Mixed in among the touring, were some lovely little moments among cousins, this one a particular favorite:
Arjen had been getting a little too rowdy for the older cousins (about to turn 7 and 9). So Aden grabbed a book and carved out a little quiet space for himself on the couch. Arjen thought this looked like a good idea, so he proclaims "I'm going upstairs to get a book too!" Okay, I think, fully expecting that he'll come back down with one of his books. I absolutely was not expecting to see Hunger Games. Yes, Hunger Games. We had put a few homeless books, including a couple novels, on an empty shelf in his room. He apparently was well aware of this, and decided that the book he needed was one that looked just like Aden's. The best part, is that he proceeded to sit down and actually look at the darn thing like he was reading it. The proof is in the pictures:
Day 2 of Devon's-wild-and-crazy-San-Francisco-adventure-tour:
We set out to do Fisherman's Wharf, a Cable Car ride, and Chinatown. We mostly, sorta got that all in. The Cable Car ended up taking way more time than we expected, between waiting in line to get on, then waiting for one empty enough for our crew to hop on for the return trip. But we got an Alcatraz sighting, lunch at the wharf, a ride on the Cable Car, a walk through Chinatown, and lucky Gus got to be stuffed into a kid-pack the whole day. For the most part, he tolerated it quite well.
Shameless selfie with the Rock
Not sure Gus knew what to make of the Cable Car. Is it a train? A bus?
Arjen decided a nap in the mini umbrella stroller sounded like a good idea. He'd make another trip to Chinatown, another time to see the chicken feet and dried sea cucumbers in all the store windows.
In going through these photos, I'm realizing I didn't take many of the more interesting, tourist-y shots. Makes for a lot of narrative, and not so many pictures of our adventures!
I swear that book was like his security blanket. He made me carry it around in my purse the whole day!
My tired tourists
For being 5 years apart in age, Gus and Adalin sure did have fun playing together!
March Madness at the Anderson household culminated in quite possibly the most fun couple of weeks we've had since moving into our new house. Arden and Tracy flew out with their kids, which was the first trip Aden likely remembers (he was 2 at our wedding), and the first trip for Adalin. It's always fun to have Arden and Tracy here, but to also have the kids was just plain special. Our kids loved it, and I loved getting to play tour guide and try to show them how fabulous California can be! (Well, the bay area at least, since we stayed very local).
Adalin set up shop in the kid's kitchen. That little place has never looked so clean and organized!
Day one of Devon's-wild-and-crazy-San-Francisco-adventure-tour:
We started out for the Golden Gate Bridge. First stop was at the Marin Headlands to show the kids the landmark they would next then walk across. The weather could not have been more perfect for us. It was warm, sunny, with just a slight breeze (which Arden was disappointed in, since he would have loved to get a chance to windsurf at Crissy Field).
Call me biased, but this one is kinda my fave :)
Next up, the boys and I dropped the WI crew off on the north end of the bridge, so they could walk across, then after parking on the south side, we set out to meet them in the middle. When I lived in SF I made many a trip across the bridge and back, but never did I get to do it on such a beautiful day, and I definitely never saw dolphins, otters, and sea lions from the bridge! Of course I didn't get any pics, but it was pretty cool to see!
Had I been a better photographer, I would have panned a little further right to get more of the SF skyline in the background. The kids were enjoying playing with this model of the bridge.
After our bridge tour, we set off across town, for the driving tour portion of our day, via crazy Lombard street, by Coit tower, through North Beach, past the Transamerica building, over by AT&T park (where the Giants play) for lunch at a family fave: Primo Patio. Thankfully, the 3 youngest kids got some nap time in, so we took our lunch to go and killed a little more time driving back across town again, towards Golden Gate Park. There, we unleashed the beasts at one of the cooler playgrounds I know of, Koret Playground. Since we adults were outnumbered 4 to 3, the phone stayed in the pocket, and I didn't get many pictures. I did manage to get this one video though, of Arjen and Adalin on the cement slide. Pretty sure they would've stayed there all night had we let them.
We finally convinced the kids to take one last ride on the slide, but this was made easier by the carousel guy opening the carousel (or zoo, as Gus was calling it) back up.
Arjen was thrilled to get to ride the Zebra!
The kids were troopers on this wild and crazy day. Not that it was really wild, or crazy, but taking 4 kids all under the age of 9, touring around San Francisco ALL DAY, could have wound up more wild or crazy than it did.
Since we were so close to the beach, we of course had to throw in a Sunset on the Pacific, and a popsicle from the ice cream truck that of course just happened to be at Ocean Beach.
What, you think I'd get a picture of any of the kids here? Yeah right. They were too busy getting sandy and wet!
By sunset, Andrew was waiting to meet us after work, at our fave sushi joint. It was pretty busy, so in order to not make the kids (or ourselves) wait any longer, we had to split up. Tracy and I got to sit at the counter, with Gus and Adalin, who did an incredible job eating plenty of sushi!
