Discovery World

Kim rocked up at our hotel in the morning and we all piled in our weird car to head to Discovery World in Milwaukee. This is a science and exploration museum with tons of cool things to do. 

Scott gave Kim directions on how to get there with the roadworks going on - but we managed to miss the exit and went for a drive over a lovely bridge instead :). 

Once at Discovery World there were some cool things to do, including looking at a massive Les Paul exhibit with not only his guitars, but also things like the recording equipment he invented etc. Les Paul came from Waukesha, not far from where Kim lives.

There was also a very cool aquarium exhibition, with lots of fish and things you could touch. The lion fish was very cool to see. 

At the top of the aquarium was a replica ship you could play on - which was where we discovered James had lost his shoes. Oops. So we tripped off to lost and found to report them, but they weren't there. They asked us what siE the shoes were - like I have a clue about US sizes - so Kim asked the woman behind us in line what size her son's shoes were. The woman thought we were quite strange :)

Next to the ship was an area about pulleys and levers, and Charlotte lifted a 100lb (45kg) stone all by herself. Pretty strong hey!

On the way out we thought we'd check one more time for James' shoes, and the woman told us they'd found them even before we reached the desk. Yay!

We returned to the hotel, said farewell to Kim, and Wayne and Charlotte went for a swim while James napped, then once James woke up both the kids went for a swim. The pool was heaps of fun. 

Then it was shopping time. We hit Target across the road and bought a suitcase and some warmer clothes for the kids (awesome clearance rack since winter was over). We also bought nappies for James - hopefully the brand we chose work out ok. 

We picked up some pizza that Kim had pre-ordered, and headed to their place for dinner and conversation. 

Travelling, travelling, travelling...

Up nice and early this morning to catch a plane to Milwaukee. We headed off to the airport with only a minor panic by Michelle that she'd misread the time luggage needed to be checked by and we were going to miss it. The worry was all for naught though, as the flight was delayed. 

And delayed. 

And delayed. 

For some reason the flight didn't leave Denver, so never arrived. They ended up getting a plane from Oakland - a whole 10 minutes flight away. Lol. So they had to get a crew and pilots etc to fly the plane to San Francisco, just to get off and be replaced by the actual crew. 

We ended up heading off about an hour and a half late, which wasn't too bad in the scheme of things. When we arrived in Milwaukee we headed off the to car rental place to pick up our car. Based on the success of our amazing mini van in San Francisco, we had booked a mini van again, but through a different company. 

Hmm. When you're told "sorry, we don't have any mini vans left, but we have this Ford Transit you can have, it's almost the same," don't believe them. It's not almost the same as a bells and whistles mini van at all. And then when they charge you for a 33 gallon tank of petrol (when you opt for pre-paid rather than trying to find a petrol station on the way home), well that gets very expensive very quickly!

We went straight to Kim's house, where we were warmly greeted, followed immediately by "what type of car is that?" "I've never seen a car like that." Lol. Told you it was weird. :)

We had a lovely dinner of fried chicken, chips (fries), and salad, followed by cooking s'mores on their brand new fire pit which they had built the week before. 

After we had finished eating we thought we had better go check into our hotel before it got too late. We headed over to Delafield and found the hotel - very nice it was too. Our room was only a few doors away from the pool, which made the kids very happy 😊

American Girl

For those of you who don't know what American Girl Doll is, it's an American store that sells dolls. 18" dolls. Expensive dolls. There are 3 main types of dolls at the store - historical dolls, where the doll represents a particular era from the 1700s (or something like that) right through to the 1970s, Girl of the Year, where each year they release a new doll with different interests and attributes (this year or last it was Isabella who likes ballet or something), and the American Girl Dolls who look just.like.you. 

Charlotte bought an American Girl Doll on our last trip with medium length blonde/brown hair, a fringe, and blue eyes. Of course, there is just about every conceivable option so your doll can look like you. 

As well as selling the dolls, and almost every conceivable accessory option (clothes, furniture (a $160 bed anyone?), matching doll and owner clothes, etc.), the stores also offer experiences. 

