Back to San Fran

Today was another great day in the City!  We headed back towards the San Francisco area today with a stop in Dublin to see one of Eric's old ward mission leaders, Gerald.  We stopped by to see his family earlier this week, but he was away on business.  It was great to visit with his wife and kids, but they said we could come by this morning and see Gerald as well.  It was so fun to visit with him.  One thing I've realized coming back to Eric's mission is that he TRULY made a difference.  I know it seems silly to say and I always knew that he did.  However, hearing people he worked with say it and tell me how grateful they are to Eric makes it so much more real.  There is so much power in missionary work.  I can't wait until Eric and I are retired and can serve a couple's mission together.  And get Art History degrees.  As we were leaving Gerald told us that Eric was the best missionary he had ever worked with.  I am a very proud wife.

After visiting Gerald we headed to the city to see the Giants play the Indians.  We were planning on getting to the stadium early for batting practice, but traffic on the Bay Bridge was horrendous.  We were stuck on the bridge for nearly an hour.  Fortunately, we planned plenty of time so we still arrived at the stadium early.  

Wednesday when we were at the A's game, Eric didn't wear a hat and his whole scalp got terribly sunburned.  We decided not to make that mistake again so our first stop was the Giant's Team Store to get a hat for him to wear.  Eric totally rocked his Giant's hat. 

We made it to our seats just before the game started and realized our seats were right behind the foul pole.  Here was Eric's seat...

Yeah... not happy.  Fortunately, our section had a lot of shifting so we were able to move around to better seats for most of the game.  I of course kept score - it's my favorite thing to do at baseball games.  In this game I got really into it - I even marked balls and strikes and the pitch count.  There was a lady behind us who asked what we were doing and I explained keeping score to her.  It was pretty fun to explain the process and benefits of keeping score. 

The Giants won the game 5-3.  It was so fun to see the home team win.  The Indians took an early lead, but the Giants came back in sweeping fashion and scored four runs in one inning.  In the next inning, Buster Posey hit a home run.  It was fun to see some of our favorites on the Indians as well. We love Terry Francona (although we didn't like him when he managed the Red Sox), and Jason Giambi, the former Yankee, pinch-hit today during the ninth inning.  The last time I saw him he was in pinstripes, and the last time Eric saw him was at the Coliseum for the A's.  He's 43 years old and still playing the sport he loves.  He got hit by a pitch in the ninth inning and got on base.  He was always good at getting hit - I think he leans into them. We also saw the former Yankee - Nick Swisher.  We love Swish.  He's my Mom's favorite player. He had a great game today with 2 hits, a run, and an RBI.  

After the game, we headed back to the city to get some dinner.  We went to a seafood place on the pier and it was wonderful.  I've been in seafood heaven this whole trip.  Eric got catfish and I got shrimp - delish.  During dinner, we were talking about the game and one of the fan favorites - Pablo Sandoval a.k.a. Kung-Fu Panda.  He wants a huge contract, which is ironic because he's batting .171 with 2 home runs this year. Eric assured me that by October he would be batting at least .265 with 25 home runs.  This eventually led to a bet - I'm pretty sure I'm going to win.  He sucks this year. 

We then headed down to Ghirardelli Square to get ice cream.  I just love those ice cream sundaes.  This time we got a cookie sundae and it did not disappoint.  I loved every bite.  As we were leaving we ran into the rhyme master.  I don't know if that's really his name, but that's what my family calls him.  He sits outside Ghirardelli Square and makes up rhymes.  We watched him for a while and as we were leaving I dropped a dollar in his bucket.  His rhyme for me was "Thank you there, Teddy Bear.  Don't you think I'm debonair?"  I assured him that I did. 

We headed back towards the pier by all the street performers.  One of my favorite things about San Fran is the nightlife around the pier.  There are so many street performers outside of what you see in other big cities.  One of my favorites is the people who make paintings with spray paint - so cool.  There is also an art gallery that has the art of Dr. Seuss.  It was so cool to see his paintings in real life - he actually painted quite a few pictures and asked his wife to not release them until after his death.  I really liked them. 

We continued our walk back to the pier, admired more of the bay, and got our traditional Christmas Tree ornament.  It was another great day in the city!