Finally we arrive at the Hotel Monaco, just in time for Happy Hour. This is a pet friendly hotel with a dog to greet you on arrival and mingle with guests. As we did not bring a pet with us we were given one to look after during our stay. We had pebbles the one eyed fish, which was a great source of amusement for the kids. Our hotel was centrally located so we could walk everywhere which was great. It was incredibly cold for us and an incredibly busy city but we did manage to pack alot into our 3.5 short days there. 
We had a jungle theme room with zebra bathrobes and tiger slippers
Happy Hour fun
Pebbles our one eyed fish, the spa and beautiful orchids in the foyer.
After a restful first night it was up early for our trip around town to check out the sights, of course there was a stop over at the Golden Gate Bridge.
We chose the busiest day of the year to visit Golden Gate Park, because it was the 100th Anniversary of the Bridge to Bay Fun Run which attracts over 5000 participants. It is the only day where anything goes - literally, booze, nudity and all sorts of wierd and wonderful costumes. The park is blocked off for revellers which we had to walk through to get to the California Academy of Science, Aquarium and Museum. We had to explain a few things to the kids along the way, and shield their eyes from a few things but it certainly looked like everyone was having a ball. Sort of like a cross between Mardi Gras and Schoolies x 1000!!!!!!!!
Golden Gate Park is huge with plenty to see and do and Park Rangers use ATVs. Us outside the Japanese Tea Garden.
Oh what a crowd and what a sight!
The fake police and then the real ones keeping an eye on everything.
The California Academy of Sciences was a fantastic place but we could only spend half a day there, not enought time to see absolutely everything so once again it was a quick dash around to everyones favourites. The Planetarium, Snakes and Lizards display, Africian animals and the coral reef. All of the displays were fabulous and definately a place to visit again if the opportunity arises.
Just hanging out at the displays
Fake display of zebras but real penguins - hard to tell the difference sometimes
Vertical gardens, the living roof and robotic snakes - all sorts of things to check out
A touch of Tonga, sand dollars and star fish
That night we managed to get some last minutes tickets to the closing night performance of Hugh Jackman at the Curan Theatre, one block away from out hotel. We were in the back row which didn't matter one bit as the 130 year old theatre was amazing. It was a fantastic show, a combination of home movies, stories, jokes, singin and dancing and a tribute to Peter Allen thrown in. Dylan could not believe he was seeing "Wolverine" live in person and Emily proved to be quite handy at the end of the night when Hugh came out to sign autographs. She jumped up on Lyndon's shoulders to take some photos.
Us with Hugh, (I know only the paper version) and inside the Curan Theatre
The maddening crowd all after a piece of Hugh, and Emily's top shot at the end of the night.
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