Alcatraz

I think Alcatraz was one of the things the kids liked best on our trip to San Francisco.  They were so excited to go to visit jail because of the fun pictures David and I took when we visited two years ago.  It turns out when we looked into it, all the tickets had been sold out for months except a small first come batch that they sell every morning.  Websites warned that they are hard to get and fist fights have broken out over them.  So we got there at 6 AM and waited in the COLD San Francisco morning.  It really was COLD!!!  Poor Natalie sat with her head tucked in her cousins jacket for pretty much the entire time we were in line.  She was FREEZING--and then you see the tough guy Stephen acting like he wasn't cold!!  We got lucky and the last person in our group literally got the last guaranteed ticket for the day!

 

After we got our tickets, we killed some time walking around on Pier 33 while we waited for our Alcatraz trip.

Brian was fascinated by these fun shaped wind toys.  He was talking to them and kept saying "WOW!!" He wanted to touch all of them. 

There were only a handful of seals when we went. 

Alcatraz Island behind us. View from Pier 33.



View of San Francisco from Pier 33.

On Alcatraz. 

It wasn't nearly as creepy as the day David and I went back in November- it was much colder and foggier that day and that added to the creepy ambiance. 

I was SO impressed with how Stephen listened to the audio tour and followed every instruction to a tee.  He was SO into it and SO precise in following the directions!!

The cafeteria still has the breakfast listed from the last day the prison was open.

 

The prison rec yard.

These steps really are giant.

Posing for Daddy.  I think this was there FAVORITE thing!!
I love Stephen's mean face and I especially love his sad face in the next pic...

Natalie was cold again, that's why she has a sweater over her head.

This was one of my favorite pictures from the trip!

Natalie was SO into the history of Alcatraz that David bought her a book about a prison riot and had the author sign it.