Sean's visit

When we saw Sean at Christmas, he asked if he could come and visit us during his spring break this year, and of course, we said YES!!  Sean visited at this time last year, too, and we had a great time.  He was looking forward to some of that California sunshine!

Unfortunately, California had very little sunshine during his stay - we mostly had rain, rain and more rain!  The weather was actually better than predicted, and we had a couple of days where we were able to be outside, going and doing things.  You can't let the rain stop you, and we had a great time.

Sean arrived on Sunday evening, so we had Monday through Saturday to sight-see, shop, take in some entertainment, eat sushi and visit with Jon, Sue and Jacob.  The time went really quickly, but we made the most of it!

Thanks for visiting, Sean!  We had a great time!

Monday - after several hours of quality time with his computer, Sean thought that a walk to the beach was in order!  We totally agreed!  Here's Sean, at the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve - lots of wave action!

Even though it wasn't quite the weather for shorts, the sunshine was all the excuse Sean needed to pretend!

After the reserve, we walked up to the lighthouse - one of our favorite spots

Sean is very brave - he clambered all over the rocks and cliffs

Sean and the sea - there were lots of crashing waves

Down on the rocks - I thought for sure that he was going to get wet - but he didn't!

On Tuesday we went into San Francisco and spent some time at the Hyde Street Pier.  The rain was supposed to hold off till about 2 pm, so we grabbed umbrellas and off we went.  We toured the three boats you see - the three masted ship, the tug and the Eureka, a car ferry

The rigging on the ship, with the car ferry to the left

Sean at the wheel.  Wouldn't you think that the wheel would be in some kind of an enclosure?

The crew bunks

Pier 39, with Alcatraz in the background

Yes, there was a bit of a breeze!

Pier 39

Sean, with the mural of the whale, painted on the parking garage

Leisure time!

Breakfast of champions!  French toast and whipped cream!

On Wednesday we went to the California Academy of Sciences.  They have great exhibits there, including a rain forest, planetarium and aquarium.  That's the skeleton of a blue whale over Sean's head - it's the largest mammal on the planet

Sean and Grandpa on the roof of the Academy.  The De Young Art Museum is in the background

Sean at the California Academy of Sciences

Grandma and Sean

Thursday evening we went to the Cirque du Soleil - Quidam!  It was Sean's first Cirque experience and he said that it was AWESOME!!  The show was held at HP Pavilion, also known as the Shark Tank, so we had dinner at Amici's, our traditional pre-hockey game restaurant.

On Saturday we went to Richmond to visit with Jon, Sue and Jacob.  Sean enjoyed playing "tug of war" with Annie, their border collie

Sean and Jacob

Jon, Sean and Jacob

Lee, Jon, Sean, Jacob, Sue and Annie

Same as above, but with Pat instead of Sue

So, this morning the alarm went off at 4:30 am, as Sean had a 7:00 am flight.  He got home safely, and I'm sure that he will sleep well tonight!  School tomorrow.....

We love spring break!