So, we headed off this morning for lunch. You bring your doll with you, and they have a special seat at the table just for your doll. Your doll also gets a mini tea cup and saucer to keep, which James has had great fun playing with. 

You get 2 courses of lunch (maybe 3?), and once again the kids spent more time looking at the food than eating it. Charlotte was very excited to share her lunch with her doll though. 

After lunch Charlotte took her doll to the hair salon. Mummy totally refused all the up-sells for cleaning arms and legs etc., and just booked the hairstyle. While they were brushing the doll's hair they noticed she was a bit "wobbly" and needed fixing. Luckily that was free :). 

Charlotte was extremely happy wth her doll's new hairstyle, and with the new matching pyjamas we bought her and the doll. Lol. 

We thought that after a busy few days it might be good for James to have a decent nap, so we headed back to the hotel for a rest and to get the packing done. 

Charlotte decided she wanted ice cream for dinner, so we headed off to IHOP (International House of Pancakes) for dinner. Both kids ended up with ice cream for dinner, while we had something more substantial ;). 

Friends

Everyone slept in today after our late night yesterday, so we had a quick breakfast then off to the Presidio to meet up with Nancy and Norm. 

We met at the Walt Disney Family Museum, and while waiting for Nancy to park the car noticed that the view of Alcatraz we'd had 2 minutes earlier was suddenly non-existent. The fog comes in THAT quickly. Thank goodness we did the Golden Gate bridge yesterday - when we looked out at it today we could only see the bottom of one pylon. 

The museum itself was excellent. Tons of information about Walt Disney - his life, how he got started, some of his early drawings from school and his first animations (these really cool Alice movies where he had a little girl act as Alice, superimposed on cartoon scenes!)

We also got to see some of the technical stuff he used (invented? Wayne got to read more of it than I did, Charlotte wasn't quite as interested in it all as we were) like the multi-plane camera. 

It was awesome seeing the model of the original Disneyland, and great having Nancy there showing what had changed by the time she was going there. Nancy worked there a few summers when she was in college so has a ton of information about it. 

After the museum it was time to eat, so we headed off to Fisherman's Wharf and Bubba Gumps. 

The sea breeze had picked up quite a bit, and the idiotic tourists had believed the weather forecast where it said it was going to be warmer than yesterday, so we had no jackets or long-sleeves tops with us. We headed into the Bubba Gump souvenir store while waiting for our reservation, and Charlotte chose a hoodie to wear. Clearly we look trustworthy, because the registers were down in the store and they told us to take the jumper and just come back and pay when we finished our lunch. (Yes, we did go back and pay!)

Lunch was yummy - the servings were huge and the food was absolutely delicious. James even managed to eat some garlic bread and some jelly. He is still coughing a lot and not eating much, hopefully these antibiotics kick in properly soon. 

After lunch we wandered back down Pier 39 and grabbed an ice cream on our way to see the sea lions. I didn't notice the smell quite as much this time, but the noise definitely hits you! We still couldn't see the bridge either, but did get a view of Alcatraz this time. 

Saying goodbye to Nancy and Norm, who had a close to 3 hour journey home, we drove past the Full House houses for Charlotte and then back to the hotel. 

We chose to eat at Chilli's tonight (another 20-25 minute wait, which equalled 40 minutes), but unfortunately it wasn't as good this time round. Obviously being busier makes a difference, and some people clearly understand our accents better than others. The Chuck E Cheese guy couldn't understand when I said "all-meat combo" pizza, and this guy somehow mixed up "corn" with "fries". Oh well. 

Once again a long day, and late to bed for the kids. 

Exploring the Exploratorium

Both kids slept most of the night, which was fantastic. It means we've gotten over the time change fairly quickly, waking up at a "normal" hour today. 

After a slow start we headed off for the Exploratorium. It's changed locations since we were last here, but is just as good as we remembered, if not better! The Exploratorium is like Scienceworks on steroids, but a million times better. So many different activities for the kids to do. Everything is interactive, and so much fun. 

