San Fran Part 2

(These photos are all mixed up from the two and a bit days we were in San Francisco.)   I read about Ferry Building Marketplace in a travel book, had never heard of it before.  But it was impressive.  Very beautifully done and the food was gorgeous.  If it had been my husband and I, it would have been fun to browse the beautiful artisan shops and taste some fine(r) food.  But after making a quick scouting tour through on my own while my husband and kids were in the car, I decided that taking five kiddos through probably wouldn't make for a very pleasant time.  Too expensive to get something for everyone, hard to keep little fingers from touching, and probably not something the younger kids would be too keen on anyway.  So we decided to save for next time.  But I can see why it was so highly recommended in the travel books....for adults.

Cheese!  One of my big weaknesses.

We went for a little stroll in Golden Gate Park.  That place is huge.  This was a very lovely walk.

 We visited the Palace of...I can't remember.  I can only think of it as the "Nadia, I am coming" place.  It was also quite beautiful in the early morning light.  Not in the guidebook, but I was glad we stopped.  The kids enjoyed it too.

Have an absolutely fabulous weekend!  I will be around more next week (famous last words).  Can't wait!  As for goals, some mixed results to report.  First, I have been trying to be more playful with the kids.  This has been so delightful!  It hasn't been hard at all, when I remember to do it :), and has helped to lighten up some otherwise heavier moments, such as when a child is hurt (I taught her the "owie dance" by jumping all around while saying "ow, ow ow!" and her tears instantly evaporated into giggles).  And when the little boy is clinging to me at times when, say he is hungry and I'm trying to get dinner made, if I make a joke out of something, it distracts him in a pleasant way and reduces the immediate tension (and I feel good because I am helping him laugh!).  And it has been SO fun to hear those delighted baby belly laughs.  I have just loved this, it has been a favorite of the project so far.  Seems to me that having a laugh each day should be just as important as getting three square meals, what do you think?  And being silly lightens me up too.

On another front, I decided my health goals were too broad and overwhelming, so I'm just going to pick one at a time!  I'm going to work on getting the littlest one to sleep through the night, as getting good sleep seems to affect everything else.