20 months and a trip to San Francisco

20 months. And speaking 3-word sentences! Most of them start with "I want." "I want daddy." "I want water." "I want cheese." Her proudest possession: her purple crocs. She can put them on All By Herself.

And Peter is growing too. He recently passed his Beginner swim test, thanks to all those days at the river with dad and Ina's tireless coaching at Warm Water Fitness. Did I mention he is going to be a *Kindergartener* in August? His pants are all too short again. These kids! They GROW!

We recently spent a week in San Francisco, house-sitting at a friend's *beautiful* Bernal Heights home (thanks Karen and Ben!). The weather was perfect, and we did the town, tourist style.

We looked for sea lions.

We checked out the enormous fish, and climbed the bridge at the Japanese Tea Garden, after a visit to the De Young (Peter was unimpressed with the Diebenkorn exhibit).

We were too busy to take pictures at the zoo, but the Grizzly Bear feeding is a MUST SEE for you locals. We checked out the Aquarium at the Bay and the NEW Exploratorium. Peter particularly enjoyed the binoculars there.

And for the 4th of July, we journeyed up to Marin for a Real 4th of July Parade, complete with more candy than either of my little ones have ever encountered.

We spent the rest of the day at Muir Beach. Again, too busy to take pictures, but the kids were definitely in their element at the ocean, squealing with pleasure at the arrival of each wave. We also ate like crazy -- burritos, dim sum, Lucca's ravioli, ice cream sundaes at St. Francis Fountain, and two out of this world grown-up dinners.

The highlight of the trip, however, was the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Peter had been asking to go there ever since he saw a billboard advertising it a couple of years ago. It did not disappoint. And Karolina got to go on her first roller coaster ride! We are SO ready for the Nevada County Fair in August.