Yesterday we spent the day doing a few of the things our City Pass had tickets for, such as a 90 minute boat tour of the Bay (which was good), and the Aquarium of the Bay (which was ok). We said hello to the famous resident Sea Lions of Pier 39, and had lunch at The Rainforest Cafe ( venue chosen by Joe, who read the name by himself and was adamant we should go there).

The Rainforest Cafe was a rainforest themed restaurant - complete with animatronic wild animals and light and sound effects. They had a good children's menu (good as in it had Mac n Cheese for Imogen, dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets for the boys and mini hot dogs for Siobhan). Joe was delighted with the experience and declared it the highlight of the trip for him.

This morning we wandered down Grant Street, in Chinatown, which was filmed in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, among other films. Shops don't open before ten though, so most were just opening as we were at the end. We still enjoyed window shopping.

After Chinatown, Grant St leads you downtown to the financial district and very exclusive designer shops - again, we enjoyed window shopping there!

The boys' hair was getting woolly, so we looked for a walk in Barber shop to tidy them up for school next week. Thanks to Paul's iPhone we discovered a Supercuts down near the Ferry Building (a good 20 minute walk), and as we hadn't seen the Ferry Building yet, off we went.

After the haircuts, we caught a streetcar back to Fisherman's Wharf and had lunch at our favorite bakery, Boudin Sourdough.

Just behind the bakery is a retired US Navy Submarine, which we were able to take a tour of - cool! Next to that was a museum filled with old (some antique) arcade games - we got rid of some of our quarters and had some laughs there.

Finally, it was clear that all the walking we'd done had exhausted the children, so we caught the cable car home - Joe was asleep by the time we reached our stop!

I was keen to see the famous "Painted Ladies" so after a cuppa I caught the cable car, then a Muni bus to Alamo Square. It was enchanting, this lovely park perched on a hill, surrounded on all sides by gorgeous restored Victorians, survivors of the big earthquake and fire of 1906.

As I type it is our last evening in San Francisco and in the USA. We are all exhausted, but we've had a wonderful time, and have had so many new experiences. I hope the kids remember this, as we'll be holidaying in Caloundra for the next ten years!

I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to travel as a family. It has truly been the holiday of a lifetime.