San Francisco's Gorgeous Palace of Fine Arts

San Francisco is full of structural and architectural marvels: the Golden Gate Bridge, the Transamerica Pyramid, and the old, stone walls of Alcatraz prison to name a few. I was aware of all of these interesting sights prior to visiting San Francisco last September. One that I happily discovered while researching the vibrant city was the majestic Palace of Fine Arts. I knew it had to become part of my itinerary - it was too beautiful to miss.

Explore Calgary's Spark Science Center and Calgary Tower

Last weekend, my husband and I had a fun weekend exploring Jasper National Park, away from home AND the kids. It was a bit of a break from the whirlwind of potty training, shape sorting, macaroni making, and everything that comes with two busy toddlers. However, even though I know they had fun with their beloved grandparents, I felt bad leaving them while we went out and had all of the adventures. (I know, you can't wait to take a break from your children, and then when you leave them, you miss them. There's just no pleasing mothers sometimes!)

Hiking Maligne Canyon in Alberta

I always have a hard time shopping for presents for my husband. He is the kind of guy that when he needs something, he simply goes and gets it and puts whatever item he has bought to practical use. He doesn't even like receiving presents. So gift-giving is tricky with that man. Especially gift-giving for his birthday, which comes so close after Christmas.

Go Snowshoeing in Jasper National Park in Canada

Item number 57 on my bucket list has been "Go snowshoeing" for years. Despite living in rural Alberta my whole life, where it is winter three-quarters of the year and always full of snow, I have never even stood in snowshoes before. It was actually a little sad that I had never checked item 57 off my list yet.

Things to See on a San Francisco City Walk-About

One of the best things about the city of San Francisco is that there are a lot of iconic landmarks and things to see and do that can be easily reached on foot, by trolley, or even a short jaunt in a rental car. Most of the places we visited in this post were reached by foot, although we may have used a trolley or car for a short portion of the excursion. My girls and I logged a lot of kilometres while strolling the city of San Francisco in September. (And hey, with all the calories we burned walking, we were able to sip some grocery store wine completely guilt-free in the evenings!) Here are some of the amazing places we were able to explore while traversing the city on foot.