Less than a day in San Francisco

Last week I had a very quick trip up to see Brenda and the kiddos (bringing Brenda a new car! You have to say this like a Gameshow host,  "A NEEWWW  CARRR!!!" )   Her old Passat finally gave up the ghost.  She's excited to finally have something trustworthy.


Wednesday night I arrived in Pleasanton just in time to grill by the pool, and meet several of their friends. And Jonah and Jemma kept calling from the pool, "Nana, WATCH!"  Just like they did here.... some things never change.


Thursday morning I got to see the kiddos' school as we dropped them off.  Then we headed over to SF where Brenda had to be in a surgery at St Mary's Hospital.



But first we HAD to see the Painted Ladies!  Everyone stands in the park across the street to take photos and selfies of these wonderful old houses.  Just about everyone sees them and says,  "Full House!"

 Next we went to eat at a great little corner lunch place.   I then dropped Brenda at the hospital and parked and walked across the street to Golden Gate Park. I really couldn't explore too far, I was afraid I'd get lost and not get back out in time to pick her up when she was done.






But I did get to see some very pretty parts, even in a short amount of time.   A pre-school was having a very literal field-trip in the Fuchsia Dell. Sure enough, there are many pretty fuchsia growing there... and a huge berry patch, too.  I could have picked and eaten plenty, but left them for the locals (maybe homeless people know of them and come to get their Vitamin C?) 

Exploring a tiny bit further into the park (I really only stayed at the very eastern end,) I suddenly came upon the Conservatory of Flowers!  SO pretty, so many flowers!  I didn't go into the white glass building but just snapped a ton of pics outside.... with just my phone!

I made it back to the Hospital just as Brenda was coming out, and we then drove down to Daly City to pick up something for work. We could see the fog coming in, silently creeping over the trees and trying to spill into the streets, but it was just too warm for it to get very far that time of day. I tried taking pictures, but vapor just doesn't really show well.

I flew back that afternoon via Allegiant, I was there less than 24 hours! But we somehow packed a lot in and it was fun. Next time I'll stay longer.

And one more thing. If you've ever wondered where the borax you buy comes from, this is a photo of it, a deep mine in Boron, California.  I had a window seat and used the map on my phone to track where we were.  This hole in the ground is BIG!
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Mystery Solved!

 

 

 

So Jonah has a pal here in the house, Spiderman.  They are seen often together, Spidey is an accommodating friend, amenable to all sorts of adventures.  

But I found him one morning on the floor , in a surprising spot... out in the hallway.   AND in an interesting pose. Hmmmm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 It made us wonder just what this young superhero does while we are asleep or out of the house.  We didn't just fall off the turnip truck over here, we've watched all the Disney movies and know full well that all these dolls and action figures have personal lives outside of entertaining the resident youngsters.

 

 

 

 

 

So with this in mind, we rigged a hidden camera at various times and places around the house, and voila'!  We caught the web slinger in action - and NOT practicing flying around the room, but rather DANCING!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  I bet you didn't know he was a dancer, they don't show that in the movies.  But Jonah and I have our proof now.

It's clear he's had a lot of practice

 

 

 

 But then it made us curious as to what motivated all this sudden activity.   

And then I found THIS and realized who Spidey was showing off for.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sharpie tie-dye

Day 19  Some fun with some Sharpies!

Ever since I saw this idea, I knew it would be so clever to do with the kiddos.  I picked up a pack of white shirts from K-Mart, and an 8 pack of Sharpie-Wannabees at the dollar store (8 of them for $1  - someone reported they spread better than genuine Sharpies... and they were GREAT!)

So with Kaleb, Jemma and McKenzie, we were ready to create!   You stretch whatever portion of your shirt you want to decorate over a plastic cup and secure with a rubber band.  Or just put a piece of cardboard inside the shirt.  You then draw on the taut fabric with a permanent marker - dots, shapes... even an initial.   Then you drop alcohol in the center - one lady said 20 drops or so, but I added more after a second or two, working further out.  Then we watched as it slowly spread, even over the lip of the cup. Lots of ink and lots of alcohol meant some really colorful designs.  But really, you can't go wrong. (we practiced a little first on a cotton dish towel.)

Within a few minutes it was dry enough to take out the cups.   We threw the shirts into the dryer to really set the ink, and so they shouldn't run when they are washed. 

 Jemma's LARGE initials came out, but her G and D were only about an inch high, and became unreadable blobs. 
Just google Sharpies TieDye and you'll see page after page of how others have done this, it's all very inspiring!

What's the Story, Morning Glory?

Okay, so my husband used to say, if he came upon a really dusty shelf - which RARELY happened in our house (ha ha ha , don't we wish,)  he would say, "You could grow a garden in here!"  

 

  Well, I've managed to keep weird things from growing on bookshelves and other odd places over the years, and most of the time it's a real challenge to get many things to grow, especially in the summer here in AZ. I always love when there's a surprise, a volunteer, a random plant (like a squash plant I recently found growing in our garden behind some onions.) 

 

   But this one takes the cake. I was up early and went to wash my hands, but hadn't turned on the bathroom light. In the dimness I could see something in the sink and sort of swept my palm over it as I turned on the water - and THIS was pulled up out of the drain! 

