Taking some time to explore the City by the Bay!

I feel like every time I sit down to write a blog, I want to start by saying “so much has happened since I last wrote!”. I suppose I should be pleased that life is so busy and exciting…..

The biggest change is Sammy! Our old man finally joined us a little over a week ago. He jumped out of the car skinny, manic, losing hair, and kind of stinky. It only took a couple of days for him to settle in, but we believe he is very well suited to the CA lifestyle- good weather, lots of walks, no stairs to climb, and no thunderstorms to make him nervous. He is still getting used to the big dog that lives on the other side of the fence (they have evening barking conversations), but otherwise, he is all good. We are very happy to have our dog back with us.

Speaking of wild animals in the backyard, we discovered there are rats that run along the power/phone lines behind the house. My friend who grew up here was not alarmed or surprised by this. I was rather horrified. Thoughts?

We have had some great adventures over the last two weekends- both in San Francisco. Last weekend we walked the trail at Land’s End. We had to do a dog friendly trip for Sammy. We all loved it- the view of the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge is amazing, and much of the walk is quite easy to do with a dog and a 4 year old. The best part- you just turn around when you don’t want to go any further! We hit a nearby dog friendly beach after for a chilly picnic and some sand play. 

Today we had an old friend visiting, so we did some touristy things. The little one wanted to see the buffalo in Golden Gate park, so we headed there first. The park is amazing, and very easy to get lost in- especially when they close roads for a road race. =) The buffalo, however, are quite underwhelming, so I would not recommend going out of your way to find them. We then went to Fisherman’s Wharf for sea lions, a yummy lunch, and Ghiradelli Square. We even hiked up the ginormous hills to see Lombard Street. Sure- you can take a cable car or drive, but you won’t get to enjoy the amazing views or see little things like the beautiful little rose garden we stopped in on our way back down.

We are settling in at last now that we have been back from vacation for a few weeks. E has started school, so we have started to get into a regular routine. And the house that I once hated has started to feel like home. Jeff even got one car registered and passed his drivers license test! Very exciting. I get to share in that ridiculous CA DMV fun this week. I’m thrilled. Beyond that, the next challenge is figuring out kindergarten for next Fall. Private? Public? Ugh- I thought figuring out preschool for this year was hard! Now, suddenly, we are already in a rush to figure out kindergarten. We are happily accepting any advice. =)

Off this weekend to visit Arnold, CA and some big trees- another new adventure for the Moore clan! 

Post vacation update!

So it has been a LONG while since our last post. Much has happened! Long story short, we moved to our house, went to NH / ME / RI to visit family for summer vacation, then came back to actually settle in. Honestly, this is the craziest summer I think I have ever had....

Going back to New England so soon after moving out here was the best and worst thing we did in the process of this move. On the one hand, it made the initial move out here much easier to deal with, knowing we would see everyone in a few weeks. On the other hand, we had only been in our house for a week when we left, which gave us no time at all to settle in and get used to things. Also, spending three weeks in four different houses left me longing for home, but not really feeling like I had a place I could call home. In the end, we all decided that home was where we are as a family. Together. Just the three of us. Well- four when Sammy Dog finally arrives tomorrow!!!

The other thing I wanted to talk about is our weekend adventures. We said from the beginning that if we were going to make this move, we would need to take advantage of the opportunity to explore the west coast. So we have! Every weekend we take one day to go somewhere new. Sitting here, we are realizing that we have only had four actual weekends here, which is rather alarming considering we moved here at the end of June. Regardless, we have gone to Natural Bridges State Park in Santa Cruz, Monterey Bay Aquarium, a Red Sox - A’s game in Oakland, and most recently Gilroy Gardens amusement park in Gilroy. So far, we have loved all of our adventures, and most of all, the time to spend just focusing on each other has been great.

This Saturday we were planning to be tourists in San Francisco on a double decker bus, but plans may change now that Sammy is arriving. Maybe we will try a dog friendly beach or a nice hike and picnic so he can join us on his first west coast adventure!