Annie’s Streets Of San Francisco

This weekend we were in San Francisco to take part in Jackie!’s Brain Tumor Walk, and Annie experienced the city in a major way. This was a joy to see since I grew up just outside the city myself, but I’m pretty sure Annie didn’t leave her heart in San Francisco. After riding down the city’s famously steep hills, I’m pretty sure her heart is now lodged firmly in her throat.

Bright and early Saturday morning I buckled Annie into her car seat and started off for the walk. As we neared the city I was a bit frazzled – we were running late and the directions were a bit complicated – so I wasn’t focusing on Annie in the back. It was only when our car went over a hill and descended what had to be the steepest street in all of the city that I caught a glimpse of her in the rear view mirror. She looked something like this:

Taken later while going down a hill she found far less scary than the first.

I did my best to tell her everything was okay (even though I, too, was a bit freaked out), but she was wisely skeptical of me. About half way down the hill we reached a cross street that ran on even ground, and Annie pointed down it, frantic. “GO DIS WAY, DADA!” she screamed. “GO DIS WAY!” Eventually we got the bottom and Annie was so happy that she would have dropped to her knees and kissed the ground if she wasn’t strapped into her car seat.

Luckily, there were happier times ahead. She had a great time at the walk supporting her Auntie Jackie! and hanging out with all the other kids in our group, then got to go to a San Francisco Giants baseball game the next day.

Annie went to baseball games when we were in Arizona for Spring Training, and amazed everyone by sitting in her seat calmly for the entirety of each game. It helped a great deal that she usually had a lemonade and bag of kettle corn (or “popcorns” as Annie calls it) to munch on, but at the end of the last game a woman sitting behind me tapped my shoulder and told me that she had never seen a kid Annie’s age do so well at a game. This, of course, made Annie’s baseball-loving parents prouder than you could ever imagine.

Though Annie did well in Arizona, I was a bit concerned that things wouldn’t go so well this time. I needn’t have worried though. The first thing she said upon waking was, “Go baseball town, Dada?” Then, after we entered the stadium, she squealed with joy and asked, “Popcorns, Dada? Popcorns?”

Heather ran off to get Annie her “popcorns,” as well as a lemonade to wash it down, and when she returned Annie was without a doubt the happiest two-year-old in the stadium.

The craziest part was that she seemed to enjoy the game. We watch a lot of baseball at Spohr Haus, and Annie clearly has been paying attention. In addition to clapping at the right time and shouting, “Hit the ball!,” she also reacted like a true fan when things went wrong:

Rejoiced when things went right:

And even chanted “Let’s Go Giants!”

All in all it was a terrific weekend and Annie made her old man proud. Heather tells me to watch out, though. When we get back to Los Angeles she intends to take Annie to Dodger Stadium to cheer on the (McCourt-less) Dodgers and chant “Let’s Go Dodgers!” We’ll see, Heather. We’ll see.