San Francisco

This weekend we had the opportunity to take a quick trip to San Francisco, CA! It was my grandparent's 50th anniversary and they flew the whole family out to celebrate! We had so much fun, even though it was only for 2 short days. However, it was quite the adventure with a very active 8 month old! To start the trip, all flights (including ours) into San Francisco were being delayed, so we sat in the St. Louis airport for an extra hour or two. Then after wrestling a very grumpy baby for a 4 hour plane ride, we finally arrive in San Francisco! Then, just when we think the worst is over, we go to get our stroller, which is supposed to be right outside the airplane door waiting for us, and find a flight attendant carrying a broken and bent stroller our way. Yes, the stupid airport broke our stroller beyond any repair! Apparently it got caught in some elevator lift thing and it broke the wheel off and bent the entire base. So we had to go have some words with the baggage claim people and came out with nothing less than a $100 travel voucher, good for a year...yay! What we needed was a $100 stroller voucher!! Well when that was finally taken care of, we met up with my family and the giant van they rented to haul us around. We then booked it to Pier 33 to catch the ferry over to Alcatraz where we met up with everyone else. We barely made it, thanks to all the delays! Well, with no stroller, Steve got very heavy, very fast...especially while he is sleeping and I am carrying him up switch backs to get to Alcatraz. Needless to say, his nap was quite short!

Here we are on the ferry...it was windy and cold! But thankfully, Steve is asleep (not for long though!)
We can always count on Uncle Brad to put Steve in the funniest places...here he is in front of what was once the shower/laundry room in Alcatraz.

The view from Alcatraz to San Francisco.

Part of Alcatraz. We took the audio tour of the prison, and it was actually really neat!

Daddy and Stevie on our way back down from Alcatraz, trying to hurry to catch the next ferry.

After Alcatraz, and the ferry ride, we went to China Town and ate at a really, really yummy Chinese restaurant. Unfortunately, I didn't get any good pictures from China Town, or the restaurant! But it was fun to be with everyone, and Steve was surprisingly good! He loved banging things on his high chair (they gave us a really old school high chair with a metal tray). And he enjoyed bites of fried rice!

The next day (Friday) we spent the morning having a family picture taken. This picture is historic, as it is being called, because every single person in the family is in the picture, and it contains 4 generations. The last family picture withe everyone in it was when I was a little older than Steve and the only grandchild! After the picture we went to the only place that sold any kind of stroller, Walgreens, and bought an over priced umbrella stroller. I was informed by the Concierge at our hotel that San Francisco does not have any Targets, Wal Marts, JC Penny, Sears, or anything of the like! I thought it was slightly snobby!

After we found a stroller, we all headed out for the day on this lovely minibus! We had a wannabe comic for a driver who kept saying we were a stiff crowd! But it was fun! Thanks to Aunt Stefani and her "rule" that we must sit by a different person after each stop.

Our first stop was in Sausalito, which is kind of like the Rodeo Drive of San Francisco. It was really neat and we ate some yummy food and took this lovely picture by a palm tree!

Our next stop was Muir Woods. We had to endure a very curvy drive (on a minibus) up and down a mountain to get here...but it was worth it! The red woods were amazing, and it was beautiful weather! Here's my grandparents in a tree! They are so cute!

Here's our little guy in a hollow log...I am such a mean mommy! He had no idea what was going on, and kept trying to eat the dirt! Yum Yum!
Like I said...amazing!

And again...

And again!

Our last stop was the Golden Gate Bridge. Of course it is known for the fog, and we were not disappointed! My dad, Shaina and Jeff all decided to run across the bridge and back the hotel, where us lazy and exhausted folk met them later! Some of us walked a little ways on the bridge, but we stayed and looked fondly from afar! It was quite a view.

The Broadbent Fam in front of the bridge.

When we got back to the hotel (which took longer than planned thanks to traffic), we had to hurry and decorate for the banquet that night. We had some really nice decorations planned and everything turned out so nice. We then ate a very yummy meal and had a little program honoring my grandparents. They are nothing less than amazing! Each of their children (they have 5) took a decade from their marriage and present things that happened to their family and in the world for those 10 years. It was really neat to see what they have accomplished. I truly hope Jesse and I can be half of what they are! We love you Gramma and Grampa!

Steve fell asleep before the night started, so we left him in his stroller and hid him in the closet of the banquet room! Everyone kept cracking jokes that we put our kid in a closet in San Francisco of all places and that sooner or later he'd have to come out! Ha Ha everyone! :)

Us sisters after the banquet.

Saturday morning we ate a quick breakfast at Mel's Diner and then everyone headed their separate ways. Here's the Brown side of the family (the kids anyway, and minus Steve who was asleep in the stroller) just before we left. It was so good to see everyone, especially since my brother Brad is leaving on his mission in 3 weeks! Go Brad!

Us with the future Elder Brown of Portugal! Good Luck bro! We love you!

Luckily the flight home was not nearly as hard as the flight to San Francisco, and no strollers were broken! But it was still sad to say good bye. Although, it was quite nice to be home too! The end of a reunion is always bittersweet.

We had such a wonderful time. Thank you Gramma and Grampa for everything you did to make this possible! It was amazing! I am still waiting on some pictures to be emailed (like from Gramma!!) so more to come!