San Francisco

We woke up early and headed to the city. The drive was quick, the babies slept the entire trip and Bianca watched a DVD. When we got there the babies just woke up, so they were fresh and ready for some action. We parked three blocks from Moscone Center where we were going to the 2007 DHL All-Star FanFest . Let's just say we didn't dress appropriately. I looked at the weather and it said 75... Bianca and I had on shorts and tanks. The babies had on shorts and tanks, but I brought their new pink Giants Sweatshirts. Daddy wore shorts (always) and a Giants shirt. We were actually getting wet as we walked from the moisture off the ocean... luckily we didn't have to wait long in line, it's nice having babies, they saw us in line and came up and took us to the front and in we went with a scan of our tickets. ~smiles~ The place has just opened so it was great, easy to move around and get where you wanted. Ben, Bianca and I got cards when we got there, you had to go to different machines and scan the card and you either got a winner off the bat - like I did, or you got a strike or foul ball, and for those people - Ben and Bianca - they had to go to more machines (they had numerous machines on each of the three floors) In the end Ben popped out and Bianca struck out. I won a tee shirt and they both won baseballs. They had tons of things to do - Bianca took some swings in batting practice, we played some games where you tossed balls, the babies won giants/allstar snuff balls and Bianca won a few pennants, a hat, a tee shirt, plus she got an official Nike Allstar Sweatshirt (yes, she didn't want to brave the cold anymore when she knew we were going to the pier). Ben got a bunch of stuff, to much to name.
When we left Moscone Center we headed for the Pier, it was about 1.5 miles and we were walking, the babies were in the stroller for about .5 of the trip, but Sydney was really unhappy and mommie broke down and picked her up, so I had to carry her the mile to the pier.... my back was a bit sore.... but she was holding on part of the way - we were looking for this great place to eat (we've been there quite a few places, but the marketplace was crazy and finally after a lot more walking around... and fussy babies we ended up at Sinbads.... Sydney was worn out screaming like a manwoman.... it was awful, she did that for the first ten minutes we were there, luckily it wasn't a peak time for eating.... finally I gave her some boob after she stopped crying and she settled down, it was a quick sip cuz I just nursed her twenty minutes ago.... We ordered, the kids ate oyster crackers til the food came. We had Clam Chowder (of course) and Ben got some open faced shrimp sandwich, tons of shrimp.... it felt good to sit for a while... after our lunch we headed back to the car.... the trip home was uneventful... mostly because we all slept except the driver ~lol~

After the quick trip to the citiy we ended up at Andres' birthday party... for family fun, swimming, food, and of course celebrating another year for Andres. The party started off with a bang.... Joan decided to take a dip wearing her clothes.... one minute she was sitting there near where Carmen and I were talking and the next thing I see and hear is Joan getting outta the pool and she's still dressed.... Andrew decided to get into the pool without his arm floaties or a parent and he was going under - luckily mama had her eye on him and saved the day.... Moms are wonderful. One minute Andrew was playing right in front of me while I was talking and the next he's being pulled outta the pool. The kids all had a great time. The only cool parents who went swimming... (the two that always end up in the pool... and sometimes throw each other into the pool) yes.. me and Rudy. So we swam around with the kiddos. Sydney and Peyton did a lil swimming a few times, they took a couple turns in the kids floating device. Donovan did a lil floating and swimming, but I think Bianca, Dominic, Kalyn, Matthew, Vanessa, Andres - and all his buddies did most of the swimming and sliding. I got quite a few pictures of Sydney and Peyton on the trampoline, then it was the three amigos on the trampoline and finally we had maximum capicity when it was the girls, Dominic, Donovan and Andrew. Dominic was a great big cousin... taking care of the baby cousins (as he refers to them).... whenever Sydney or Peyton fell down due to jumping he made sure everyone stopped jumping so they could get back up. Dominic you are awesome.