San Francisco

Just going under the Golden Gate Bridge right now. Spending the day in Chinatown. Everyone got up really early to be on deck to see the ship go under the Golden Gate Bridge! St Grace Cathedral! Golden Gate lookout with Alcatrez in the background! Pier 39 taken over by seals:) Our ship in the background! San Francisco Day. We did so many things today, I cannot even remember it all. The bus took us all over up and down the hills of San Francisco. There are 71 of them, but we didn't hit all of them, of course. We saw lots of architecture on Nob Hill- tiny multi-million dollar homes. Haught-Ashbury region where many rock bands hung out in the 60’s. A home cost 15,000 then... and now the exact same tiny home is around 2 million. We also went to St. Grace Cathedral- a Gothic Cathedral that took 33 years to build. Then to the Golden Gate Park which is bigger than Central Park in NY and is also designed by the same person. Then back and forth over the Golden Gate Bridge. There was no fog... which is very unusual for this time of year. They said that the summertime is the coldest and foggiest, while the spring, fall, and winter are pretty nice. It is colder on this cruise than when I went on an Alaskan Cruise a few years ago. Very windy. Good thing I threw those heavier jackets and sweaters in the suitcases right before we left. We walked around Pier 39... a very touristy shopping pier- and of course, we had to go to the candy store. We also saw the famous sea lions which have taken over the pier in the past couple of years. Apparently, they were not welcome and they tried to get rid of them for awhile but they just would not leave. Now they are a big tourist attraction so they are wanted!

Disney Cruise Day 1

First thing alot of kids wanted to do was go swimming in the Mickey Pool. It was 55 degrees and windy out, but apparently the pool is more like a hot tub, so all of the kids are just fine “swimming” in it. Already the pool has been closed due to a “protein spill”- just a nice way of saying that someone vomited or had an accident in the pool. One of the attendants told me that it happens literally every single day. They have to close the pool, drain it, disinfect it, then refill it, - which takes a couple of hours.. every single day! Jasmine spent part of the day in Oceaneers Lab where she played ocean games on the computers, then a few hours in Oceanears Club where Belle read them stories. We also met several characters... Daisy Duck, Minnie Mouse- the favorite, and Chip and Dale. I’m sure we will see many more of them. Every night we have been going to Live Theater with all of the Disney characters. No filming or photos. There are so many activities going on at once. There is no way to do everything.

Mission Beach....

This morning we rented a bike and took a few minutes ride over to Mission Beach. There weren't many seashells, but Jasmine did collect a few. Not many people there since it is a Monday morning. Nice cool day. We had to ride over a huge bridge and all around the bay, so I felt like I was in my spinning class for the day!

Sea World San Diego....

This morning we flew into San Diego and spent the entire day at Sea World. The most perfect weather ever...72 degrees and sunny, as usual in San Diego. We went to every single exhibit and several rides at Sea World, as well as the Shamu show and the Sea Lion show. The sea lions were hilarious. The ride we went on was called "Shipwreck...something". It said on the sign "Be prepared to be completely soaked on this ride". I didn't really believe it because most of the people I saw getting off the ride were only slightly wet. Well, I think I got the "wet seat" because both Jasmine and I were completely soaking wet, hair, clothes, everything. The other people on our raft were not that wet. We actually went down "rapids" and thru waterfalls. Then.. of course, you can pay 5.00 right after the ride to go thru the "dryer". We did that but were not "dried" at all. By the end of the day, we were finally dried but we both looked like drowned rats. About 1/2 of the people at Sea World have that same look from the two rides that are thru "rapids". We also took the SkyRide over Mission Bay. We are staying at a really nice hotel tonight called Dana on Mission Bay. Very pretty, nice restaurants, and right next to Sea World. Tomorrow morning we might go to "the beach" then onto our Mickey Cruise Ship:)

Piano Recital....

On top of everything else, we had a piano recital today. She played "Butterflies Flying". Really glad this day is over!!

More photos this morning.....

This morning we have to do photos from "I Feel Pretty" - Westside Story Ballet, as well as "I Have a Dream" from Tangled. I am taking our own solo photos since we will be out of town for the viewing. Then they said for 20.00, they would email the photos to choose from. I told them "forget it". I'll take my own solo photos, and we will just buy the group photos. I really couldn't get the lighting right this morning. The bad a** Vikings from Tangled. Oh well, these are my cheap substitute for the professional photos. And now for "I Feel Pretty" from Westside Story:)

Dance photo time.....

Dance photos- This one is for jazz class. They are dancing to "Surf's Up". Each group has to make an "appointment" to get group and individual photos done. It takes 3 days!! Then you are supposed to make another appointment to "view" the photos to purchase them. We will be on our vacation during the "viewing appointments", so I just ordered a couple of group photos and took my own individuals. Jasmine made a face in every photo I took with her friends:(