She came. She saw. She tried new things.

After spending a week with my folks and my mom's side of the family in Arkansas & Missouri, Sam spent a week with his dad's family in Iowa.

Then, just before their birthdays, Sam and his cousin, Patience boarded a plane and flew to California. Sam's been flying by himself for a few years but Patience was a bit nervous about getting on a plane without a parent.

As you can see from their enthusiasm while waiting for their luggage, they made it through with flying colors.

Patience's Dad, Sam's Uncle Brian had fed them lunch before the boarded the plane. After I picked them up, we stopped off at In & Out Burger for dinner. Outside the joint, Patience was impressed with our California Trees (palm trees).

During her visit, Sam explained to Patience why he thinks that In & Out Burger is better than McDonald's. I guess he was paying attention during Super Size Me. Sam, "The French fries from McDonald's have so many chemicals in them that if you put them in a container and leave them alone, a year later, they will look the same." "Well, if they were the last food on Earth, I bet you'd eat them." Patience countered. Touche.

I'd grabbed some berries out of the fridge before heading out to pick the kids up. Patience tried one, even though she'd never had one before.

They are not her new favorite food but I bet if they were the last thing food on Earth...





From Oakland, we drove across the Bay Bridge into San Francisco to show her some of the sights.
(It wasn't dark for us yet.) (photo credit)

We drove through the city. She was impressed with the buildings and cable cars (she called trolleys).

I drove on some of the roads that go straight up and straight down and we drove down the windy part of Lombard Street (photo credit) before crossing the Golden Gate Bridge (that's the ocean off to your left) and arriving home.

Since we left our guest bedroom in Chicago, whenever we have company, Sam graciously gives up his room and sleeps on the couch. In this instance, Sam asked, and was granted, permission to take all of the cushions off the couch, love seat and arm chair to turn the living room floor into one giant cushion/bed. Rest up, for tomorrow we leave for Lake Tahoe.