the city by the bay

on saturday we trekked up to san francisco for a beautiful day in the city. we spent the morning at the california academy of sciences in golden gate park with bopi, michael, kira, jonathan, mama dollar & papa dollar (name that movie). it has a "living roof" with grass, sprawling hills, & solar panels. that was my favorite. we also caught a shot of ellery trying her darnedest to leap over the railing & swim with the sting rays. good grip aust.


it's a huge, really impressive building with a natural history museum, planetarium, & 4 story rainforest. austin & i have admired it from afar but would have to skip some meals to pay for it. seriously. thanks dad!!!

in the basement of the museum they have a great aquarium. it was extraordinary! elles was beyond obsessed with all the fish. she squealed & trotted alongside the tanks, following the animals & telling us all about it. seriously she was adorable. even when i videoed her & confused a pakistani teenager for austin, "c'mon! say hi daddy!". he was mortified & tried to avoid us the rest of the day. what?! he was hot. my bad.

afterwards we just had to find a sports bar so we could watch the u/byu game, did some shopping in union square for the men, then off to the trolley cars. david, kara, & the girls met us while steph, dad, michael, & kira left for the lakers game.

every year a family in my home ward has a group of us up & we've always gone when we can. it's a fun tradition: hanging off the sides & singing carols & bundling up & seeing san fran's holiday lights & window displays. always gets me in the christmas spirit. ellery was quite the fan once she got the hang of it. looking out onto the streets & holding on to the pole, she was a happy girl.

fun day!

"you are fortunate to live here. if i were your President, i would levy a tax on you for living in san francisco!" -mikhail gorbachev