Even though we moved 9 months ago, we're still feeling the financial effects of the move. New beds, curtains, and sheets, not to mention all the condiments and household cleaners we had to replace, all cost a lot of money. Combine those expenses with a paid vacation balance of zero, and it's going to be a while before we go on a family vacation. Lucky for us, we happen to live in a city and area that attracts tourists from all over the world. And for good reason. At any given time there is a major cultural event happening, in addition to the "regular" stuff San Francisco has to offer.
For Christmas, Uncle Jonas & Auntie Lauren gave the boys a trip to Alcatraz. We'd talked a lot about the prison on the rock, and they were thrilled to take a boat to tour the prison. We were thrilled that their present required no space in our apartment! We chose to go on Super Bowl Sunday, figuring we would avoid the crowds. Wrong! It also happened to be one of the coldest, wettest, and windiest days this winter.
Anders wasn't feeling it. He preferred to be in Mattias' protective cacoon.
Once the boat started moving we busted out the snacks and hot cocoa.
The ride out there was smooth and comfortable, the view seemed better from the heated cabin.
As soon as we got there Linus asked, "Mamma, where's like, all the prisoners?" Poor thing, he didn't know Alacatraz was no longer operational and was expecting to see a real working jail. Instead, they got to see how the infamous 3 escaped by digging a hole with a spoon and climbing up a vent.
We were cold and wet, but it didn't seem to put a damper on their enthusiasm. As we left Linus declared, " I want to be a prison guard when I grow up!" If it happens, we'll have Jonas and Lauren to thank.
Last weekend happened to be our bank's "Museums on Us" day, and we decided to take advantage of free admission to the De Young museum. We really miss having the Smithsonian museums close by, having the ability to choose any kind of museum to visit without a care. It never mattered how long we stayed or how interested the kids were-- it was all free. In San Francisco however, we have to be a lot more choosy of where we visit since admissions can be up to $25 per adult. Sadly, modern art museums tend to fall to the bottom of our list since they aren't the most engaging for the littles.
The De Young actually has a good mix of paintings, sculpture, and mixed media art that the whole family can enjoy.
Some pieces were wacky, some were thought provoking.
One of the best parts of the museum is its observation tower, that offers 360 degree views of our beautiful city.
We had a quick picnic before strolling around the Music Concourse. They boys tossed a few coins into the fountain after giving their wishes some thought. (Magnus wished he lived in Candy World. Linus wished he was Luke Skywalker.)
If you haven't heard, San Francisco and the Bay Area in general, is in the middle of an insane real estate boom. For years we kicked ourselves for purchasing our condo at the peak of the last bubble in 2006. The severe dip in prices in 2008, along with the $1000/month net loss created stress and a tad bit of regret with every mortgage and property tax payment. Today, San Francisco is one of the most expensive cities in the US, and has the highest rental prices in the nation. If we hadn't suffered through all those payments, we couldn't afford to live here today. We are so lucky to have a place to call our own, in a neighborhood that's safe with a great public school. But when we need more space we'll probably have to leave the city; we're simply priced out of this crazy market.
Every so often I ask (and maybe you ask): Why are we living here? Is it worth it? A huge part of me says YES! Both Mattias and I moved a lot as kids and never really had a solid cultural or geographical identity. To us, San Francisco feels like home. It's a place where everyone belongs. We love that our kids are surrounded by diversity, art, live music, and nature. And while we won't have money to do any real traveling any time soon, we can be tourists in our own back yard.
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