California Dreamin' Day Four

Fresh Fruit, Butterflies, Fish and Penguins

You may be wondering… what do Fresh Fruit, Butterflies, Fish and Penguins have in common? Think about it… think about it… ha ha! You’re thinking too hard… it’s really quite easy… it’s what filled our day. And it was delightful! Add to the mix two darling granddaughters and one sweet little grandson and the day was complete.

We began by making our way to the Ferry Building Farmers Market. Each Saturday they host an open air market on the Embarcadero filled with local farmers selling their fresh organic fruit, artisan breads and cheese. Of course they all have samples to give away and it was a tasty treat delight.  A bit of a trick to make it through the crowds but a fun way to spend our morning none the less. As we were walking through the crowds a beautiful butterfly took refuge on my shoulder. Emilee noticed it first… what a sweet treat for me. Breanne shared the thought that a butterfly on your shoulder brings you good luck. I already felt quite lucky just to be with their sweet family.

From there we made our way to the California Academy of Science in the Golden Gate Park. The Park itself is quite amazing with so many places to see and do, but for this day, we chose the Academy of Science… a wonderfully amazing place that fueled our imaginations and filled the remainder of our day. We entered a tropical rainforest filled with birds and butterflies flying freely. They floated through the air with ease unencumbered by our presence. And yes, there really are bright and beautiful sky blue butterflies. I always thought blue butterflies were merely a product of the cinema. I’m sure you can imagine how fun that was for this lover of all thing of nature.

From there we were thrilled to enter an aquarium filled with beautiful tropical fish of all shapes, size and colors. It was fun to watch a diver join the fish and teach us about these beautiful creatures.  My favorite was the seemingly well-choreographed dance that took place when the feeding began. It was quite amazing to watch.

From there we found the African Penguins. I knew from my days of watching Bryan’s kids while they were visiting South Africa that Penguins don’t only live on frozen tundras. This was a beautiful exhibit and we were there just in time to see the penguins fed. Maddie especially loved the penguins. Yesterday she picked a penguin puppet for her birthday present from a cute little puppet store on the wharf. What fun to see real penguins!

We ran out of time before we ran out of things to see, and our San Francisco portion of our trip was coming to an end. A drive over the Golden Gate bridge and a long drive to Sacramento brought us to Cason’s lovely home where we where we will enjoy a beautiful day of rest tomoorow. As we were initially planning our trip we had considered spending this day (Sunday) on a once in a lifetime Whale watching expedition. Just couldn’t make it feel right in our minds… so glad we saw the light. Many days after our choice not to go, we were blessed to find another alternative… stay tuned to find out what that is!