Here we are

It is pretty great to surprise an almost 90 yr old man by coming to visit. It was a long flight and a seemingly even longer wait for our luggage but more than worth it to see the happy face of Krismon's grandfather. He said a few times how he just didn't even know that we were coming. The kids greeted him happily. Harry will hopefully warm up to him quickly. Despite our ability to speak easily to each other, you can just feel his happiness.
The kids are in heaven being with all their aunties, uncles and grand aunties and uncles. They are getting to eat candy and pretty much anything else their hearts could desire.
I love getting to catch up with his family as well. There are new babies, new married couples. Friends, we haven't seen in so long. And in a few days, a beach, sandy kids, giggles and snuggles.
Then next week, more surprises when more family arrives from the states and Canada.

Oh and do my kids know how to sweat or what? Picture will have to come later.

Sunday= fun day

The kids, their auntie Beverly and I went to see wicked today. It was awesome! And I do not use the word lightly. Max was a little frightened at points but Maggie was enthralled. They both loved that they knew some of the music already. Thank you glee cast radio on pandora! I loved seeing the songs brought to life thru the story. I highly recommend this musical. It suggests 8 and older but my kids did pretty darn well. Maggie was disappointed that she didn't get to meet the cast afterwards.

Then it was off to dinner and now we wait to board our plane...

SF Zoo

So the month of August is free for kids with good reason, not as many areas are open but we still managed to spend 4 hours wandering around as well as buying and eating lunch. We have decided from now on, we will not be doing this. I think we have spent so much more at these places for their lunches that we could have packed much better lunches with treats for the kids. Live and learn.

So as we drove, we took a different way to get to the zoo. Yes, we drove into a wall of white. Did I mention that I was driving? It has been a long time since I drove in a white out. It was nerve wracking and fun all at the same time. When we got ocean side it was gone, thankfully so we could gaze at the water before getting to the zoo. Our friends pulled in at the same time, talk about perfect timing. The kids enjoyed most of it. We loved the gorillas especially and then the children's zoo specifically. We could put Harry on the ground and let him walk around and touch the African goats. They were so gentle and he got to touch a tortoise and a chicken. It's fun to see his reactions as such a little guy. It was nice to catch up with my friend.

I think in all of this the only part that troubles me is Max's attitude. I feel like he is taking fore granted all these activities that we have gotten to do over the last two weeks.  I guess it is hard to convey to him how lucky he is do so many things that I didn't do as a kid especially in such a short stretch of time.

gazpacho

There is a massive abundance of tomatoes in my in laws garden. It's heaven really. My brother in law and sister in law planted a ton of variety. Yesterday, we had a bbq and I was planning on just grilling some other garden veges and making a salad. One of my sisters in law suggested gazpacho and I thought that sounded like a fabulous idea so I looked up a recipe but wanted to twist it as well so we grilled garlic and onion and finished it with grilled corn.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/gazpacho-recipe/index.html


I used that recipe but instead of white wine vinegar we used red and I should have used some fresh garlic as well. I also took the skin off the tomatoes and the cucumber. It was refreshing and overall the meal really highlighted their garden bounty and wonderful grilled chicken.  Now I wish that I had taken pictures of it all. I must confess that I don't often make too much for the family meals because my mother in law and my 4 sisters in law are such good cooks that it can be a little intimidating. But yesterday was fun and Maggie helped and therefore ate so much more of the soup and salad. It was great.

thrilled by heights

By thrilled, I mean kind of scared but yet exhilarated. We headed out to the county fair after getting Harry up from his nap. Mm yeah it was free to park, free to get in the fair but then THEY TAKE CREDIT CARDS for tickets. And to ride a ride was either 3 or 4 tickets. Yeah they didn't go on to many given those prices. Harry couldn't go on any rides today.
Now the Ferris Wheel was the one ride I was willing to go on. And it was amazing, thrilling and scary all at the same time. I feared for my iphone even though I wanted to take photos with it. Maggie loved it and Max wished he had gone with us when we went. Maggie has a bit of the dare devil in her which I want to keep exploring so that she can keep doing fun things. Max enjoyed the super slide and did that one twice. Then they got to have funnel cake for only the second time in their lives. Well the first in Harry's life. They all enjoyed it.

Then we checked out the animals. The pigs were lounging and napping. A young lady had her cow out, the professor. The kids all got to pet him and we took a family picture which I will hopefully get on here sometime. We saw goats being milked and sheep that had already been sheared. It was fun to see the animals and kind of made me a bit homesick for Iowa.

Afterwards, we ended with some fish tacos at Rubios and some frozen yogurt. Ah it was nice.

