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After my sister had her twin boys, she was told that, like their dad, they’re fraternal. But for the first five years of their lives, well … you could have fooled me (and, on certain days, from certain angles, still can). Earlier this month, these guys (that’s Cameron on the left; Chris on the right) celebrated their 12th birthday. It’s been so fun watching them grow up — two young gentleman who are all “please” and “thank-you” in a day and age when so many of their peers are all “I want” and “I need”. When Nick and I were home last month, we surprised them with tickets to the new Batman movie. Bought them a giant soda with popcorn. Treated them to Taco Bell after the late show (they’d never been!) And the best part? I was the one who felt like a kid again.

When I took this photo, my aim was more on getting my sister an updated shot of her boys than anything else. As I showed it to them in the viewfinder, Cameron grinned and looked up at me. “Are you going to put that on that website of yours?” he asked. My response was “Do you want me to?”

He got all bashful, grinned again, then said, “I don’t care.” So Cameron (and Christopher), this post goes out to you!

I know I’ve talked about this trip ad nauseum on here, but I couldn’t resist posting a final few shots (the last, I promise!) of our trip out West. Ahhh …. the City by the Bay - I miss it already!

The cable car we rode (one of many) - I can’t believe I forgot it!

We definitely saw some of the coolest Victorian houses. This next might be one of my favorites from the entire trip. I love the color of that house!

These shots are just shared to humor my obsession with taking photos of signs. An obsession made all the better when you every street offers up something new — the older and more vintage, the better! (and you can imagine how annoyed my husband became as I stopped every block to snap a new one!) I think I may get a few of these framed …

Back when I was in journalism school, I knew the reason I was there was because I wanted to be a storyteller. To tell the kind of feature stories — good and bad — that made other people pay attention. That stirred something inside them.

I may have put my notepad down, but I still admire the work of those whose stories accomplish that goal. The latest journalistic hero of mine? Lane DeGregory of the St. Petersburg Times. I first found “Girl in the Window,” on Dooce’s Web site yesterday.

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since. It is physically disturbing — if you are a mother, it may actually make you ill.

But it is such a powerful story about a family who took in this little girl when everyone else had given up hope. I know it’s heavy stuff, but take time today, tomorrow, over the weekend, to read it.

And be prepared to feel changed for having done so.

No doubt I’m losing your interest with these vacation shots, so I promise I’m wrapping this trip up with a quick rundown of how Nick and I enjoyed our final two days in the city by the bay.

Saturday morning was well-spent with a breakfast down on the docks at the Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market. I have never seen so many yummy, organic goods in my life and the peaches. Ohhhh, the peaches! I felt like that scene with Kramer and Newman (the MACKINAW PEACHES Jerry! …) when I sunk my teeth into one of those juicy fruits.

After a morning down by the water, we were all set to board our cruise to Alcatraz and yep … who was the idiot who didn’t charge up her point-and-shoot’s batteries? ME, ME, ME! I was bummed because there was so much that could have made for great photos on the island of Alcatraz (the least of which being my husband behind bars), but here’s one I snapped from earlier in the week during our cruise around the bay. Let me just add that Alcatraz was WAY cooler than I thought it would be. If you ever go, the audio tour of the cellblocks is a MUST! I literally got goose bumps a couple times (former prisoners and guards tell the story of the prison … it’s pretty haunting).

Of course, I happen to not have a camera on hand during one of the most thrilling parts of our vacation — riding bikes across the Golden Gate Bridge! Now, as someone who has long had a fear of bridges (I used to dream I was getting married on one as it collapsed … weird I know. Good luck with that one Mr. Freud), it was a major accomplishment for me to get across this thing. You just can’t grasp the size — or the wind that buffets you around while you’re on it — until you’re there. But look at that view of the Marin Islands. It was just spectacular. Not too bad for a cell phone camera, eh? (not even an iPhone)

We were spoiled with such amazing weather the whole trip I was starting to think, “Fog? What fog?” and then we woke up on Sunday and couldn’t see 300 feet in front of us. We braved the drizzle and cold for a trip to Golden Gate Park. There we took in the observatory and I’m such an orchid freak that well, I busted out the macro setting on the point-and-shoot and went to town.

Nick and I had said earlier how we felt like we’d missed out on some of the “anything goes” stereotypes of the city, but lo and behold, we finished the trip with a quintessential San Francisco moment. Walking back from the park, we got caught up in a huge Hare Krishna parade, passed by a large group of people doing outdoor yoga in the park and then stumbled across a group of hippies living on the grounds. I don’t think our trip would have been complete without that moment!

I’ve got some photos of one of my favorite 3-year-olds to post this week … can’t wait to work on them as soon as I finish copyediting my latest travel guide. Anyone headed to New Mexico? I could give you some pointers on where to stay