San Fran Trip June 2008

Our San Fransisco trip was so nice - well all but the Dr. appts was nice! We weren't allowed to feed Ava after 2:00am due to the fact that she was to have an MRA first thing in the morning. It was a rough night. We didn't even get to the hotel until after 2am, since we couldn't leave Carson until Brooklyn's football game was over. Any way she cried from about Sacramento until SF - not entirely but off and on the way. Then we got to the appt and they stuck us in a closet waiting room with no ventilation, no toys, no TV and this is the children's waiting room. We waited and waited and waited it was about an hour and no one had come to check in on us and Ava was NOT happy. It was approaching 9:30am and she hadn't eaten yet, she's a Bidwell for sure getting cranky when she is hungry, so we go back out to the front desk and try and check in and the receptionist talked to us as if we were stupid. So we told them that we were leaving. Evidently people don't just walk out on their appointments at UCSF Hospital. Later that weekend we had 2 phone calls from different people in the Imaging Department offering to help us better next time. It was awesome! At Ava's follow up appt Dr. Freiden said that the steroids will be phased out about the end of August beginning of September. She also said that the moodiness should improve then also! YEAH! Her hemangioma internal swelling has gone down a lot the external swelling, the red bubbly parts are still quite pronounced but they seem to be breaking up. We can look into options to laser it in a year or two if it hasn't gone down enough.

The rest of the trip was AWESOME!!!! It was so cold and there was a ton of smoke in the air from all of the fires - but that didn't slow us down! The hotel was AMAZING! I loved it!! We stayed at the Argonaut. I said before every time we had walked passed it I always wanted to stay there. I am so glad that we got to take advantage of the chance and that the room was on sale. We were right on Fisherman's Wharf. The hotel has a wonderful restaurant that we ate at twice for dinner. It has "The Best Clam Chowder" my folks had ever eaten! We walked to Ghiradelli Square - sucks for my diabetic dad though. I had a cupcake for Kara's Kupcakes for breakfast, Brooklyn had ice cream and every where you go ladies in Ghiradelli uniforms are shoveling chocolates in your mouth! So maybe not the best for the diabetic! But hey - they can say "we were there!" We rode the cable car from Fisherman's Wharf all the way down the line until Union Square and had to wait in a horrible long line to ride it back. On the way back Mom and Dad and Brooklyn got to ride on the open part of the car and Brooklyn stood the entire time! We had to sit in the inside part since we had the baby. It was such a good time. I love riding the car up and down the hills! Later we hung out at FW and took a bay cruise that went under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz. It too was awesome! It was very windy! Brooklyn and I sat outside most of the cruise, my dad then my mom joined us. Don stayed warm inside with Ava. The water was really choppy and it got hard to stand up but it was still fun trying.
We ate good food sprinkled through out the trip. We did all that in a day! It was fun.
Us getting on our boat Cruise
Ava on the hotel bed
Ava

The mirror....isn't it so neat!?
Look at the exposed beams. The hotel used to be a part of the Del Monte Cannery - and so the brick and beams are so old - gave our room such a warm awesome feeling.

Brooklyn loving on the dolphin fountain
Grandpa and Ava

Mom freezing - it actually was really cold this weekend
Ava falling asleep with her bottle in her mouth
Brookie and Grandma - Ben and Jerry
Fountain - Ghiradelli Square

Breakfast - Ghiradelli Square Cafe
Mom and Dad before the actual ride
Ava's first Cable Car ride

Brooklyn's first Cable Car ride

The Family!
Mom and Dad
Brooklyn getting rescued
Dad and the Golden Gate Bridge

Brooklyn and the city
Mom all warm
Don and Ava all warm
It was really windy!
Me and Brooklyn

Brooklyn and the Golden Gate Bridge
Mom and Dad
Brooklyn - and Alcatraz

Alcatraz
Mom and Dad - they didn't know I was taking all of these random pictures
You would think that was a pose huh? It's not. It just looks good
Brooklyn being a Hobo in Grandpa and Grandma's hotel room
Ava climbing mount Grandpa

Brooklyn's Hobo ...complete with hole in sock!

Brooklyn feeling a little like a baby...