Evie's Clifford project

Evie's class project is taking clifford home along with a bag of books, clifford snacks and a juice box with clifford on it. The kids are supposed to write in a journal how they spent their day with clifford and enjoy the treats while they read clifford books. It was pretty priceless to pick Evie up and have her run from her room excited to show me that it was her turn with clifford.

Evie got to take Clifford to swim lessons after school.

And to the park after swim lessons

At home, Evie pulled up a chair for clifford as she ate her snacks. She actually took really good care of him and took him everywhere.

This was Evie's journal page. A few pictures and sentences from our afternoon and a picture drawn by Evie.

Evie's picture is of her throwing a Frisbee to clifford

This was taken in the morning as Evie was off to school. Good bye clifford, until next time.

My birthday evening

We had planned to go to the boardwalk on my birthday evening because just randomly the date was the same day as a whole bunch of great deals at the park. Usually rides are $3 a person and they were $1. They also had food and drink offers for a buck. Unfortunately, when Joel got home from work he wasn't feeling well. It was a good think the kids and I went with out him. He called us not long after we left and was getting sick...he thinks it was food poisoning. Could have been a touch of something also but it hit him hard. He didn't sleep much that night but woke up feeling better.

The kids are stoked - this was their first time with cotton candy. Of course they loved it.

Beautiful Evie and aggressive Ethan at the wheel...

It got late fast. The kids had a blast and as any parent knows, when your kids are happy...you are happy. I had a fantastic night too.

San Francisco - Friday

This is an old post that I'm just getting around to. Joel surprised me the Friday before my birthday by taking the day off work and to spend the day (and Saturday) in San Francisco. It was a wonderful weekend full of lots of new adventures as Joel planned ice skating and a Ferry ride for us.

I really admire Joel that he is always into trying something new. He really encourages the kids to try new things and almost always, they totally have a blast. I'll have to admit I thought the kids might be a bit young for ice skating and not be able to do it but I was wrong. With our help, they did it and they had a fantastic time. We all did.

Joel and Ethan off for their first go around.

Evie loved it immediately. She said she felt like princess Belle dancing with the beast in the Christmas movie we have.

Ethan focused, and running.

We took a small break for ice cleaning. The kids thought it was cool.

Cleaning the ice

Ethan's curls

My family, taking a break while they cleaned the ice.

Right out side the ice rink was a park and it's a good one. It's attached to the children's museum which we visited on our last trip to SF. The museum is okay. Surprisingly not as good as the one in Lincoln. It's the only one in SF too. Ethan is showing me he can do the fire pole all by himself. And as sketchy as it looks he actually did it. I held my breath but he often surprises me.

They have this super long slide that is so fast. Almost too fast to get a picture.

When I found Evie she was laying resting on the ground. She said she was tired but her tummy hurt. We had the stroller with us that she used as we walked back to the car. She wound up feeling better later but seemed pretty tired most of the morning.

Ethan found a buddy to slide with. The slides were so fast the kids shooting off the end and on to their bottoms.

Later in the afternoon we went to the apple store to get Joel's phone fixed. To our surprise they gave him a brand new phone for free. Love that deal. While Joel was at the apple store Evie and I walked around the block to the cheesecake factory. My favorite!! Evie stopped to smell the flowers on our way back.

Ethan fell asleep in the stroller holding his peach. We told him we were on our way to dinner and he could have it after. He wasn't about to let it go.

Ah, China Town. Our favorite area in SF for food. Almost anywhere you eat is good. Joel uses Yelp a lot for recommendations on where to dine. Most of the time they are right.

Ethan woke up and wanted to snuggle daddy. But he wasn't about to let go of his peach.

Cheers.

My baby boy. A bit grumpy. I wanted him to put his peach aside until after dinner but he didn't want it out of his sight. He did eat dinner and he nicely shared his peach with all of us.

Evie, coloring on the placemat. I guess I didn't take a picture but it was our whole family. Her drawings always make me smile.

Video: Ethan running on his ice skates. This is about how he skated too. It was so funny to watch. He was so fast, almost running on ice. No grace at all but full throttle, Ethan style.

Video: Ethan at the ice skating rink

San Francisco - Saturday

We stayed the night at a hotel near the airport. Hotels in the city are soooo expensive on the weekends and the airport is actually close enough to drive back and forth is worth the savings. The kids had a blast playing in the pool. The last time we stayed here the pool was heated. Today it was much colder, although the kids didn't seem to notice.

Look at me mom...

We wanted to have breakfast at this place that was well reviewed but the line was so long. Guess the food was worth it. We tried another place a few blocks away.

As we were driving from breakfast to the wharf we happened upon a parade. Just as we crossed the street the parade started and they closed the street we were on. Talk about timing. There was a parking spot right at the corner so Joel stopped and we watched the parade which we found out was celebrating the Philippines. It was fun to see a float promoting Boracay, the island we went to a few years ago when we were in Taiwan.

After the parade we went to the Wharf to catch our ferry to Sausalito for the afternoon. Joel let Evie buy our tickets.

We had an hour before our boat departed so we checked out the farmer's market right at the wharf.

I am a huge tomato fan. I wanted to eat these like apples.

All aboard the Ferry


As we pull away from the port

The kids had fun eating the raspberries from the farmer's market

As we pulled into Sausalito Evie was pointing out to Ethan everything she saw

We walked along the water's edge and visited little shops. This person was selling pictures of these rocks with the Bay Bridge behind them.

The kids are trying to catch crabs that were scurrying on the rocks. They didn't want to listen that they may get their fingers pinched poking them into a dark hole but luckily I didn't have to say "I told you so".

Yes, this guy is playing the guitar with his dog who happened to have sun glasses on. He was our entertainment while we waited to board the Ferry back to San Francisco.

The kids were entertained for sure. Evie even pulled the quarter out of her pocket that she found on the street and put it in his case.

All aboard...

Joel is doing happy feet for Ethan, rubbing his tired little feet. Also, hiding from the hot, afternoon sun.

We went by Alcatraz on our way to and from the port. It is a fascinating place.

Almost back to the port. The city is way more impressive than a picture can show.

On our way home we stopped at IKEA. The kids played in the kids area for about 45 minutes and Joel and I cruised around the store, kid free. It was fun. When we picked up the kids their was a clown doing tricks and face painting. The kids were sooooo excited to have their faces painted.
Buki showed Evie herself in the mirror and she was amazed. Evie was so happy.

Our beautiful Evie
Ethan wanted to be scary...

Ethan is scaring the people working at the play land.

I know Ethan's sweet little face is under there somewhere. Buki, the clown did a good job.

The kids and Buki the clown.