Giant Fail

A few weeks ago, we had a major end of summer treat when Aunt Kristie and Uncle Hilary took us to the final game of a Dodgers/Giants series.  We hadn't been to AT&T Park and were very excited.  It was a beautiful afternoon and the park really was cool (good food, too!).  Steve was extremely hopeful that the Dodgers would pull out a win... it started rough and got worse.  I guess the best pitcher was pulled because of a "sore hip" and the best hitter for LA was also out.  Steve summed it up saying that the Giants won "because they cheated."  Yea, we're really gracious guests and good losers, too.

This was basically the extent of Grace's Dodgers enthusiasm... she quickly changed loyalties when we got to the park.  Fair-weather fan.  (and not sure why the pic won't center align, maybe because it belongs in the 'which of these doesn't belong' category).

The rest of the gang.

Another one that doesn't belong... on the very cool kids' slides in the park.


Grace is wondering where the mascot, Lou Seal, is.

The fam was wise enough not to get her a true SF hat (they say they won't bother since they know Steve won't let her wear it), but they did get her a panda hat (one of the Giants is called "the Panda").  Grace would get really excited whenever Anthony told her the Panda was coming, but then I think she would get confused about why he wasn't really a panda.

Humiliating losses aside, it was such a fun evening!  I wasn't sure how Grace would do sitting through a whole game, especially having refused to nap, but she did great.  She loved watching all the stuff going on, the music, and the random games on the jumbotron, made friends with all the people behind us (who also kept working on her to say "Go Giants"), and really enjoyed her dinner of popcorn.  

Thank you, Hilary and Kristie!  

Go Blue!

(just keeping it classy)

Talking with Grace

Recently we were driving home from somewhere and the following conversation transpired:

Grace:  Dad, I need to learn how to drive.
Steve:  Okay, why?
Grace:  Well, I need to know before I go to college.

(Full disclosure - when I was six, I asked my mom if they taught how to count money in college because I didn't know how and didn't think I could go to college without knowing.)

Watching President Obama's speech during the DNC

Grace:  Why aren't they [the audience] singing?
Me:  Well, they're listening to the speech.
Grace:  Did they forget their guitars?

Getting ready to go hiking, I walked into the living room (wearing cool socks that my brother had given me, and you could only see them because Steve had given me grief about getting too hot in jeans and suggested/insisted I change into shorts, thereby making my awesome, but not matching socks, visible):

Steve:  Those shoes look weird with those socks.
Me:  Wha...?
Steve:  What do you think, Grace?
Grace:  Those socks have cooties! 

Camping!

Way back in April, the day Yosemite reservations opened for Labor Day weekend, we were up at 7am on a Sunday and on the phone with some friends so we could ensure that we got adjacent campsites for the holiday weekend.  We got the reservations and were all so excited - three families plus two grandmas for a weekend of camping in the amazing Yosemite Valley.

Then hantavirus started spreading among Yosemite visitors, including several fatalities from people who had stayed in Curry Village (where GoGo and the other grandma were going to stay).  We weren't sure if we wanted to camp anyway, but finally Friday morning we decided that given the unusual patterns the virus was showing, it wasn't worth the (albeit small) risk.  So we scrambled.  Have you ever tried to find a campground with openings the Friday of a holiday weekend?  I think Natalie and I checked pretty much every site in northern California.  In the end, Jane and Jonathan's church has a private camp in the Santa Cruz mountains that wasn't full and they got us in.  We were all disappointed not to be going to the Sierras, but it turned out to be awesome.

We got a late start Friday and had to make camp in the dark, but we still ended up with a yummy dinner of hot dogs and s'mores.  And the kids had fun from the minute we arrived. It was chilly and foggy that first night and the next morning, but by Saturday afternoon when we returned from hiking, it was hot and beautiful.  We did a couple of gorgeous day hikes in Big Basin State Park (wish we had discovered that place sooner in our Bay Area tour - it's wonderful).  The campground had huge sites and we were right next to the playground.  The men played a weird version of frisbee golf that involved trying to get the frisbee to go up the tunnel slide (and I don't mind bragging a bit to say it was my handsome husband who finally got it!).  The kids got exceptionally dirty. At one point Grace's face was completely covered in dust and dirt, and unfortunately her father made her wash up for dinner before I could get a good picture.  They collected leaves and twigs, dug in the dirt, hunted for lizards, did crafts, had never-synchronized tantrums, were excellent little hikers and generally had a blast.  We ate so well and had good campfire time.

 

Monday morning after we packed up we decided to head over to one of the beaches on Highway 1 on the way home.  It was probably in the 80s at camp... and foggy and soupy and cold when we got to the ocean.  However, we got super lucky and pulled into the one beach that had some blue sky, which just got brighter while we were there although there was a thick fog bank just south.  We all stopped at In-n-Out on the way back into the city.  A perfect end.

It was not what we'd planned, but ended up being an excellent weekend.  So nice to be outside, among friends, and especially to let our city kids get really dirty.

Here are more pictures.

Debbie Diablo

We went hiking.  Here are the pictures (they have nothing to do with Debbie).  

So, in an effort to help me catch up, Steve tried his hand at ghost-writing/posting for me.  The above line and post title are the outcome.  Not sure if he will be retained... The real story here is that a few weeks ago, while GoGo was visiting, we met up with the family for a hike at Mt. Diablo's Rock City.  My cousins, Katy and Scott, had remembered it from their childhood.  It's a very fun hiking trail with lots of giant boulders to climb.  We had a picnic and then hiked a while.  Grace had so much fun racing Scott and Anthony up the rocks to see who would be king of the rock.

In the evening, we headed back to Katy and Anthony's for some serious Mexican Train (so fun - I even won once!) and a yummy feast prepared by Katy and Aunt Kristie.  Katy and I also tried our hand (and foot!) at Twister with Grace.  Poor Gracie was a little small to reach across the mat and, well, Katy and I aren't as limber as we once were. It was short-lived and we all collapsed in a heap... but I guess that's the point of Twister?

Another very fun time with our dear family.  Man will we miss these guys!  The only bummer here is that these are the only pictures of GoGo's visit.  She seriously helped us out while Grace's school was closed at the end of August. We intended to take many more during the fun part of her trip - our big camping trip... but that's another story.