James and Charlotte both loved the "Quiet Walk" - a pit of gravel which you had to walk through as quietly as possible. Unless you were James, and then the idea was to run through and jump and make as much noise as you can!  Charlotte did really well, and went through with a best score of 0.6. Of what though, I'm not sure. Decibels?

It really is an amazing place, and like last time we didn't have enough time to see everything. 

After the Exploratoirum we went for a drive across the Golden Gate Bridge. Charlotte was more excited about hearing there was an old jail in the middle of the bay than the bridge. We got out at the viewing point just on the other side and took some photos. Most of our photos are on the camera, but here is one panoramic of the view. 

James slept through the whole thing, and Charlotte fell asleep pretty much as soon as we got back in the car, so we just decided to drive around randomly and see where we ended up. We drove through the hills of Sausalito, and ended up back on the freeway. 

Wayne accidentally ended up in an off-ramp, following a bus, but luckily a few hundred metres up the road was a Starbucks! First "real" coffee for the trip I think. 

We decided to drive the scenic way back to the hotel, ie not through the city, and drove up through Golden Gate Park and along the coast towards the zoo. We saw a beach car park, so thought we might as well stop. 

It was a very "interesting" car park. Basically a narrow road with people parking on one side...and on the other when there were no more parks. Just after we parked a car pulled in across from us and we were wondering how we'd actually get out!

Anyway, who cares about getting out when we have a beach to play on! After a climb down the steep sand dunes we hit the sand, and the shallows. James got wet and decided he didn't like it, whereas Charlotte loved it and didn't want to get out - if she'd had her way she would have dived in head first and got totally soaked. Luckily we managed to keep it to just her pants. 

When it was time to leave we had to climb back UP the steep sand dunes. Yay! (At times like these I really wish there was actually a sarcasm font.) Once up and in the car we had to figure out how to get out. Luckily about 3 other cars were leaving at the same time, one other which was also blocked in by the car across from us, so they made that car move. 

Once back at the hotel we washed the sand off the feet and headed off for dinner. Charlotte wanted Chilli's again so she could have mac and cheese, but when we got there it was packed. The police were doing a fundraiser for the Special Olympics and it seemed like half the world had come out. We decided that the 30 minute wait wasn't worth it, and headed out again. One of the cops recommended we try Jack's, just up the road. The Special Olympics athlete who was there thought we should try Hooters!

Jack's also had a wait, as did Red Robin. Clearly everyone in San Francisco eats out on a Thursday night. So we ended up at....

...Chuck E Cheese. Yay! (Not.) The food was as ordinary as we remembered it, and Charlotte had as much fun as she remembered. James just wanted to ride in the car and the train rides. "Toot toot car!"

At the end of the almost 2 hours there Charlotte had exhausted her tokens and had enough tickets to get a whole heap of junk. 

That is a little fake green spider in her right hand - apparently she wants to scare everyone she sees. Kim and Aga you've been warned!

James was very happy with the whistle that Charlotte got him. 

Home to bed after a long day! 

Oh - one thing I did forget. The stroller didn't arrive today, so I called the number that they gave me. They told me no stroller had arrived today and asked me for my claim number. I told them they hadn't rung me with the claim number. 

They then told me they had to wait for tomorrow's plane to arrive and they'd check again. I told them that the lady I spoke to at the airport said if it hadn't arrived by today I could but a new one and they would reimburse me. The lady on the phone wasn't happy, but after I re-emphasised that I couldn't do another day without a stroller she reluctantly agreed I could go buy one. 

Not more than 3 minutes after hanging up my phone rang - they had miraculously found it and we're going to deliver it that night. Amazing what threatening to spend their money does 😊. So we got our stroller back. Yay! (No sarcasm font required!)

If You're Going To San Francisco...

....its a bummer when your stroller doesn't turn up at the airport! Oh well, at least that's the third issue, and so ends our bad luck for the holiday 😊

American border security / customs was its usual long wait, and Charlotte was *really* feeling the effects of "staying up all night for the first time!" James, having been let out of a seat for the first time in 16-odd hours just wanted to run around - and gave everyone a laugh when he escaped under one of the barrier ropes. Well, everyone else 😄. 

