocolate in his lap and all over the floor (fortunately it wasn't hot any more). Good thing I had thought ahead and brought an extra outfit for each kid. Knowing he had clean pants in the car helped little dude snap out of his sad mood and enjoy every last drop of his sundae before we went home.

 

Catie preferred to just play with her sundae and drum with the spoons... instead of actually eating anything.

Ryan was in love with all of the lights at the ice cream shop and all of the elderly ladies at the tables around us were in love with him. We had all sorts of people offering to take pictures of our family and just telling us how adorable our kids were. It was so sweet. Ice cream really does put people in happy thoughtful moods. :)

On our way home we had fun practicing the song that Andrew is singing in church on Sunday with a small little ensemble and then the kiddos zoned out to our favorite holiday movie this year (Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas).

It actually only rained a little bit, so the weather ended up being chilly, but perfect. I was AMAZED at how smoothly the evening went. I kinda want to do it again next week.

Christmas in San Francisco 2011

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is heading into San Francisco to check out the Christmas lights and have fun as a family.

This year we skipped the hoopla of Union Square and went down to the wharf.

We had grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato basil soup at Boudin and had fun walking around the piers and seeing the street performers.

We grabbed some cookies since no event is complete without a trip to Mrs. Fields :)

Catie has no desire to be held any more or be in the stroller for long, so we had fun walking around with her. She can actually walk for quite a long time now before she falls. She does even better when we hold her hand. She made lots of friends. What a cutie!

We managed to snag one family photo where everyone was at least looking at the camera.

Then we headed to the must-visit place on our SF checklist- Ghirardelli!

These two made me laugh.

Catie developed a new love for her brother who fed her some of his ice cream. This little girl was in heaven the entire time we were at Ghirardelli. I think she ate more of my sundae than I did.

It wouldn't be a successful family trip without a tantrum or two... after all, who would ever want to leave Ghirardelli to go home and go to bed?

Andrew fell asleep in the car on the way home and our little energizer bunny (Cate) just happily watched Baby Einstein. We ended up turning her seat around forward facing because she was so miserable with her long legs banging the back seat. She was much happier!

Great night! I love our SF Christmas tradition and it was fun to change it up a bit from past years!

You can see our previous trips here...
2010 (with new baby Cate and Shari)
2008 (with 9 month old Andrew)