The Play By Play, Day By Day

Saturday, July 2nd. I got my hair cut. I may write about the experience some other time, because it was an interesting experience. I’ll just say for now the gentleman who cut my hair was older than I expected (like in his late 70’s), with a thicker accent than I expected and I didn’t get the haircut I expected. That afternoon we went to the Exploratorium in SF and then picked up Marshall on our way back home. He stayed the weekend with us. The girls LOVE Marshall. Eva wants to marry him. Too bad he is already married. We went swimming that night. Marshall opted to not swim and just stay poolside and watch. The girls kept saying “I love swimming with Marshall.” Just having him near is total bliss to them.

Marshall joining in on the bedtime story routine.

Sunday, July 3rd. We went to church and like always Eva cried through all of nursery. After church we were invited by Stephen’s co-worker to join his family and some friends at the beach. Marshall stayed back, fortunately for him because what was supposed to be an hour drive south turned into a 3 hour drive in bumper-to-bumper traffic in 100+ degree weather. Through the heaviest part of the congestion it took us 2 hours to go 20 miles. It was a MISERABLE drive. Luckily, the heat knocked the girls out and they slept most of the long drive. Once we got to the beach town Capitola it was so crowded I figured there was no way we would find his co-worker. But finally luck was on our side and by chance we put our towels right by Stephen’s co-worker’s friends. Within minutes his co-worker arrived and introduced us to his friends. We were quite and international group. His co-worker and wife are French, and their friends were French and Iranian. Our girls made fast friends with their daughters and we all had a wonderful evening at the beach.

His co-worker brought juggling pins and tried to teach others how to juggle. We joked that all French have to learn an act to perform on the side streets of Paris. Stephen tried to learn juggling, but at one point he threw a pin up and missed it and it came crashing down on my nose. Man, that hurt. I don’t think Stephen is taking his act to the streets.

Monday, July 4th. We went to our Ward’s Scout Fundraiser pancake breakfast and ate way too many chocolate chip and strawberry covered pancakes. Later that morning the family fun began. Stephen’s sister Sarah and her husband were visiting from Utah and his other sister Laurie and most of her kids drove down from Sacramento to play. The plan was to drive to Half Moon Bay, but as we were driving the traffic looked very congested and I got scared that we would have a repeat of our miserable drive yesterday so I recommended we go to a park by the Bay in our town.

Picnic by the Bay.

We spent the day visiting the various areas of the park.

Stephen and Marshall took a quick and cold dip in the Bay.

Hanging out and chatting at the playground.

Stephen couldn’t resist climbing up on this swirly contraption. Sarah, Amber, Erica, Sterling, and Garret all followed Stephen’s lead. Though, Sarah getting up there was the most entertaining.

We ended the fun day with Sarah and Brett treating us all to all-you-can-eat pizza. Then Laurie and her kids headed back to Sacramento and Sarah and Brett took Marshall back to SF. Although it was the 4th of July we didn’t end the day with fireworks, but with chatting with our guests, Sarah and Bret.

Tuesday, July 5th. Sarah and I took and early morning walk. Our walk took a bit longer because we made a detour to Trader Joes to buy orange juice for our husbands. DreamWorks gave all their employees an extra day off so Stephen didn’t have to work today.

We went to the Legions of Honors in SF. It’s a world class art museum full of classical works of art. I was very impressed. I felt like I was back in Europe. The girls were pretty good through the museum. Eventually Stephen took them out while Sarah, Bret and I finished up.

My thinker thinking by Rodin’s Thinker.

A couple of happy couples posing by columns.

The girls enjoyed playing and posing around the columns outside the museum. This picture is our favorite because it so perfectly captures Eva and Mallory’s personality and relationship.

Picnic lunch outside the museum. The grounds were beautiful and constantly had misty fog rolling in.

We ended up going to a playground near the museum. Here’s Sarah posing like The Thinker.

Later that afternoon we went back to our place watched Kung Fu Panda and had dinner. And even later, Sarah and I went to Cost Co. Sarah drove and sadly she got rear-ended right in front of our apartment building. Both cars pulled over and the guy admitted it was his fault and told us he didn’t want any contact with the police and it wasn’t his car and he didn’t have a license. Great, just the kind of guy we want to have contact with. Sarah’s husband came out to take a look at the situation. Fortunately, her car looked okay, so we parted ways with the guy.

Wednesday, July, 6th. Sarah and I went walking again. Stephen went back to work and Sarah and Bret left to go to the Exploratorium, the temple and then back to Laurie’s in Sacramento. We’ll miss playing with them for a few days, but then they will be back again to play with us this weekend. We have all really loved having family visiting and look forward to the fun this weekend.

Back to the Beach

Today I took the girls to spend the day at Half Moon Bay. The sky was blue, the sand was warm and the water was cold like always here. But the cold water never stops the girls. It was a delightful day. We never tired of the sand and waves.

Mally sitting in the hole she dug. She spent hours digging it.

Surprisingly, Eva took a nap at the beach. After lunch she complained of being cold. Playing in the frigid water can do that. I had her lie down under towels and within minutes she was out. She peacefully slept for over an hour while I read a book in peace.

I am in love, love, love with the beach. Lucky for me, we are planning on visiting the beach a few more times in the coming days.