That, my friends, is a Morning Glory trying to find some daylight.  It is not my great knowledge or flowers that told me what it was, but rather the fact that  a friend had given me some seeds and I remembered dropping one down the drain

 

Which brings us to the next topic, the reason a seed could even take root in a bathroom sink.  Well, this sink was quite clogged, and I'd been wanting to clean it out. I knew it was all my hair plugging it up . . . that's been a given in this house forever, with all the girls.  I'd cleaned out the bathtub drain more times than I care to remember, a really yucky job I call pulling up the rat. It usually required a pair of needle-nose pliers and a strong stomach.

  

But the sink was different, I couldn't get the plug up , it wouldn't just pop out.  I was stymied.

SO, off to the internet I ran, and easily found a wonderful tutorial  (And doesn't it always crack you up how even the most random search you start to type into the bar, the internet offers up the exact same search? Someone else had already gone looking!  I bet you could type in Angelina Jolie nose hairs and Google or Yahoo would complete the phrase - somebody else had already been curious before you!)

 

But I digress -  here's the youtube link if you ever feel the need to unclog your bathroom sink.

 

And here is the treasure I found down in my bathroom sink's 'garden'.   Lovely little rat, all black and slimy.  That is the first of two such clogs I fished out with a straightened hanger. (and don't you just love the myriad ways wire coat hangers have served us?  I bet that's a blog entry all on its own.)

 

 

 

Leaping Lizards!

Day 5      Whenever there are stairs and children, there has to be jumping. Nana has an extra added ingredient, the Mini Trampoline, like those used by gymnasts and acrobats the world over.  The kiddos have made great games with it over the years, but this is a particular favorite.  I don't think it has a name... but it should.  
   
 It's pretty simple - one just jumps onto the trampoline off one of the steps - most likely the highest one you have the nerve to leap from.

 Catching big air is a particular goal... this is Jonah being goofy (I really wish you could see the slo-mo of him, but it's on Aub's camera.)

Jamie can really fly.  

Jemma is having fun - and lest you think their moms would be horrified that
they're all leaping dangerously over the tile... Well you can see they're chatting
in the backround, nonplussed over it all

Addie prefers watching the action from the landing zone...
a pile of couch cushions and blankets.

Birthday Cake for Breakfast

Day 3  The Cousins sleep over! 

 I awoke this morning remembering we have a passel of children here, and snuck into Courtney's (Jonah's) room to close the blinds and shut the door so she'd sleep just a little longer. These events that rob her of sleep just leave her fried.  When I came down at 6:15 there were already 3 kiddos on the couch watching some cartoon.  They navigate Netflix way better than their Nana. 

 

Adds slept the longest - I think she was the last one to fall asleep.  She had the iPad on her bed with her and was watching a Barbie movie.  (I did not help her open her show on Brenda's iPad, I don't own one and still stumble when trying to use Jim's. But she is a master!)  Being nearly 3, she was unsure about this whole sleepover thing, but too timid to actually explain what she needed to feel comfortable and sleep. It turns out it was a nightlight she was missing  - the pale green one in the socket wasn't sufficient illumination. 

     At 7:30 Adds was at the top of the stairs with a cheery greeting, "I woked up!!"  Her sisters and cousins were thrilled. 

 

    Breakfast was scrambled eggs and leftover birthday cake and fruit.  See how I snuck that cake in there in between the healthy stuff, so you might not catch that the kiddos had CAKE for breakfast?  To me it was a square donut, or tall pancakes - it's just a different version of starch and sugar.  Were I to sprinkle cinnamon and pecans on it and tell you it's a coffee cake, it'd totally be legit! Nana's get to push the envelope like that.

 

Then there was the obligatory blanket fort.  This time it was moved to the dining room where the chairs already reside AND there's a great oaken 'roof' for stabilization.  Future engineers these children may be. (And Reeder and I totally remember making these when we were kids. Do you suppose it's some instinctive invention passed down through the generations?)

 

 

 

 

Oh, but before that, before the sun could fully be up and fry everyone to a crisp, we had swimming.  Little Ads is sporting her UV Zip up suit...  sort of like long johns for the pool.  But she's not as interested in swimming as the big kids, so I gave her the hose and let her water the vegetable garden.  It seems I snapped this photo just about time she realized there were other things (or people) she could squirt with the hose.

 

Yep, three-yr-olds are quick to figure out how to maximize the FUN potential in any setting.

Double Birthday

                 June 20th

Day 2  -  Jemma is settling in... she is nesting.  Her clothes are all in her dresser and she's pulled toys and the like out of her suitcase and put them up on the shelves.  She LOVES a beaded lamp I got from Donna, she loves finally having her own room.  In fact, both she and Jonah are really happy to be back in our house, it's so much bigger than their little apartment back in Pleasanton CA.
    So I went upstairs and saw how Jemma had made a little welcome mat out of a throw rug we'd had downstairs.  Her new shoes are set tidily outside her door - she's staked her territory.
   
    Their Jones cousins all came over so we could celebrate two birthdays.  Brenda Suzanne was born 38 years ago today, and then 12 years ago Jamie came into the world - our first grandchild!!  So she and Brenda share the same middle name.
Today there was much swimming, grilling, ice cream and cake - so many candles, it was just too bright for the camera.
And James (as we like to call her,) is now TWELVE, with braces, and she just got back from girls' camp...  It's mind boggling!
    And now a cousins sleepover, 8 of them upstairs in various beds and couches.  They'll be getting up plenty early, they hate burning daylight when they have a chance to all play together!