July 4th (okay, 3rd) fun

This afternoon we went to an annual picnic hosted by one of Kyle's cousins. Grace loved playing with the other kids and swimming in the pool for more than an hour. She is getting to be very brave in the water. I am glad we are starting swim lessons on Tuesday.

Flying like an eagle

For the picnic, I brought these:

If you need a quick dessert, I really recommend strawberries dipped in melted chocolate (I used white chocolate chips but chocolate pieces come in many colors now) and sugar (blue, in this case) for the festive "red, white, and blue" effect. The strawberries seemed to be a hit since they were all eaten when we left. Always a good sign....

It NEVER rains in late June

Oh really?

On Tuesday when we planned a day trip to Muir Woods and Sonoma wineries, the rain was non-stop. Our driver told us that in his lifetime (41 years) he had never seen rain at this time of the year. One of the things that makes the Sonoma region so good for growing grapes and wine production is that the climate is like the Mediterranean. The winters are temperate and wet but by the end of May it gets very dry with no rain until the fall. Apparently, this is very good for grape-growing.

Well, we broke the record as the rainfall this day was very unusual and it didn't stop for the 8 hours we were walking around. What was supposed to be a nice hike among the redwoods turned into a sloppy, cold walk. I should have planned better. I even had a rain poncho in my suitcase for Grace (from a rainy evening at Magic Kingdom in May) but did I think about bringing it with me? No. Because it never rains in June.

We tried to make the best of it, buying ponchos at the gift shop and playing a game of jumping and hopping over the puddles. Grace, to her credit, was amazing. She went along without complaining even though her feet and pants were getting soaking wet! Unfortunately, we really couldn't enjoy the giant coastal redwoods at Muir Woods and we made it only to the second of four bridges before turning back. New, dry socks warmed Grace up and we headed to our next stop - Sonoma.

The drive to Sonoma reminded me of the Amalfi coast with twisting and turning narrow roads that the driver handled with ease. Our first stop was a beautiful vineyard specializing in Italian wines. The Jaccuzzi winery is owned by the family who invented hot tub jets. Yes, THAT Jaccuzzi.The entire place was designed like an Italian villa and was just beautiful!

We were treated to a tasting of 5-6 wines in a private tasting room and then visited their main tasting area. Grace and I wandered into their olive oil room where she was able to sample a few flavored oils. But, we ended up buying popcorn flavored with their pistacchio olive oil. Yum!

The remainder of our day included lunch and more wine tasting in the town of Sonoma and a visit to Cline Cellars which is owned by the same family as Jaccuzzi. But, the two wineries were worlds apart - the style, the wines, and the people. Grace and I spent most of our time here outside on the front porch swing and feeding the fish in the pond.

Later that night, after a nap for all of us, we wandered the streets and finished the day with delicious ice cream from Ghirardelli. Mmmmm. I could use some of that right now!

Exploring the bay

East coast time worked in our favor on Monday as we all woke up early and beat the crowds to Pier 39 at Fisherman's Wharf. It seems San Fransisco isn't an early morning place. It was chilly and foggy most mornings we were there, so I can understand why the locals might want to avoid that weather and come out later when the sun is shining.

We started our day at the Aquarium of the Bay, a small aquarium devoted to study and conservation of local aquatic animals of San Francisco and neighboring waters. The aquarium is divided into three parts - Discover they Bay, Under the Bay, and Touch the Bay. Grace's interest grew as we progressed to the end. Personally, I thought the two tunnels that were meant to show the fish near the shore and in deeper waters were really cool.

But, Grace had the most fun where she could touch sharks, rays, starfish, and sea urchins.

We eventually had to coax Grace away to have lunch. It was really chilly and windy outside and she didn't want to leave the warm aquarium. We told her we would go see the sea lions at the end of Pier 39 but only a few were there. I guess they wanted to go somewhere warmer too!

Even with the wind, the pier was fun. Kyle was surprised Alcatraz was so close. It does look like you could swim it, if you happened to escape. But now we know about the cold water, strong currents, and sharks out there!

Kyle told Grace about the "jail for bad guys" and for the rest of the trip she kept talking about the place where the bad guys lived.

Our afternoon was filled with a visit to Union Square for some shopping and the Cars 2 movie. Look Nana, there is a flat iron building in SF, too!

I know it is "touristy" but we rode a double-decker bus to see the city. Miss Grace chose seats at the top of the bus all the way in the back. What windy fun we had, especially when the driver raced down some of those famous steep hills!

My favorite part was getting to see the Painted Ladies from the opening scenes of Full House. The view from Alamo Park was incredible. Now I need a tour of the inside of some of those old Victorian homes.

Back from the city on the bay

We returned tonight from 5 busy and fun days in San Francisco. Grace was an amazing little traveler. She was close to perfect on the 5 hour flights, did much more walking each day than I am sure she ever has in her life, waited in many lines without complaint, and even tolerated a rainy day hike and adult fun (wine tasting) in Sonoma. We did so much that the pictures and story will take several days to post.

Our Sunday morning arrival landed us right in the middle of San Francisco's gay pride celebration. Apparently, the parade closed down a lot of streets and, combined with gorgeous weather and a Giants baseball game, brought many more people to the city than on a "typical" Sunday. I should have known we were in trouble when we told the cab driver we wanted to go to our hotel in Fisherman's Wharf and he was very unhappy. We flew into the city from the airport but after about 30 minutes of bumper-to-bumper traffic along Embarcadero, we decided to get out and walk the last two miles along the water. It was a much better option than sitting in a hot cab watching everyone enjoy the sunshine. Our first view was of the Oakland-Bay bridge once we got all of our luggage onto the sidewalk. (I later learned that this bridge is 7 miles long - the Golden Gate is only 2 miles - and is mostly the same suspension construction as the Golden Gate. Makes you wonder why the Golden Gate is more famous...)