The Happiest Place on Earth

The happiest place on earth doesn’t have to be Disneyland. Last week I took the girls to Happy Hollow in San Jose. It’s a Disneyland-like amusement park and zoo. Happily, we got in for free because of the reciprocal pass we bought in UT. That made me very happy. The park is wonderful. The rides are so sweet and just the right size and scariness level for my girls.  Well, almost. They have a kid sized rollercoaster. There was no way Mally was going to ride it, but Eva was convinced she wanted to try. Eva and I went on it while Mally watched and waited on the platform.  After the first hill and me having to coax Eva to breathe I knew she was NOT enjoying the ride. She was way too scared to scream or even breathe. When the ride was coming to a stop she was waving her hands franticly and yelling “No, No!” I think everyone could see her fear. So, we didn’t go on that ride again. Mally was very happy she stayed and watched. And I don’t think we will have to try another rollercoaster for years to come.

For the rest of the day we went on all the sweet calm rides and we enjoyed the zoo animals which are mingled through out the park. We had a very happy day at Happy Hollow.

He’s Here

By pure luck, Stephen’s brother Marshall was assigned residency for the summer in SF. For years he has been in medical school at Dartmouth in NH and these poor little brothers have been too far away from each other to play. Stephen and Marshall truly are the best of friends.

Marshall flew in this weekend and we drove up to see him Sunday evening. The drive through the city was slow because unknown to us it was the day of the 41st Annual San Francisco Gay Pride Parade. By the look of the crowds it was pretty obvious there was some kind of Gay Rights rallying going on. Luckily the crowds died down once we past City Hall. (Mental note for the future: Do not drive into SF on the last Sunday of the month in June.)

We had a picnic lunch with Marshall in a park. Also unknown to us was the chilliness of SF summer evenings. We weren’t dressed for the chill in the air. (Second mental note: Always dress in layers in SF). We ended up going back to Marshall’s apartment.

Right away the girls made use of the plastic swords in the apartment. I guess every apartment with a bunch of guy students should come with plastic swords. The girls also made use of the open floor plan and ran around and around the place.

Then the boys decided they too had the urge to run around the apartment.

The drive back home through the city was also slow, but not because of the parade. This guy ran his car into a pole and tipped it over. Possibly he was distracted by all the crowds of parade goers.

We are very happy Marshall will be in town to play with us this summer.

Going to Town

Today we drove up to SF to visit my very cool cousin Michelle and her cute little kids. We walked up to Alamo Square Park and had a picnic. Notice the “Full House” row of houses in the background. They have become quite the tourist attraction. There were plenty of double-decker tour buses circling the park. It was a fun and relaxing outing.

Big Basin State Park

Over the weekend we drove south to Big Basin State Park. I was a bit concerned because I heard the drive was very windy and I get car sick very easily. My fears were correct. The drive up was so windy that although the redwood forest was beautiful, I don’t think I will ever plan to go there again. Mally and I were both so car sick. Coming back I volunteered to drive and that made all the difference for me. I wasn’t sick, but poor Mally still was.

The famous Banana Slug. I heard about this marvel of nature.  I heard that they were native to these forests. I really didn’t care to see one. They just sounded gross and slimy to me. But just as we left our car and ventured into the forest we saw three right away. We saw another one just a while later. The ones we saw were about 5 inches long. I read they can grow up to 9 inches. Gross.

Exploring the Exploratorium

Since we’ve been here we haven’t gone into SF. There are so many things to do close by our place I haven’t felt a need to drive into SF. But it would be totally lame to live so close to this amazing city and not see some of its sights. Today I braved the city and took the girls to the Exploratorium. All by myself, mind you! It’s pretty much a straight shot up highway 101 from our place. As we got closer to the big city and traffic got heavier I had to take some deep breaths and give myself a little pep talk that I can to this. I only made one wrong turn after we got off the freeway. I was so focused on watching for street names that I forgot my right from my left. I quickly turned around and got going in the correct direction. When I stopped at a light I wrote “L” and “R” on my hands. I know it sounds lame, but you do what you got to do sometimes. And it worked, I didn’t make that mistake again.

Before leaving UT I bought a membership (only $35) to the Museum of Natural History at the U. That membership gets us in for free at a bunch of museums around here. The Exploratorium is an AMAZING museum and I can’t pass up going for free. The museum is loaded with kid-friendly exhibits. We could spend days there. We’ll definitely go back. Next time with Stephen. I think he would really like all the science exhibits.

This sculpture is made out of toothpicks and it took the artist 35 years to complete. It’s called “Rolling Around the Bay” and it depicts different sights around the Bay. It’s interactive and you can put ping pong balls in it and they roll around. Hence the name “Rolling Around…” It was quite the sight to behold.

 

This was an interesting display about human perception. The toilet had a drinking fountain spigot attached and a caption that read, “The water in this drinking fountain is perfectly clean, and the toilet has never been used. So why do people often hesitate before taking a drink? Strong emotional associations with objects or people can make it difficult to act rationally around them.”

So true. After I read the caption Eva went to take a drink and I unconsciously blurted out “Eva don’t. That’s gross.”

Another plus of the museum is its location. It is located adjacent to an architectural beauty. I felt like I was back in Europe.

A nice guy offered to take our picture. Visual proof that I really did go too.