Today we went to the Exploratorium – a bit like the Science Museum, but much more practical, hands-ony. We got entry free with our CityPass, otherwise we’d probably not have gone there. But we’re really glad we did – we spent 5 hours there, playing with all of the different activities, from the huge bubble machines, to the mechanical and electrical devices and looking at the nature section. It was a great educational experience for Charlotte, and really amused Emily, so we’ve counted it as a full ‘school day’! One of the highlights was getting Emily standing inside a giant bubble. Afterwards, for a mid-afternoon snack, we stopped off at a diner – the girls rounded off the sandwiches they’d already eaten with an ice-cream sundae.

Then it was off to Fisherman’s Wharf to catch the boat trip around the Bay (another thing included in our CityPass). We sailed around the bay for an hour just before sunset, and out under the Golden Gate Bridge. Because it was a bit windy (which seems to be the weather in SF consistently), we couldn’t hear the commentary at all until we got to Alcatraz – the only bit we already knew. But it was still good, watching the scenery pass by and watching the kite-boarders zooming and jumping around (Kiteboarding is for big kids- you strap a small surfboard to your feet and hold onto a HUGE kite, and let it drag you across the water – they were doing 20+mph on these things).