Celebrating the Season in San Francisco

 "City sidewalks, busy sidewalks,

Dressed in holiday style,

In the air there's a feeling of Christmas!"

That was the song playing in my head as I spent the weekend with my daughters in San Francisco this weekend. We began with dinner out, then Christmas movies in our pj's Saturday night, for some cozy catch-up time. Who needs a real fireplace when you can set the Christmasy mood on TV via Netflix, complete with crackling and popping sounds?

Sunday morning arrived in a rainy, blustering fashion, but we made our way downtown to the Hyatt to enjoy their beautiful display... or so we thought.

 The Ferry Building across the street matched the gray skies.

 We were glad to get out of the rain and into the lobby.

To our disappointment, however, the lobby was undergoing renovations and there were just a few decorations and the large Christmas tree at the top. So after grabbing hot drinks and bagels at Starbucks across the street, we got back in the car and drove to Golden Gate Park's Museum of Natural Science. Now we were in for holiday treats!

We knew we were in the right place when we walked through the front doors 

to face a dinosaur skeleton surrounded by giant snowflakes!

 

 We entered the first exhibit hall and were greeted by carols playing, 

snow flurries falling around us, and a big snowman theater!

 Hands-on educational exhibits about reindeer lined the glass walls...

 ...and outside were two beautiful live reindeer -- Frosty and Holiday. 

My, what big antlers you have, Frosty!

 

 We learned a lot about reindeer. 

As hard as those antlers are, they feel velvety soft to the touch!

 We also enjoyed the penguin display with several adorable penguins.

This one kept everyone entertained by getting right up to the edge, but never quite taking the plunge.

 We decided he knew exactly what he was doing!

 

 The rain forest is a favorite exhibit, with many tropical animals and butterflies!

 

 With temperatures in the 80's, we were shedding our coats 

as we advanced the walkway up three floors, through the forest.

From there we descended to the aquarium with the tunnel 

that allows huge fish to swim over your head.

 By the time we left, the rain had lifted.

"Soon it will be Christmas Day!"

Holiday Magic!

In the midst of the holiday celebrations blogging time slid right off my plate. The joyous festivities have been on my memory stick, patiently awaiting their moment to be shared -- Disneyland during Thanksgiving weekend, Carmel-by-the-Sea wrapped in red ribbons, favorite ornaments dangling from our tree, a table laden with family favorite recipes. Since it would be a shame to move on without honoring these traditions, I decided to go ahead and share a few memories of the past month.

Let's just say Disney always knows how to do it right. We could literally SMELL the gingerbread cooking in It's a Small World as the little dolls changed their song to holiday favorites.
And what a surprise to walk out of a shop on Main Street and be greeted by SNOWFLAKES coming down (courtesy of Disneyland). Everything was beautifully decorated, the holiday parade was delightful, and we thoroughly enjoyed seeing the park at this time of year! Even Cinderella's Castle had a facade of snow and sparkled with lights.

The drive home along the coast from Southern California was peacefully beautiful and I was grateful Ash shared in the driving.
Added in during the holiday activities was an outstanding workshop I attended in Carmel. Not only was my knowledge in the field of Speech Pathology enhanced, but I had the pleasure of being surrounded by the village at its most enchanting time of year.
Finally my dear ol' Dad and daughters arrived! We decorated the tree with all of our beloved ornaments we've collected over the years. Our tree is not particularly sophisticated. There is no theme. But each and every ornament MEANS something to us.

Brenda's Baby Ornament (a friend had this made for me when I was expecting Ash)
Lys's First Christmas and her first grade schoolmade ornament
Pets (cats, dogs and horses) -- the one below is of Bambi, Lys's filly
Little houses that open to hold trinkets (given by my mother to my daughters when they were little)

Momentos from our travels -- everything from Innsbruck, Austria from our travels through Europe to Durango, Colorado and Washington D.C.
And at the top of our tree stands "Angela" -- this angel is from the 50's and adorned my parent's family tree as we were growing up. She lights up. When my mom passed away she was given to me and now Angela (as my sisters and brother and I named her) watches over my family tree. Just below Angela you can see part of a gold locket -- it says "Our First Christmas Together" and was the first ornament my husband and I bought for our tree.

Lastly, jolly old Santa Claus. He's looking pretty good! I LOVE this Santa. He was a gift to me from my parents on my 5th birthday (since I was born Christmas week) and I was thrilled to get him. He had been sitting on a shelf at Sunday's Market (a little corner dime store a few blocks from my childhood home) and I'd been eyeing him for a couple weeks. He still winds up to move back and forth, ringing his bell.

2010 provided lovely memories.