Not bad....even if we did look kind of silly wheeling two suitcases and pushing a stroller overloaded with carry-on items.

Grace was happy to get right into the hotel pool. In fact, she was in the pool at some point 4 out of the 5 days even during the chilly evenings. Luckily the pool was heated so as long as we wrapped her in towels when she got out, she was fine. On this trip she learned to do flips under the water. The kid is fearless!

Later that night we went to see the Cleveland Indians play the 2010 World Series Champs - the San Francisco Giants.Their stadium is right on the water and from one walkway in right field you can see people on small boats and kayaks waiting for a home run ball.

It was a sold out game so we only had "standing room" tickets. Grace couldn't understand why we weren't going to our seats. I think she was tired and wanted a place to sit down. Normally, she would be content wandering and exploring.

We kept her busy with ice cream, cotton candy, going down the Coca-Cola slide and hitting baseballs in a mini stadium for kids. She did a great job and was SO proud of herself!Forget soccer, maybe softball is going to be her game!

Party girls

Kellie planned and hosted a unique "art and tea" birthday party for Dawson's friends.

The girls used clay to make animal-shaped pinch pots and drank tea from real china that Kellie and her mom collected at second-hand stores all spring. What a cute idea!

These clay balls became...

...this cute doggie bowl for Kyle's desk at work.

Outside, Kellie had an area for chalk drawing so everyone could be outside while the studio was transformed for tea and lunch.

One of the artists painted the girls' hands and arms with designs. They didn't do face painting. Being an art studio they felt it was important for the kids to see the process of painting. They all seemed to love watching art created on their bodies!

Looking at the paint and glitter.

Mayna and Grace waiting their turn.
Mayna chose a beautiful dolphin!

Flowers for Grace

And flowers for the birthday girl!

Suitable for framing

We picked up Grace's art work from the studio today when we were there for Dawson's birthday party. This piece was done around Easter during a class about mixing colors. I think it is wonderful and I probably will frame it to hang in my office at work! I love how proud Grace looks showing it off.

Ce-le-bra-tion, come on!

I loaded some Kids Bop music (pop songs sung by kids for kids) onto Grace's Mp3 player last week. Since then she has been singing, ABC (Michael Jackson), Girls Just Want to have Fun (Cyndi Lauper) and Celebration in the back seat. It is funny to hear some of the music I grew up listening to come out of a 4-year old's mouth. And, it is really interesting to see which songs she doesn't like and just scrolls right past, like Stand By Me and Brown-Eyed Girl (one of MY favorites!). She also loves Electric Avenue and takes Kyle's iPhone to play it!

Dancing and singing "Celebration"

Here is Grace right before going to Kyle's nephew Elijah's 5th birthday party this evening. He is having a Star Wars theme, so we were thrilled to find a talking Jedi helmet as a gift. I know Grace can't wait until Elijah opens it so she can try it on.

Thanks for the cute top, Nana. Do you like it?

Too busy to blog

Friday was my "official" day of work for the summer and we have been busy enjoying our vacation time together. That is why I haven't been blogging. But, here is a photo from tonight to prove we are still around.Grace is already working her summer tan! 70 SPF and she STILL has tan lines!

Our next few days include school for Grace tomorrow, golf for Kyle and me, two birthday parties, gymnastics camp, and leaving for our trip to San Francisco. I definitely know how to pack a lot into a short amount of time. Maybe too much.....

Two funny bugs

The Little Gym started in 1976 with the philosophy of encouraging children to do their best in a non-competitive environment. The Little Gym says that their gymnastics routines as based on the USA Men's and Women's compulsory routines for levels 1-4 but children are not "scored" or "graded". Grace has been taking gymnastics lessons here for about 1 1/2 years. I don't expect her to become a competitive gymnast but we see her developing confidence, new physical skills, have having a great time each week! And it is much more fun since our friend, Dawson, joined!

Tonight was the "show" for her Funny Bugs class. After a couple of warm ups and group cooperation exercises, the kids divided into three groups and showed off their skills on the bars, beam, and floor. It was far from perfect, but fun to watch!

At the end, every child received a medal and posed for pictures. They were so proud.

Our "Funny Bugs" posing!

Giddy up, Cruiser!

I surprised Grace with horseback riding lessons this week. She gets so excited around horses so when I saw a Groupon for lessons at a farm near our house, I got it right away! I bought three 1-hour lessons, but the instructor suggested that we come for double the number of 30-minute lessons. So, we will go once a month from now until November!

When we got there, Grace said, "I like it here with the horses!" Uh, oh....we DO NOT WANT TO BUY A HORSE.....PLEASE remind me of this when she asks for one! Because you know I am going to have a hard time resisting this face.

Grace met Cruiser, watched as they put the saddle on him, and got right on. The instructor showed her how to put her feet in the stir-ups, how to use the reins, and how to say "giddy up" and "whoa" to control the horse.

Before long she was using the reins alone and moving Cruiser around the outside of a little cone. I was impressed at what Grace was able to do for her first lesson.

Whoa, Cruiser!
Look at her pulling on the reins!

Left turn....

I loved how quiet and patient she was. She stopped sometimes and gave Cruiser a pat saying, "Good job, Cruiser!" Grace seemed so comfortable and confident on such big animal. You can see it in her face.

When it was time to end the lesson, Grace led him into the stable and spent a few minutes brushing and patting him. We talked about how much work a horse is....it isn't just fun and games of riding. Someone has to clean the poop! She wasn't too sure about that.