San Fransisco - Heppner Style

On the 20th, Carl and I and the kids headed to San Fransisco to pick up Byron, Kristal, Sam, and Jack at the airport. We were excited about them coming for Christmas. Unfortunately, we were late (because the journey took longer than we anticipated) and I didn't get to stand at the bottom of the arrivals to see them come off the plane; for me that's the best part of welcoming someone. Anyways, we found them at the luggage carousel and gave them lots of hugs. Asha and I had seen them the week before, but Joel and Kezia were on cloud nine to see their auntie and uncle and cousins. We headed from the airport to the hotel to unload all of our stuff and then went see the Golden Gate Bridge before the sun set. It was quite the sight! We had to head back towards the hotel because the kids were getting hungry and Kristal was getting car sick :(. But once we got back, some food and rest made everyone well.
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The next day we headed to Pier 39. It was really interesting to see all the cool shops and the Bay. We even got a good view of some sea lions that were basking in the sun. We stopped for lunch (fish and chips of course) before the guys headed to Alcatraz and we girls and the kids hung out a the Pier for a bit before we headed back to the hotel. Our drive back to the hotel was quite long because of the traffic. Once we got back, I spent 15 minutes feeding Asha before hopping back in the van to pick up the guys. Auntie Kristal watched the other four kids at the hotel. I made it back to Pier 33 without any problems and I was quite proud of myself that I could drive the van in San Fransisco rush hour! When I picked up the guys, I listened to their stories about the famous Alcatraz.
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That night we went to the most amazing Chinese Buffet. They had all kinds of fish, Chinese food, Suishi, American food, desserts, salads and fruit....it was almost overwhelming! We all ate well and then headed back for our hotel rooms. We were all pooped after a long day of sightseeing.

On Saturday, we packed up and drove up to Telegraph Hill to see the view of the city. The gallery was quite interesting and we found some cool little paths off the hill down to a residential area. I couldn't imagine carrying groceries down all those the flights of stairs to your home. Well, I guess that's life in San Fransisco. Then we went back to the Pier to go to the Aquarium of the Bay. There were glass tunnels you could walk through that had fish swimming all around you. It was pretty cool. The kids thought it was so neat that you could almost touch a fish that was swimming above your head! We had lunch along Fisherman's warf (clam chowder of course) before getting back into the van.
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On our way out, we drove by the Painted Ladies and took more pictures. The trip home was pretty good but by nightfall we were all anxious to be back in Fresno. Once we arrived, Byron and Kristal settled in across the courtyard at Nate and Maddy's and we all fell into our beds at home. Boy, your own bed feels so good when you've been away for a few days.
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