Our First Visitors

The first week of July we had our first visitors in town. It was AWESOME - I can't explain how happy I am that we live in a place where we can have visitors who can *comfortably* stay with us...have their own bed/bathroom and enjoy themselves instead of being cramped up!

Marc's friend Chris came out for a few days so we headed into Oakland to see the Athletics play the Tigers... Very cool to go to an Athletics game although sorda sad. I remember the Athletics as this famous ball team with sell-out crowds way bay when Jose Canseco was playing... Since that time it looks like Oakland-ers (?) have lost all interest. I felt like I was at a college baseball game...much smaller crowd of fans than I would have expected. Regardless, I had a fun time (even in the blustering wind = very cold) and WILL GO BACK!

For July 4th, Mom and Dad Magnone came out for a fantastic visit - they arrived July 2nd which is Mom Magnone's birthday...we had so much fun! We went to dinner at a little Italian treasure of a restaurant we found - La Briciola ( http://www.labriciola-sf.com/ ) to celebrate and had a great meal including a delicious Tira Masu for dessert... The SURPRISE was that I'd made Mom Magnone's fav dessert for dinner back at home, CARROT CAKE! Most of you are impressed right now that I actually made a carrot cake...I'm not much of a chef, but I'm learning - and I am happy to report that THIS carrot cake was delici-OH-SO! And most importantly, the birthday girl approved! =)

On Friday, we became tourist in our new home town...first stop, a drive down Lombardi Street. If you don't know about Lombardi Street, well...look it up! Below is our first picture as Marc drove down Lombardi Street...

And the picture below is looking up after our very 'curvy' drive!

We made our way over to the cable cars and stood in a long line...but finally made it onto our first ride and it was TOTALLY worth the wait!

My family (above) and (below) my husband... Are we cute!??!?

These pictures are from our cable car ride up and down and up and down Hyde...so many beautiful views. It was so worth the wait - absolutely GORGEOUS!

On Saturday night Dad Magnone took us to maybe...possibly...the best Italian restaurant I've ever eaten at... Il Davide in San Rafael, CA. Be sure to check it out if you're ever in the area!

A few pictures with Mom and Dad Magnone's FAVORITE grand pups...

What a good looking family - we love y'all. Had so much fun during our short visit - come back soon! We're also looking forward to our next round of visitors - Brother, hurry up and get here!