Back at it!

Its been over two years since my last blog.....so I'd like to give myself a warm welcome back and update everyone as briefly as possible! Since my last post, I've had two birthdays (I'm now 32! aaaaaah), learned that my sweet Finn has Autism, given birth to my second child, Owen (who is an adorable little ball of energy), moved from Fallon to Reno where I have successfully kept a new (paying) job for over a year(This is hard for a girl to do when she shares her hubs with the US navy), taken the boys to Lake Tahoe, North Carolina, and Mexico (do not recommend with toddlers), bought two new cars, a house, planted a garden, ran 3 half-marathons, and have officially embraced soccer mom status (Yes I attend pilates on the reg and have considered botox).

I will just fast forward to our most recent adventure though.  Finn is OBSESSED with city buses, trains, cars, bull dozers etc--basically any episode of mighty machines on netflix.  So Jake and I decided we should spend Memorial Day  weekend in San Francisco where he could experience all of those things hands on!  Last minute accommodation on a holiday weekend in San Francisco can be quite pricey so I immediately sent a message to my friend Gosia to see if she had any ideas for affordable places to stay.  Of course she did! Why don't we just stay in her friend's 2-bedroom fancy downtown condo?  So thats what we did.

Day 1: The boys surprisingly snuggled in the spare bedroom and woke up saturday morning raring to go.  First we hoped on the "F Train" which was a cable car type train that we rode down to the Fisherman's Wharf area.  Finn was mesmerized by the boats "ships" and all the water (the bay).  Of course there was a person with a bubble machine making huge bubbles for the boys to catch.  So cute.  They could have chased bubbles for hours.  But of course we couldn't just stay there catching bubbles.......jake and I had the bright idea to rent bikes with the toddler trailer and bike across the golden gate bridge with those little guys.  All I can say is that we made it.  Beautiful bike ride but make sure to PACK SNACKS if you plan to take little munchkins for a ride that long.  (MOMMY DADDY FAIL).  Once we were across the bridge and in Sausalito we had a blast.  We ate at a Greek restaurant- Owen threw his pita bread with chunks of hummus on it at everyone in the restaurant and Finn announced that he made a "BIG POOP!"--Everything was back to normal.

Day 2: On my friend Gosia's recommendation we took the "J train" to Dolores park where there were some amazing slides, sandboxes, and overall good kiddo fun.  The boys had a blast.  Owen really loved running and screaming at the pigeons.  We took the boys out to eat lunch in the Castro neighborhood.  Very colorful but could definitely tell no one wanted kids in their restaurant -- "Oh no, no high chairs here, sorry"  "Oh no we only have these high top tables, sorry" and of course the eye rolls and stink eye glares.....but Ok fine we found a cute little cafe that had a grilled cheese for the boys and a pastrami melt for jake and me. After lunch we hopped on the "L train" to the San Francisco zoo.  It was a pretty sad zoo.  Having visited the San Diego zoo, my expectations were quite high.  Even Finn was unimpressed.  He was extremely concerned that alot of the animals didn't have any friends.

Hes such as compassionate child.  Ironically, its Finn that struggles to understand the importance of having a friend...He is taught that its important so he can point out the absence of a friendship, but he continues to mostly play alone.  Still working on this with his teachers.

Day 3: HOME SWEET HOME  in Reno.  LOVED the city, but its nice to be back in the mountains and the familiarity of our "biggest little city."

Jake left today for a 2 week detachment so I'm single momming it (with the help of two very competent and caring babysitters) for the next two weeks.

Hopefully I will start updating my blog more frequently.....until next time...stay healthy, happy and hydrated y'all.