Anna's 9th Birthday!

It is hard to believe that it has been 9 years since Anna made her grand appearance at 3:22 a.m.!  Last night she had a sleep over with a few friends...or should we say night over?  :-)  After a fair amount of caffeine for us we had a family lunch.  We are so thankful for days like today when everything seems to just fall into place.  We all have busy schedules but we were all able to gather and celebrate!  For that I will always be thankful!  This year Anna wanted galaxy donuts (they have marbled sparkly marshmallow frosting).  We let her pick which one she wanted and I am sure you aren't surprised by which one she choose!      

 I took photos of the others because they are very cool!

 Waiting for the candles to be lit...

 And of course we sang happy birthday!

I think she was saying yummy!  :-)  

Time for everyone to dig in!

And now for the silly questions I have been asking all the kids on their birthday.  The current year answers are first, then 2016, 2015, 2014, and 2013 answers.  

Favorite Color:  Pink (pin, pink, pink, pink)
Favorite Book:  Harry Potter - all of them (Rainbow Magic, Rainbow Magic, Rainbow Fairy, The Cat in the Hat)
Favorite Gift:  pen pal kit (doll scooter, roller skates, wallet, pop charm bracelets)
What do you want to be when you grow up:  Horse trainer (horse hider, horse rider, librarian, librarian)
Friends:  Lupe from school (Lupe from school, Lina her cousin, Sydney from Cal Poly, Sydney and Brooklyn from school)
Favorite thing to do:  Read (read, read, read books, play on the structure at school)
Favorite thing to do at school:  Science (science, write, play on the structure, write in straight lines)
Favorite food:  Macaroni and Cheese (Macaroni and cheese, peanut butter and jelly, macaroni, yogurt)
Favorite place to go:  ?? she didn't have an answer this year (school, beach, library, the secret forest - a place they trek to at school)
How old will you be when you grow up:  25 (20, 53, 34 - Same age as Mom, 16)
How old will you be when you get married:  she didn't have an answer and wasn't sure if she would (30, 20, 20, 17 - and she said she would marry Mason)
How old will you be when you have a baby:  30 if she gets married (35, 25, 40, she said she didn't know if she would have a baby)
She is 4' 4.125"  Mason is about half an inch away from passing her so that 1/8" may be critical!

She is growing and changing by the day and we wouldn't have it any other way!

Women's March

Today Anna and I took part in the local Women's March.  It was a very positive event.  We started out dry but the last quarter mile (if that) had pouring rain.  I had a small umbrella which we shared but we were soaked by the end.  It was well worth it and a quick trip home to warm clothes made us appreciate all that we have even more.  

Quick Trip to San Fran!

To celebrate our 15th anniversary Matt and I headed to San Fransisco.  We arrived and spent some time walking around fisherman's wharf.  Our hotel was on the corner of Mason Street (Mason loves when he sees streets with his name!).  

They have a museum of old (and some new) arcade games.  I liked this old hockey game.  

And we checked out the rock'em sock'em "robots".

The weather was beautifully clear which made the sites breathtaking.

The boat were were going to be taking was coming into port (it is behind the one in front).

We boarded the boat and headed out into the bay.

Some of the sights as we headed toward the golden gate bridge.

We are getting closer now!

Getting even closer!

Going under the bridge!

We made it to the other side!

We turned around and headed back into the bay.

Under we go again.

We made sure to tell Anna we were on the Harbor Princess.

We went around Alcatraz.

And headed toward the bay bridge.

I loved the color of this section.  I am assuming it had a reflection from the sunset but it it was breathtaking.

And under the bay bridge we go!

It was cool to see the bridge start to light up!

And the lights in the city.

Heading back into the city.

The next day we drove Lombard Street and then headed to the Golden Gate Bridge welcome center.  It was a more typical day for San Francisco and we couldn't see the bridge except this part right at the start.

We checked out the information in the welcome center.

It looked like the fog might be clearing so we went to see if the bridge was visible.  You can just see a hint of it here.

A few seconds later.

And still within the same minute.

Two minutes later, back into the fog it went.

A short video with the audio of the fog horns.  

We headed home enjoying a small break away from the craziness.