Back to SF

Okay, so I've moved the family to Arkansas for a year. Orginal plan: come back to San Francisco August 2011. How silly I am to still think my plan will be what really happens. This weekend, we had planned to go to the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas to mine for diamond (little child labor with the chance of bringing home some diamonds=good messy fun). After a message from family with news of the death of Uncle Sherman, I knew it was time for a new plan. With less than a week, I booked flights and packed all the necessities for all five of us.
After we spent $600 per person on a flights, I couldn't imagine us returning after just a weekend in SF. Daddy-o had to be back a work by Tuesday but us homeschoolers have an open schedule.  If we stayed just the weekend, I might not even get a chance to see my mom or my best friend, let alone catch up with countless other friends. At first, I was going to stay an extra week with the kids by myself. After I almost booked the flights, daddy-o added, "oh yeah, I have to come out for a meeting at the end of that week."
Okay, new plan!  We stay until Thankgiving-ish. When I booked the flights, I had the option of either Thanksgiving day with the same direct  flights ( 4 hours) or Friday with four different hops totaling over 13 hours. Easy decision.
Before I could book a flight, I had to thinking about accomodations. We rented our house since we were moving for the whole year. We had been gone about a month now and here we were coming back to town with no place to live.  Feeling a little homeless, I was a bit hesitant to book the trip without somewhere to land with three small kids.
After  I talked to friends and family, I learned that I had a few option so I booked the flights. As the trip got closer, the final plan emerged by itself. (Thank you to MamaJ for the boat offer and Keri for the last minute slumber party offer and Terry & Paul for the house!)
After the beautiful memorial service and family time on Saturday, I was lucky enough to hear about the marionette show being performed at school on Sunday.  We needed to come to visit our house to get some things we forgot to pack (read: Christmas stockings) so we thought we'd take care of both things with one trip.

The kids and I taken by number 1

Right now, staying at a friend's house in San Francisco, I feel like I'm on vacation paired with a whirlwind tour. We have been to both Crissey Field beach and Baker Beach.We have eaten at some of our family favorite restaurants and have a plan for the rest. While drinking in the fall sun, I'm trying to enjoy all the little San Francisco moments with the kids while I can.We arrived just before the show started. Ben found a spot next to a friend. After a little coordinating, I found a spot for Edie to sit with them too. While watching the show, little tears came to my eyes as I was reminded the sacrifice of leaving this magical school we are blessed to attend. It's easy to become busy and forget the beauty which is out there for all of us. Their teachers have welcomed Ben and Edie for a brief cameo at school.  Ben is getting to enjoy a little Indian days (perhaps my favorite Kindergarten theme) and a bit of rock star status coming back from being gone. Edie was happy to see her friends but she was overwhelmed by all of them at once.