I took the kids up to see my old office. A few minutes in and then out and on our way. Harry was pooped after that. He cried all the way home and went down for his nap quickly. The kids are enjoying disney on vhs. lol First the rescuers and now the great mouse detective. Good times.

Now is the time

Ah yes. I am enjoying my iphone and my time here. With Krismon's parents back, I can take the kids places one  on one. Not that we have gone anyplace special at this point but I did enjoy just having some time and heck it is so much easier going places with just one. Maggie and I headed off to get a dog bed for Juno, some groceries and a barefoot coffee with some art. I posted the pictures on facebook. It's so much fun being with the kids individually. They are so much easier to get along with too.
Later I took Max to Diaso ( I probably spelled it all wrong) It is a great cheap japanese store. And then we got frozen yogurt. It is nice to just sit and chat and check in with both kids. Maggie has a wild imagination and Max just has an interesting take on the world.  Harry and I went for a short walk together. And I made him walk, we only got half a block but whatever. He seemed to enjoy looking around and experiencing something new and different.
Another morning, I grabbed Max and Harry (he refused to nap.) and we ran some more errands and stopped for another cup of latte art. The boys shared a blueberry muffin and Harry who has been feeling better decided to explore a little more. He went around and tried to engage but none of the adults would have anything to do with him. I think I am grateful for this because I believe he might have come scurrying back to me if someone actually smiled at him.

So free summer concerts, I just don't have the desire to go to the ones in Vegas. Yeah, I know. You are probably wondering why. Ok so you aren't. Sunnyvale has them and we didn't go the first Wednesday we were here so we went this last time leaving Harry at home with the Grands. No worries, he got to thoroughly enjoy a chocolate brownie cookie.  We had a great time at this street concert. Oh my.... It was salsa night. SALSA NIGHT! Max went wild, that latin beat moved his hips. We met Krismon's best friend and his family. The kids were excited to see L and I. I  was glad to see Connie, Aaron's wife. We have kind of grown up at the same time in marriage and now in kids too. Both L and Max wanted to dance with Maggie. It was a crack up. Everyone around was either amused or just really tolerant of their wilder moves. I think  Max might need some Salsa lessons. He really seemed to enjoy himself so much. It was just fun to watch him.

Today, we went to Happy Hollow in San Jose. It's a great park for smaller kids. They had rides and playgrounds and a zoo. We met Connie and her kids. It went well until the roller coaster. The line took forever and that upset the balance. After that, Harry kind of lost his cool. He rallied for quite a while but he was getting done in as were the other two. He actually got to ride on two rides, One was a little car ride that went around. He sat with Maggie and they enjoyed themselves a lot. And then at the end, we rode the carousel on the way out. He was a bit frightened but did seem to like it. We were tired and ready for home but ah was it a good time.

Tomorrow's agenda calls for a trip to the Santa Clara County Fair.

mmm and yeah I have really missed the past two weeks of Krismon being gone and really am looking forward to seeing him Saturday morning. That's all

Ah Bay Area

Thankfully Harry is doing better. I know his teeth are bugging him something fierce but his demeanor has gotten better. He is happy to have his Grandparents back from Canada and this brings me some relief. He is such a funny kid. He is a guys guy. He is much more willing to go to men then to women which is kind of shocking to me since the other two weren't like that as much. And he is a bit shyer then the other two. It's cool to really see him grow into a personality.

Saturday, we went up to San Francisco to see my sister in laws new place. We had awesome food in the mission and then went to the Exploritorium. I have never been and my sister in law used to work there years ago. Max was so overwhelmed that he went from thing to thing to thing never completely focussed. Maggie had a few things she really enjoyed. Harry was stuck in the stroller but I think he enjoyed what he could before nodding off for his afternoon nap. It is definitely some place that we could go on a fairly regular basis that the kids would enjoy more and more and more.
After the museum, it was ice cream for dinner. Ohhhhh sooooo good. Or I should say we reversed dinner and stared with dessert first.   Mitchells ice cream is sooo good so if you are visiting San Francisco you must go. The cantelope is terrific.

Sunday, my in laws got back and we went to a fresh dumpling place. I mean we could see them making them. How awesome is that?

California Fever

We drove here a week ago Saturday. We got in a good Sunday and Monday. Krismon flew back to Vegas to work. For the next 3 days, Harry had a fever which reduced our ability to do much. Poor kid was not happy and the only person he wanted was me. He still seems to be shy around his Aunts which is wearing me down something awful. And right at this moment, he is refusing to nap. Oy. I guess I will have to write another post later. bye