Conquering the Russian River!

If we had gone to Yosemite, we would have gone rafting on some river or another. Even though we didn't, we decided to still go ahead and do an all day raft trip down the Russian River :)
I was in an "inflatable canoe" with my sister Lily and my Aunt Emily (half the pics on this are hers, so when you see "AE" those are her pictures ;-P)

Setting out for our 8-mile river battle ;D

My sis and Me

Swim break!
My Grandpa and Uncle braving the cold and the current =D

Can they stand it?

The Brave Ones!

Lunch Break!

Taking the lead

Being lazy, Brett?

Another swim break! (AE)

Hmm wonder what he's looking at? (AE)

Float! (AE)

Brett on the rope swing (that thing was litterally 18 feet off the ground! That's about 3 times my dad's height!)

Can he do it? (AE)

Two Brothers Battling for the Title of "Brave" (AE)

Off he goes! (AE)

I chickened out and jumped off at 6 feet *only* (AE)

After this last stop we rowed another 2 miles or so to the embankment. We had been out in the sun all day and were totally exhausted when we finally got there! All of us had achy arms and sunburns (mine was on my thighs. Go figure!)

We then headed back "home" to take showers, and then went out to have Mexican for dinner =D

My Chicken Fajita (fah-hee-tah)
To eat this you put all this stuff on a tortilla and wrap it ;-P

I can't remember what this is...Dad? :S

Tacos!

Group Photo!

I slept very well that night =D

Be a Tourist

Well, we're not in Yosemite (yo-sem-i-tee) so what are we going to do instead? Be a tourist and explore San Francisco ;-P This picture you're seeing is Mount Tamalpais, as we saw it from the ferry we took across the bay to the great city =D
My Crazy Cousin Brett

Cute pic!

My dad enjoying the sunshine =D

Uncle Rick and Willy

The Golden Gate!

Alcatraz Island : Formerly the Toughest Prision to Escape in the Country

Making Waves

Welcome to the Port of San Francisco!

Lily, Michelle, and Willy!

Used to be a boat dock, now a shopping area (food, mostly)!

Interesting...

Seagulls...means food...means trouble....

Bizzare, yet really cool! (in other words, "weird" in a good way ;-p)

One thing you must do if you ever go to San Francisco is ride in an old street car! This one we rode in was named "Napoleon" and was originally from New Orleans ;-D

Truly a cool experience!

Visited a museum to see the history of the harbor

Ghirardelli Square! Home of some of the best chocolate in the world!

The Amazing Escape Man!

Can he free himself of his chains and straight jacket?

Yes, he can!

Now for the next act, we see a street car get turned around ;-P

Approaching the turntable...

...starting to turn...

....spinning...

...and off it goes! The really cool thing about all this is that it's all manual!

What a way to travel!

Nice fountain!

Shipyard with ship tours (I was shopping with my cousin while other family members were here)

Row, row, row your boat, gently down the beach!

Hangman?

Sailboat in the Bay

This is what happens when you sit at the back of the boat ^^^

Moving downstairs, to be shocked by the close resemblance to an airplane!!!!! *expression of pure horror*

My cousin's new shoes ;-P

After a day of hard walking and acting like a tourist, we decided to conclude by doing something else a tourist must do in San Francisco: eat Chinese Food!!!!!!!!

Crackling Rice Soup

Jade Prawns

My plate of all 52billion dishes we ordered that evening ;-)

And the American-Chinese Tradition : Fortune Cookies to finish it up!!!

Really, I'm not sure that Chinese food in China got much better than this ;-P

Not Yosemite?

This week our family (my dad's side) had planned for a reunion at Yosemite National Park. Unfortunately, an uncontrolable forest fire broke out the day before, so we had to cancel our trip. So, my family from Los Angeles came up to San Rafael to stay with us. My grandma prepared a wonderful dinner of steak, potatoes and salad (which I forgot to take a picture of), and the following days we had our family reunion. But, Tonight!:

Aunt Emily and Chalo
Our Giant 7 pound American All-Chocolate Cake!
"Hey, don't eat it yet!"

Did I mention the reunion was mostly to celebrate my grandparents' (belated) 50th aniversary?

Happy Aniversary to You!

Make a Wish!

My Piece + Ice Cream =D

And even with 14 of us, we barely finished half of the cake!

Present Time!

Happy (Belated) 50th Aniversary, Grandma and Grandpa!!!!