Pre Easter

So busy these days!! This is a picture of Ivy having a playdate with Kristina, her friend from Grass Valley. Kristina is a couple of months older than Ivy and already walking- but they like to play together once a month. We went to Royer park first to go on the swings, and then played in our back yard for a while.

She loves to pull herself up on this toy box in the living room-- its very cute! She has a box of toys in every room, so there's plenty to play with. That doesn't stop her from getting into cabinets and drawers and bookcases that are endlessly more appealing, though!

These next pictures seem like a long time ago! We took Kensuke to San Francisco for a couple of days at the end of his visit-- it was super fun for all of us! Ivy did well on the ferry- and liked looking out the window. Ken really wanted to visit Alcatraz, and we made a point of going there for him, and surprised ourselves by enjoying it! It's an eerily beautiful and interesting place.

I really liked the out buildings and the grounds.

Here's Ivy inside the prison!

Awww, pretty flowers.

Who doesn't like jumping on a hotel bed! Yay! Right after this, we popped Ivy in her carrier and hopped on a cable car to go down to Fisherman's Wharf for dinner. After dinner, we rode a street car to Union Square for some shopping, and then back to our room for bed! It was a long day!

All dressed up in owls for a day on the town! We started with breakfast at Sears Fine Foods for breakfast-- my favorite!

We took an open topped bus tour of San Francisco for an hour and a half- went across the golden gate bridge, through postcard row, Golden Gate Park, etc. It was cold and breezy, but a unique view of the city I'd never seen before!

After the sightseeing bus, we visited Japantown for shopping at Sanrio briefly and then a delicious lunch of Udon! Then we hopped back in the car to drive over to Muir woods for a quick look at the redwoods. The redwoods were delightfully serene after busy San Francisco. This picture is of moss, with Brian, Ivy and Ken in the background.

Ivy really seemed to enjoy the atmosphere of the woods- she just kicked back in her stroller and enjoyed the ride!