Wednesday Whim-day

Zoom! They're up!

First flight, no problem

Two more flight to go...

At the de Young, and
Zoe takes the camera


Today was our whim day. With a rush out the door at 9:50 (to make the carpool lane at the bridge) we headed out across the bay. We stopped first in the Marina to have some brunch at The Grove on Chestnut- my current favorite cafe pit-stop. Sated with bagels, cream cheese, lox and lavender lemonade we headed for the Presidio to cut over to GGP. But as we passed Lyon, I pointed out the steps, which intrigued Zoe (The 'Lion' St. Steps...) and she insisted we stop and let her climb the steps. I let her out of the car, and before I could unbuckle Julian, I heard her yell from the top of the staircase. She bolted to the top in no time, despite the slight drizzle. She wanted to see the view from the top.
After descending, we drove over to Fulton and up the into the aves where we parked and piled into the B.O.B. As we approached the Cal Academy of Sciences (which we'd been planning since last night) we passed a huge line of people holding umbrellas. I figured that tourist season had started early, and headed for the Member's Entrance. Oh no! It's Free day at the Academy. I keep forgetting about this. The line was over an hour long, in the rain, and Zoe broke down into tears. So we wandered over to the bandshell and Zoe took the camera for a bit. Then she wanted to check out the de Young, which was advertising the opening of a new exhibit (The Birth Of Impressionism featuring works from the Musee d'Orsay- !!! -). I bought a membership on the spot, and we all went inside. The new exhibit doesn't open until tomorrow, but the kids loved the rest of what the de Young had to offer, from copper walls to gardens to paintings to glass and sculpture. I followed Zoe as she seemed to have a plan on what she wanted to see, and when she and Juge became too loud and I threatened to leave, she quieted down and begged not to leave.
After while, everyone was pretty worn out, so we went back to the car and headed back up Fulton towards the Haight. Driving along, all of a sudden something caught my eye along the park- it was a Blue Heron, standing in the grass and looking at the sky. I slammed on the brakes and rolled down the windows, yelling "look! Look!" to the kids. But the guy behind me was in a hurry and off we went. That bird had to have been taller than Zoe. When we circled back around, he had disappeared back into the park, probably headed to look for snacks in the pond at the arboretum.
We ate 3 slices of NY pizza between us before heading home, full, tired and happy.