'Round and 'Round

Sofia and Luca love the carousel, so we go around and around on a "horsie" often. Last week, I took all the kids downtown so that we could see Brian's new office. I think the entire building heard us as soon as we walked in. My children aren't the quietest children in the world. Brian had told them that they could write on the walls, so they were asking for the special markers within minutes. His new office has huge walls of dry-erase board, so the kids went crazy drawing. Sofia drew a Were-Rabbit because her and Luca are in love with a new video: "Wallace and Grommit and the curse of the Were-Rabbit." It is pretty silly stuff that I highly reccommend. Luca just scribbled but insisted that he was writing his name. After a few minutes, I began to feel anxious, knowing that many of Brian's colleagues were working right down the hall. They didn't seem incredibly interested in our children, so I assumed that they wouldn't be incredibly understanding about the level of noise they were making right outside their offices.
Well, we soon left and Brian escaped for a bit to go on the carousel (yet again) with the kids. This time, we went to the Zeum carousel which has no kitty cats, highly disappointing to our little girl. She got over it quickly and chose a horse with pink and blue sparkly gems (surprise). Luca wanted to ride on a giraffe. I love this carousel because it is originally from the Playland at the beach which closed years ago. My mom talked about going to playland when she was growing up, so I like to think that maybe Sofia or Luca is riding on a horse that my mother once was on. I love that about living in San Francisco. We have only been back here a year, and I feel like I am still adjusting to life in the city. I have such history here which Brian really loves since he grew up in so many places. We feel settled here and know that our children will grow up in the city just like I did. I have so many memories as a child in various places throughout the city and I get to share those moments, those connections with my children. Pretty awesome. So many people in the East Bay would talk about how "un-kid-friendly" San Francisco could be, and I could not disagree more. I feel like there are so many wonderful families here and feel right at home. Brian and I have always felt connected to a life in an urban environment so living in Oakland was a challenge for us. We felt unsettled and anxious to begin our life back in the city. Finally last year we left our bigger, beautiful craftsman (in a crappy neighborhood) for a tiny 1950's track home on the edge of San Francisco. At least we were in the city and not just across the bridge. We know that this is not our last home but we feel like we can relax and enjoy our lives in a more settled place. Sofia knows that she lives in San Francisco and I would not have it any other way. (Thank God Brian likes it too).