Among all the houseguests we had this past month, did I mention I started working again, and the boys started preschool? It created quite a change around here, but a good one. Here's their first day of school pic…tures. Getting one shot of the two of them both smiling is near impossible these days (and not because they were going to school, they were really excited that first day!):
That first day was glorious, then every day since has been a test of my super mom powers to trust that the tears will stop shortly after I'm gone. It only took a month, but the boys are no longer crying when I say it's time for me to go. In fact, Gus has started wandering off to find his favorite puzzle or toy before I've even said goodbye. Arjen still keeps it a little closer, but dry eyed at least. And after failing to do so one day, he makes sure that every morning, we sing "our" song, which is really a song my mom created back in the days of Keane Kids. It's a great little song we fondly know as "See you later Alligator". So we sing, we smile, we hug, and then on our way home at the end of the day, I get to hear "I like preschool mom!" or "I had so much fun at preschool!", while Gus will still start back up with "no preschool mama!". These kids I tell ya. They keep me on my toes.
The Germans are here! Okay, now is when I really start to feel old. When I was a sophomore in high school, my aunt and uncle graciously took me under their travel-savvy wings, and gave me an experience I'd never forget, traveling around Germany and Austria. We were visiting Martina and Manfred, their son Sascha, and his Grandma Margot. Martina and Manfred had been to the states a year or two prior, as part of an exchange program, and landed in the home of my aunt and uncle as their host family. In the olden days, before we had email and the internet, it was suggested that their son Sascha and I become Pen-Pals. So we did. And I then got invited along on that trip my sophomore year. Fast forward 20 years (see, feeling old!), and a few more trips/visits between Germany and the US, and we are all still friends, (Andrew and I even attended their wedding in Vegas 8 years ago!) and Sascha, his wife Katrin, and their 6 year old son, Lennert, were here visiting us. Let me just try to explain what a trip that was, figuratively speaking…to see my boys getting along so fabulously, with this boy who doesn't even speak their language (and vice versa!). But laughter, toys, bikes, balls (is it soccer or football?), cartoons, and yes, even wrestling, are clearly universal in the language of children. And, incase you're wondering, parenting is also a universal language! I can only hope that this friendship continues, and that our boys will grow up understanding how amazing this all really is.
We first met up with "the Germans" at GGma's house in Albany. We went up the street for lunch (which is the best Chinese food I've had anywhere in the bay area! incase you're wondering…)
Lunch at the Chinese Restaurant up the street from GGma Clarice's house
Arjen and Lennert…the adventures begin (mind you, these boys had just met only an hour or so prior!)
After lunch, we made our way further East, landing at Larkey Park in Walnut Creek. I had grand visions of taking our friends to the Little Farm at Tilden Park, but of course I discovered the night before (phew!) that they're closed for construction. So Plan B: check out the Lindsay Wildlife Museum at Larkey Park Walnut Creek, but then Plan C happened, because young children need to run, and run, and run, and get the wiggles out, so we ended up just spending the afternoon at the park. Which was fabulous. The weather was gorgeous, Lennert got to kick his football around, and everyone was happy. Particularly us moms. :)
Bubbles! (oh yeah, add bubbles to the universal children's language)
Arjen and Lennert…football! Soccer!
And then, we headed back to our house for good ol' American staples: Push-pops and Pizza
At least "cheese" in english translates to get the appropriate response in German. Not sure what language Arjen was speaking that day (perhaps he was speaking popsicle)
While Lennert and Arjen were busy chasing each other around the yard, Gus was content to sit and enjoy his push-pop at the table
The backyard bike course
"Press Here" - to any mom's of young kids reading this…if you don't have this book yet, get it! So fun.
Beer, books, and friends. What more could you ask for?!
An attempt to calm the kids down with cartoons…worked briefly at least!
So fun just watching and observing the various interactions among these three
The next day, we traveled to Fairfield, where "the Germans" were staying with my Uncle Kevin and Aunt Maggie. Before dinner, we took the older boys to a nearby park to burn off some energy, playing soccer of course! It was perfect, because Arjen had specifically worn his soccer outfit, so he could play soccer with Lennert.
Goal!!!
It took a few times repeating, but Arjen finally caught on to the fact that we only use our feet in soccer.
More Bubbles!
Again, neither of my kids care to pose for the camera, but the good news is that the three of them did famously well at the kids table!
As promised, wrestling; universal language
And I was glad to see someone not afraid of giving Arjen a dose of his own medicine. And Gus was more than happy to get to remain standing.
The "babysitter" was at Kevin and Maggie's house too.
These kids were troopers for a weekend full of fun, staying up late and missing naps, but it was so worth it to get those couple of days with our German friends! Thank you Sascha, Katrin, and Lennert for coming to visit us!
Part 1: Grandma and Grandpa flew out from Wisconsin for a visit and to help celebrate Gus's birthday. Some photo proof of the fun we had (despite being mostly stuck indoors during the only week full of rain that we've had)!
Driving cars with Grandma Cherie (see the road that borders the rug?)
We drove into the city one day to meet Andrew for lunch. The boys were more than happy to get to wear their rain coats and boots for a bit of puddle jumping.
