Weekend in the Bay Area with Sim

Sim came to stay a couple of weekends ago so we all got out and about to plenty of places and took lots of pictures.

We met up with Sim in San Francisco after picking Louis up from preschool. It was great to see him - he'd not met Chloe and we last saw him when I was heavily pregnant with her at the end of last summer. After checking in to our hotel we took a wander down some of many hills to find some lunch.

Louis was quite perturbed at the steepness of the hills so opted for a ride whenever he could!

We stopped at Lori's Diner on Powell which satisfied our craving for 1950s nostalgia, burgers and malts. This is definite pit stop for future visitors.

And so with our tummies full it was time for the inevitable walk back up to the hotel (which was possibly situated on the top of the biggest hill in the city). Pushing Chloe in the buggy meant that I was lagging way behind the boys (well, that's my excuse anyway!).


Our hotel was the Mark Hopkins Intercontinental on the corner California and Mason, and it featured in the Steve McQueen movie Bullitt. It was a lovely building and we had spectacular views of the city from our room and also enjoyed some drinks in the bar situated at the top of the hotel (again another great place for all you would-be visitors).

The view from the bar

After recovering from the hike back to the hotel we decided to take advantage of the clear, sunny weather to head off over the Golden Gate Bridge. Clear days in San Francisco can't be guaranteed, even in the summer because of the fog from the Pacific but it really was the perfect time to drive around and take some pictures.

Look how steep it can be!

Looking north from San Francisco

Now over the bridge in Marin (Chloe absent due to car-based nap)

From the vista point over the bridge with the city in the distance

We headed back to the hotel for Louis and Chloe's dinner and a bite ourselves before Simon and Sim went out for the night. I think we'll leave it there...! I was perfectly happy babysitting, ordering room service and watching BBC America!

The next morning after a quick breakfast at Starbucks Sim treated me to a mani-pedi, which was 2 hours of pure bliss whilst Simon took the children to the Golden Gate beach.

And so we headed south back home, firstly along the coast road, then inland so Sim could sample the delights of In n Out Burger (if you've been there, you'll know!).

The following day we packed up and drove down to Santa Cruz for lunch. We parked on the pier and enjoyed crab cakes in one of the many seafood restaurants there. There was time to quickly say hello to the sealions piled up on the jetty and then we moved onto Monterey. Louis loves the aquarium so he was very pleased to accompany Sim around - until that is, an ice cream was mentioned and then Sim was left to wander about on his own! Afterwards we sauntered along Cannery Row which has lots of nice eateries and shops.

From Santa Cruz pier looking across to the rides on the Boardwalk

Outside Monterey Aquarium - Louis looks like he's dancing but he's just making an escape from the photo!

Our last day together was the Monday and after dropping Louis at preschool we went to Santana Row in San Jose where there are lots of cafes, bars and designer shops. It has a nice European feel to it and it's a good place to spend a hour or two. There was time for a quick look at the Lego shop before back to collect Louis and on to Los Gatos for lunch and the park.

Chloe at home with Sim

Lunch in Los Gatos

It was really nice to see Sim and have the chance to show him around. So who's next?!

Look forward to speaking to you all soon.
x

Chloe & Louis Update

We’ve been up to loads over the last couple of weeks, hence us not having any time to post any news recently! So here is a little update on some of the things we’ve been doing.

 

Firstly, we are all well. Louis is loving school, Chloe is eating and trying to move and Kate is getting a good routine together and enjoying some of the places that are so close to us here.

 

A couple of weeks ago we went to a beach near Santa Cruz for the day with the family of a guy that I work with. It’s a really great beach as it has a small river that dissects the beach and is pretty shallow and calm. Louis loved playing in it, splashing around and digging. It’s about 30 minutes from here so is really easy to get there. You can see Louis enjoying the digging below.

 

You actually find pretty quickly that when you are going to the beach with any frequency, there are certain essentials you just need! We’re now kitted out with a great big sun umbrella and a huge drag along cooler (ice box) but I think that some good mats and boogie boards won’t be too far behind.

Louis is loving pre-school so we’ve changed him to 3 days a week instead of 2. He now goes Monday, Wednesday & Friday so some of the kids in his class are different (based on which days they go) but he is still really enjoying it. Some mornings the first thing he asks is ‘am I going to pre-school today?’. As well as all the playing and stuff, they also do some loose learning type stuff in anticipation for kindergarten. He seems to like this too and they even send exercises home (homework at 3!) like tracing, counting and copying. I thought I’d get him to try copying his name, and this is what he came up with!

He also went to his little friend’s Birthday party a couple of weeks ago, Ryan. He had a really cool party in a place called Pump It Up. It’s basically like a soft play place for kids, but entirely inflatable. I’m not sure if he or I had the most fun, but running around an inflatable assault course for a couple of hours is really quite tiring!

 

They was also a nice little Birthday lunch with pizza, ice-cream cake and Transformers themed everything. Very cool indeed.

 

Chloe also seems to be accelerating at a frightening pace. She is nomming her food like a crazy girl and nothing interests her more than watching us eat! Louis is definitely her favourite. It seems that everything he does makes her laugh, especially when he is doing something naughty!

She is a little bit grumpy at the moment, we think for 2 reasons. Firstly, she is having some teeth issues and secondly, she really wants to be able to move to get to things. She can turn around on her bum in all directions, get herself in to a crawling position and back, and even pull herself up to standing (see below) but she’s not actually been able to move yet. We’re thinking it’s not going to be too long, and then we have a whole baby proofing task to address!

 

 

She’s also been feeding herself with finger food like breadsticks and fruit and I’m sure if you gave her quesadilla  packed full of chilli, she’d nom it right up!

 

Here is me (looking more than a little gormless) with Louis and Chloe at home. Louis is very kind and gentle with Chloe most of the time, and when he’s not, it’s just because he is getting carried away with playing with her. They’ll be no stopping the pair of them once she is mobile.

 

We also just bought a trailer for my bike. Because it’s so nice to cycle here (weather and great cycle routes) I’ve been using my bike so we thought it would be cool to get a trailer so Louis and Chloe could come too. A couple of weeks ago I went for a ride down the Los Gatos Creek Trail which starts near our house and goes down to the mountains via Louis’ favourite park. I rode down there with Louis in the back, and met Kate and Chloe at the park. Round trip was about 12 miles and you really notice that with Louis on the back!

 

It’s a really nice route and goes from about 3 miles north of our house all the way down to the Lexington Reservoir at the foot of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Even though you are riding right through the middle of Silicon Valley, it feels pretty green and remote which is nice. As soon as we get a bike for Kate we’ll all be able to go out, and I can put both of them in the back!

We hope you are all doing well and look forward to hearing from you soon. We’ll all be back in Europe from about 5th September for a couple of weeks. I need to go to Amsterdam for about a week but we’re thinking to spend some time before and some after that so it will be great to catch up with you all.