Customs passed, luggage got, we headed off to hire a car. Charlotte was very impressed with the train we had to take to get there, as there was no driver and she and James got to sit in the front window. 

At the car rental place we ended up with a mini van, since they had an excess of them and we got a cheaper rate. A Chrysler Town and Country to be precise, since both the check-in guy and the lady at the garage said that was the one we should choose. 

We headed off, and got to the hotel in about 10 minutes flat. Awesome! It was just after 4:00 by then, so we mucked around for a bit and then headed off for early dinner. We had passed a Chilli's on the way, and thought that would be preferable to fast food. 

James decided he wasn't going to eat anything at all (typical of him with tonsillitis - hope the antibiotics have kicked in properly by tomorrow), but Charlotte ate a ton. Nothing that she ordered, but most of James' meal and some of Wayne's. 😄

We then headed back to the hotel so the kids could sleep. At least they've both gone to bed at their "normal" time.Will be interesting to see how James goes in a bed for his first time. There are a ton of pillows on the floor next to him. 

Although we're a bit exhausted Wayne is currently watching Iron Man on TV, until Survivor comes on. Yes, even on holidays Michelle still watches her reality TV!

Oh, and the stroller? They think it missed the plane so are expecting it tomorrow. When (if!) it arrives they'll send it to the hotel for us. If it doesn't arrive we get to go shopping. Will keep you informed. 

And we're off!

And 

So after a night filled with limited sleep - and not all because of our traditional las minute packing! - we headed off to the airport. And since we're going for such a long trip, why not do it in style! 

Only kidding. Wayne's friend from tennis is a limo driver, and given it was going to cost as much for a return limo trip as staying in the long term parking this time around, why not. It was a good trip - Charlotte was disappointed the TV in the car didn't work though. 

We got to the airport and faced our first 2 (and hopefully only) issues of the trip. Firstly, we had to get assistance to get our boarding passes because we didn't have a return ticket. All good. They then wanted to see our tickets out of America (these are American government regulations). Well, cruise ships don't issue tickets. 

After showing the cruise check-in documentation they manual documented our onward journey information, but it still took them another 15 minutes to get our baor song passes - clearly the U.S. don't like you entering by plane and exiting by cruise 😜. 

The next issue was a bit more serious to deal with. That being up all night I mentioned earlier? James was not a happy boy. Well, he was happy, he just didn't want to sleep. That, combined with hardly eating or drinking anything yesterday and a persistent cough made us think he might have tonsillitis again. 

Visit to the doctor (Tullamarine really does have everything!) and $$ later we confirmed that, yep, he has tonsillitis. He also has a slight ear infection, probably from the throat issues. The doctor cautiously advised us it might be a good idea not to fly for 24-48 hours until the antibiotics have kicked in, as he may have excruciating pain in the plane...or he may not. 

Further questioning confirmed that the pain would be restricted to take-off and landing, so we decided that anti-biotics, panadol, and lollies to chew on would be fine. 

Turns out we made the right decision - the only problem James had during take-off was that they paused his Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show to show the safety demonstration video. 

Not long after take-off! 

Charlotte listened intently to the announcement about lunch and proclaimed everything "yuck"! But was very excited when she got her kids meal. 

Cake, chocolate chip biscuit, juice, AND...

Mac and cheese 😊. 

That didn't compare to the highlight of the trip though - Charlotte was asked to help the flight attendant hand out the lollies - or sweets as they called them. I'd forgotten Air NZ flights into NZ did this. As a thank you Charlotte was given a bag with a ton of lollies in it too. 

After a brief stopover in Auckland we headed into the plane for San Francisco, and our first experience with SkyCouch. Basically, you get three seats in a row and the leg rest folds all the way up to make a sort of bed. You then get extra seatbelt things so you can lie down and sleep and still be belted in. 

It was great - would have been even better if Charlotte wasn't determined to "stay up all night for the first time in my life!" She did nap for a few hours at the start of the night, and 20 minutes before landing, but a nap at the hotel this afternoon is definitely in order. 

And here is what it looks like with the leg rests down.