Monday - Golden Gate Park

Art was back to work on Monday. The rest of the team went for a little hike at the chain of lakes in Golden Gate Park. Eva wanted her cousins to experience the hike she takes with her school. To get things off to a good start Penelope and I went to Tartine http://www.tartinebakery.com/ for some treats. Their coffee alone is to die for. Penelope and I indulged our desires by getting morning buns, pain au chocolate, and more. She was very tired and the coffee could not be served quickly enough. They even tempted us by first producing the creamy rich brew in their standard bowls, making us wait while they transferred them to to-go cups. The coffee did not disappoint.

We decided to pile in the rent-o-van so we could all be together. I introduced everyone to our little yellow chair that we use on occasion when we have one to many in the Honda Element. Penelope and switched off. This was much more fun than two cars.

We first went to the chain of lakes where we had a snack of or goodies. We walked part way around the lake, stopped for a little fishing in the lake then headed through the woods to the casting pools. Bob kept the children moving through the woods looking for fairies under leaves and grass. We rested for a moment at the casting pools where E + E showed their cousins the little house they play in which is a set of steps sunken below the water level. The casting pools are just that, built for San Franciscans to practice casting their fly fishing. There is a little lodge on site that the manager has become quite fond of Eva's preschool class, inviting them in on their Wednesday hikes. We then meandered to visit the Bison and ran to our favorite craggy tree where the children climbed. They could have stayed there forever but we were due to meet Art for lunch.

We went to the Beach Chalet - a great place for outdoor or indoor dining. We all found something to our taste and had a nice meal. Eva particularly liked the ice cream at the end of the meal.

We stopped by Ocean Beach for a visit so Sam and Sarah could dip their toes in mighty Pacific. We should have stayed longer but thought we'd go to carousel in GGP only to find it was being renovated. I honestly can not remember what we did next.....