Macy's Flower Show 2016

On Friday Mathilde and I took a trip into the city to see the Macy's Flower Show at the San Francisco store. 

Each year, Macy's celebrates the arrival of Spring with an amazing flower show held in several of their stores around the country. This year's flower show marks the 70th anniversary of this beautiful event and the theme, America the Beautiful, couldn't be more fitting.

52 Week Project: Week 24

Week 24: City Street Art

Over the weekend we headed into the city to catch up with friends who were visiting from Australia.

My favourite place in the city to take visitors (who aren't too fussed about doing super touristy stuff) is the Mission District. We always spend some time hanging out in Dolores park, where the views and people watching are amazing (giant slip and slide with oil, anyone?) and the kids can play at the playground while we catch up. 

Then we usually move onto finding something to eat, which is never hard as the Mission District is full of fantastic eateries.

And then finally we check out the streets, because that's where all of the colour is. And by colour, I mean murals. The Mission District is full of them! We usually head to either Balmy Alley or Clarion Alley where the walls (and sometimes the ground) are completely covered. On this occasion we went to Balmy Alley. The murals are always evolving, so even if we've been there relatively recently, there's almost always something new to see. The girls posed with their new favourite murals for plenty of fun photos.

52 Weeks: Week 9

Week 9: In the City

This week's photos are a bit of a mish-mash with no real theme. They were all taken on a trip into the city last weekend, so there is a connection between them all, just not really a theme as such.

Last Saturday we headed into the city to look at a bike store in the Tenderloin. In recent months we've gone from having more bikes than family members to just having kids' bikes thanks to multiple bike thefts and Kim's run in with a car. Luckily Kim was not hurt in his recent accident, but his bike sustained more damage than it was worth so bike shopping was the order of the day. While Kim test rode various folding bikes around the block, the girls and I checked out cargo bikes for when we eventually replace our much loved (but stolen) Yuba Mundo. Mathilde is still far too small to be a bike passenger so it will be a while before you see all three kids on the back of a cargo bike of our own, but we thought we'd check out how they fit in the store anyway. Yep, they fit alright. It looks like Ava could even do the pedaling for me from the back of that XtraCycle!

San Francisco Heart Treasure Hunt

This post is sponsored by Galileo Learning. All opinions are my own.

Summer may seem like a long way off right now but in actual fact it's creeping up on us. Before we know it Summer will be here and with that comes the kids being home from school for weeks and weeks on end. Eleven long weeks. That's a lot of time to fill with activities to combat boredom.

One of our favorite things to do over the Summer break is explore San Francisco. We're so lucky to live on the doorstep of such a wonderful city full of amazing places to visit. Some days we'll spend the day visiting a particular museum or gallery, some days are spent at playgrounds and other days are spent just exploring with no particular destination in mind.

"Abstracting Sights" now located at Dataway, 255 Golden Gate Ave (private)

Today I've teamed up with Galileo Learning to bring you a fun San Francisco exploration idea.

New Hearts in Union Square

If you're familiar with Union Square in San Francisco then you'll be familiar with the heart sculptures that dot the four corners. 

Every so often (maybe once per year) three of the heart sculptures on display in Union Square change over. The sculpture on the corner of Powell and Post remains constant. The existing hearts are auctioned off to raise money for San Francisco General Hospital Foundation and are replaced with new hearts. You can see some of the hearts previously on display here.

For quite some time over the end of last year and the start of this the corners of Union Square were empty. Around Valentine's Day we visited Union Square to see if any new hearts had arrived. And sure enough there they were. Three new hearts; one of them being the girls' new favourite of all time. I think you'll guess which one from the photos!

Here's a look at Ava and Lola checking out the latest batch of hearts to be displayed in Union Square...

"Happy 10th Anniversary!" by Michael Osborne. The girls' new favourite, of course!

Home Made Hearts for San Francisco

Ever since the day we first arrived in the San Francisco Bay Area from Australia my two little girls have been in love. In love with the city. And in particular, in love with the hearts that dot the corners of Union Square.

The hearts on display in San Francisco's Union Square (among other locations) are made by local artists as part of a fundraising program for San Francisco General Hospital Foundation. Every year a new batch of 5 foot high, 400 pound hearts are made, put on display around the city and auctioned off to raise funds for the hospital. It's a great fundraiser and brings a nice dash of colour to the streets San Francisco.

My girls love visiting the hearts in Union Square. They love to give the hearts a hug and are always excited when we discover a new one. You can see some of their heart love here and a few cards that I've made using the hearts here and here.

Seeing as my girls love the hearts in Union Square so much I decided to help them make their own and take them to Union Square. Here's a look...

Ava with her Golden Gate Bridge heart

Mother's Day Cards 2013

It's Mother's Day again. And that means Mother's Day cards...

Lately the girls and I have been taking lots of photos with the hearts in San Francisco's Union Square. This gave me an idea for a cheesy Mother's Day card. Much like our Valentine's Day cards, I like my Mother's Day and Father's Day cards to be just a little cheesy. Not sappy or overly lovely-dovey, just a little bit cheesy - in a cute way.

We love Nanna!

I left my heart in San Francisco

It has to be one of the most overused sayings about San Francisco, doesn't it? I left my heart in San Francisco.

Well, someone has been leaving hearts in San Francisco and the girls and I have enjoyed spotting them in our time here so far. I'm talking about the large painted hearts that dot the corners of Union Square.

Ava loves the hearts in Union Square