Fisherman's Wharf

We'd traveled by air, and by car, so it was high time we traveled by boat! We took a ferry from Oakland over to San Francisco for a day at Fisherman's Wharf.

I love how Sydney says "San Francisco" in her little toddler voice.

Love my Sydney Pippa!

It was a bit windy on that ferry I tell you!

We had a nice time hanging out with family.

This sculpture is called Cupid's Span and the feathers of the arrow actually move in the wind. Cupid's silver arrows were supposed to inflict hate. The artists buried the tip of the arrow and front part of the bow to defunctionalize them. 

A quick pic before stepping off the ferry!

The first thing we did when we reached the Pier 39 was visit the sea lions. To be honest, I've never been into the sea lions because they stink and don't really do anything, but they are an attraction so we stopped by for the girls' sake.

They seemed to feel the same way I did, but Liesel thought it was funny they are considered "Sea-lebrities". Ha ha!

 I love how Brigitta is peaking out from behind the heart.

When the girls spied the double-decker carousel they really wanted to ride. 

As soon as they got off, the girls requested to do it again, but if there's one thing Pier 39 is famous for, it's how absolutely everything- from the churros... 

...to the rides- is crazy expensive. We stopped at a gift shop for some postcards and kept moving.

On to Fisherman's Wharf!

 Even though the lines were really long, and there was no indoor seating to be found, we stopped at Boudin's for lunch so the girls could have some of their famous sourdough.

Whenever I have to give a name for an order, I always say, "Elvis." First of all, no one can spell or  pronounce "Danika" so I just don't bother. Secondly, Elvis is distinctive enough that a lot of people quiet just to see who is going to pick up the order. This habit of mine came in handy when picking up our order at Boudins. I'm not sure what language the two men calling out the orders were speaking, but it was definitely not English. In a city like San Francisco and in such a popular tourist spot, there was an international community waiting for their orders and you could just see the foreigners struggling to understand them. "Rebecca" came out something like "Hurawachakkah?" Then came my order. 

ELVIS!!! 

It was called out, clear as a bell and an, "Oooooh!" came over the waiting crowd because seriously, it was the only name anyone understood.

We headed over to Musee Mecanique which is a huge warehouse with arcade games, musical boxes and the like. After feeling ripped off by the sky-high prices at Pier 39, this place was a dream for us. The girls were endlessly entertained on just a few bucks, while Brent and I were able to introduce them to some classic games. 

Whack a Mole!

 Sharpshooter!

 The race car game has me fearing for the streets of America when our girls get their license.

Can you hear Brigitta yelling, "Just let me drive! Just let me drive!"

Sydney wasn't much better. Her eyes kept wandering to her sisters playing the game next to her.

Liesel managed to drive the wrong way down Lower Wacker Drive *shudders*

There were some "games" that I hesitate to count as entertainment.

English Execution!

French Execution! Which is probably more violent than English Execution!

Opium Den?

Who on earth thought these up and then actually created them? And WHY?

Time was running short and I really, really wanted to stop by Ghirardelli Square. We hurried along as fast as we could but Brent grew tired of lugging little ones and they grew tired of being lugged. I took the older two, confident they could keep up (they've each run a mile with me multiple times before), and we raced towards the famed ice cream shop. Because, ya know, it had been about 24 hours now since we'd had ice cream. We were due!

Free samples of the chocolate squares were given out while we waited in line! Sweet!!! With two non-chocolate treats for the girls to share in hand, we hustled back to catch our ferry home. 

Julie and Suzanne organized Minute to Win It games for the kids. There was an Oreo taste-testing as well as a challenge to get an Oreo from their foreheads to their mouths without using their arms and hands.

This one where they had to shake the ping pong balls out of the tissue box by shaking their little booties was hilarious.

Sydney's sisters were pretty proud of her when she finally got them all out.

Liesel became rather adept at using a straw to transport Skittles.

So grateful my daughters have such fun Aunts!