San Francisco

I can not get the pictures to post for the life of me, so you'll just have to imagine them:) I think most of you have seen them on facebook anyway, so here you go. Michael and I had one of the best vacations last weekend in San Francisco. We left early Friday morning and got into the city at a little after 11. We headed over to this fabulous place called Pete's Tavern across from AT&T park for lunch. It was so good. Then we headed over to the Exploratorium. Michael had never been there, and me being the science nerd that I am, I was excited to take him. We had so much fun! We were seriously like two little kids in there. After checking out the condo we were staying in (our room on the 22nd floor had a pretty good view), we headed down to Fisherman's wharf, which happens to be one of our favorite places. If you're ever there you have to go to The Fudge House and get the Raspberry bark. It is heaven! We hung out there for a while and then went upstairs to Swiss Louis for dinner. Out of all the restaurants we ate at that weekend, it was by far my favorite! The food and service were amazing, plus you sit overlooking the sea lions and you have a great view of the bay. I really recommend this place. Later that night we went down to Baker Beach (a nude beach!) with our clothes fully on :) to take pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge at night. The view was spectacular, I have never seen anything like it. It was kind of creepy though as we were walking back we realized someone else was on the beach and we hadn't noticed them! The next day we got up and found an amazing doughnut place while we were looking for a McDonald's. Those doughnuts totally have Mickey D's beat. They were fantastic. We drove on over to the beach right below the Cliff House. Did you know that at low tide you can walk out to Seal Rocks and look at/touch all the marine life living on the rocks? It was so cool! From there we crossed the street to the zoo. We had been there before, but it is a great zoo and fun to visit. They had a whole bunch of baby animals, including the cutest baby gorilla I have ever seen. He was dancing all over the place! After the zoo we went to the Japanese Tea Gardens inside Golden Gate Park. They are so beautiful and tranquil, I loved it! We walked around the Botanical Garden inside the park which was pretty too. We left there and went to get ready for a fancy dinner at Palio D'Asti, a great Italian place. It was fun to get dressed up and since it wasn't too far from the condo we walked. The weather was perfect for walking all weekend. After dinner we walked to different hotels in the Financial District (The Mandarin, The Hyatt Regency and the Hilton) that all offer spectacular views of the city. Let me tell you, they are even more incredible at night. So yes, we snuck up to the top floors of these hotels to snap some pictures. It was worth it. The next morning we headed back to Pier 39, walked around Ghiradelli square and checked out the ships at the Hyde Street Pier. They have some really cool old ships and barrels along the pier that have ropes and instructions on how to tie sailors knots. We took a Bay Cruise (if you go with a small boat instead of one of the large commercial ones it is a LOT cheaper) which took us under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz. I've seen the bridge from many viewpoints, walked it , driven across it, but none of these was ever as amazing as going underneath it. Seeing the immense power was incredible. We had lunch again at Swiss Louis ( I told you I liked it) and headed home. It was a busy weekend but truly incredible!

She's a maniac!

Man that song is catchy. Okay, so I have been reading like a maniac, hence the title. In case you didn't notice I added a list of the books I have read so far this year. Yes, since January first I have averaged about 6 books a month, and I am hoping to reach 50 (at least!) by December 31st. The books with asterisks next to them are ones that I LOVED. I seriously could not put them down, and some of them I even finished in two days, they were that good. I've been on a young adult fiction streak lately (why are those books so much fun to read) even though I am almost 25. Everyone has a weakness right? So those of you who read my blog could help me out by letting me know what your favorite books are. Come on let's fill up that list!

Happy Easter!

So with the crappy weather, it sure doesn't feel like Easter, but the calendar doesn't lie right? Is this year flying by for anyone else? I feel like we make it through one holiday and the next one is already upon us. This Easter was fun though because the girls could participate a little bit more. We had a small egg hunt in the backyard with eggs that Michael and I colored. It was so cute to see them get so excited when they found an egg and they were so proud to put it in their baskets. As far as other news, Bailey is working on teeth numbers 7 and 8 right now and Reagan is catching up with #5. Needless to say they are both kind of grumpy. They are both walking (okay, more like running) and they are always into everything. They keep me super busy, especially with Daddy being at work now. Their new favorite thing is to stick their hands in the toilet and suck the water off before somebody catches them. Why don't we just keep the toilet lids closed you ask? Good question; because we have a dog who is incapable of drinking out of anything but the toilet. Seriously. He will sit there dying of thirst until somebody lets him to the toilet. Guess it's time to retrain the dog, because I gag just thinking about the girls hands in there. Anyway, they're still a ton of fun and they light up our lives. Our next exciting milestone will be going to nursery after April 16th. Woohoo, Mommy and Daddy are excited!

Late Christmas Post and some randomness

Is it really a surprise to anyone that it has taken me this long to write my Christmas post? No, I didn't think so. And just a warning, there are a lot of pictures to follow because I am a slacker. So Christmas this year was awesome. The girls weren't really interested in opening their presents, just playing with the bows on top of them. Note to self: next year save a whole lot of money on presents and just buy a big bag of bows! Anyway, after our Christmas here, we went next door to Michael's parents and opened a bunch of awesome gifts there. Then we went up to my parents house and we got to speak to my brother on the phone. I'm not gonna lie, it is really weird not having him here, and even though he's been gone for 7 months now, I still miss him a ton. It was so great to hear from him. He is all grown up now! My family was all taking bets that I would cry first when talking to him. Um yeah, try the LAST person to cry! I'm pretty sure they owe me $25. So that was Christmas. It doesn't sound like much, but it was truly fantastic. I can proudly say that I now have two "walkers" in my house. The girls still prefer crawling as their method of transportation, but they can walk. Reagan is also doing so well developmentally that her Early Intervention specialist thinks we can start to phase her out of the program. This is a good thing and we are so proud of our little peanut. Okay, I guess we'll get to the pictures now.

First random, non Christmas picture... Reagan with a "big girl" ponytail!! I like to call it her pirate pony, because it reminds me of the ponytail Orlando Bloom sports in Pirates of the Carribbean :)
Bailey modeling her hat and pj's, both gifts from Mommy and Daddy.
Reagan also sports her gifts.
Bailey and Reagan digging into their stockings.
I love that face!
Poor Reagan had some major bed head going on Christmas morning.
Checking out the goods under the tree. Please ignore my appearance :)
Another random pic. Not only is our daughter a red head, but she is a red head with curls! Love it! We hope it stays that way.
Bailey LOVES to make funny faces so people will laugh at her.
And I just had to add this one because it is one of my favorite pictures of Reagan. Look at those eyes! They make me swoon!