We had some time to kill after breakfast on Sunday - ran into Sharon, Joe and Samantha. Lucas enjoyed some window shopping. Olivia and I went to the park later that day - it had been a long while since we'd been there.
January 1st was a travel day for us, as we returned home from a great vacation in Michigan. Olivia made use of two of her favorite presents from Christmas and her birthday: her first suitcase and backpack. Lucky for us, she liked carrying/pulling them herself. Both Lucas and Olivia were able to get in a little more rest than on the trip out, so the cross-country trip didn't seem too bad.
It's always nice to be home.
I'll have to figure out how to capitalize on this inclination. We're not afraid of winter...
We decided to make the most of our annual passes to LegoLand by returning on Friday, November 27th. Olivia was still scrutinized at every height check, but a little growth since August removed any doubt that she passed the 34" minimum. Phew.
I have a feeling we'll be back again soon. We have to go back to find Lucas' shoe.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Grace and I flexed our pumpkin carving skills. The sad thing is, no one ever comes by our place and we weren't home on Halloween, so we didn't even think to put them out front. Boo.
On Saturday, October 24th, we braved the drive to Half Moon Bay and headed to Lemos Farm for some Halloween fun. We were supposed to leave early to meet the Patches, but ended up about 2 hours behind. Traffic was backed up for a while and when we got to the farm, the CHP was directing traffic and the lot was full. We had to park a bit down the road, which was fine because we needed some pumpkins, too.
It was crazy busy there, but Olivia had fun on the choo-choo and feeding the goats. After standing in line for the pony ride, she balked at the last second and that was that. We didn't have too much trouble getting home, but traffic westbound on the 92 was bumper to bumper all the way to the 280. Ouch.
Back on June 26th, I posted some pictures real-time of our golf, dinner and overnight in HMB. Again, the iPhone photos didn't do the scenery justice. Grace had a firm event in Golden Gate Park that morning and I went to the office. We headed down to HMB on Highway 1 shortly after lunch and arrived at the Ritz-Carlton just in time to check-in, grab a burger, and make our afternoon tee-time. It was a bit foggy and cool, but it was still awesome to be outside. Early in the round, Grace commented that her feet must have grown during pregnancy because her shoes hurt. Then, later, she said she had bit it hard in a potato sack race in the morning (team, team, team). It didn't get better.
After the round, we relaxed for a bit and enjoyed a nice dinner at Navio, which was much better than I remember it being before. The next morning, it was quite foggy. Grace's toe was sufficiently damaged that she opted out of our unlimited golf package and decided to sleep in and hit the spa instead. I played with a nice couple who were also local and enjoying a night away. It turned out to be a beautiful day. We have played the Old Course several times, but this was my first time playing the Ocean Course, which was also beautiful and challenging.
After the 17th hole, I headed to the 18th tee in the cart, briefly merging onto a pedestrian walkway with access to the beach. I heard someone call my name and it turned out to be Matt Idema, who brought the whole family to the beach. What are the odds that we'd cross paths in that moment? Grace was still at the spa when I finished, so I enjoyed a sandwich outside on the patio next to the 18th hole of the Old Course.
Upon leaving, there was a slight mix-up, as the head bellman came to us and confessed that they believed they had not only misplaced our bags, but likely had put them into the wrong car and were waiting to hear from the other travelers that they had found them. I was too relaxed to care much. We checked the luggage room just in case, and sure enough, all the bags were in there (tagged "Grace Park," causing the confusion).
Thanks again to Mom and Dad for not only visiting us for a couple weeks, but for allowing us to get away.
Those iPhone photos are really terrible. These are with my new Leica, which I'm still trying to figure out.
Despite living in San Francisco and the Bay Area since 2000, I had never stepped foot on the Golden Gate Bridge or the Marin Headlands. We started the morning at the beach at Crissy Field. We ran into Kelly and Eric and met their adorable kids. Of course when it was time to leave, Olivia didn't want to. We had lunch at Barney's Burgers (food 5, service 0) before heading to the Golden Gate Bridge. I had every intention of walking all the way across, but Lucas got hungry, so we only made it about 1/3 of the way. As we set out, every bridge police car scrambled out of the lot and onto the bridge with sirens blaring. Traffic was stopped in both directions for a bit. I wasn't sure if it was an accident or worse if someone had jumped off. Luckily it was a bike accident on the other side and it appeared that the person was okay. After a drive over to Seacliff, we headed over the bridge and drove up to the end of the Marin Headlands. Olivia and I explored some tunnels and came out on the other side to some wonderful views of the Pacific Ocean while Grace fed Lucas. We drove through Sausalito and then headed home. It was a stunningly beautiful day - perfect for our SF adventure.
You know the sad ending to this story...
On Saturday, August 26th, Grace and I moved to a new place. After looking around a bit and even considering a move back to the city, we decided that we love Burlingame. Because we wanted to remain walking distance to downtown, we ended up finding a place just 3 blocks away on the other side of Burlingame Avenue. However, the distance traveled was not a measure of the effort - what a colossal pain in the ass! After a couple of weeks of packing (mostly Grace), moving day arrived. I'd say we were about 90% packed by the time the movers showed up, but it's always that last 10% that kills you. It's a good thing we did most of the packing, because they only sent three guys. I don't know how we amassed so much crap into our two bedroom apartment, but even after discarding about 10% and giving away about 10%, all of our stuff did not quite fit on their huge truck - it was close though, as they were able to strap the overflow to the back of the truck with the liftgate raised.
I've blocked most of it out by now, but the most memorable part was watching them fail at getting our monster couch out the front door. I didn't want to tell them how to do their job, so I stayed out of it, but if me and Warren were able to get it in, the three of them should have been able to get it out. Their solution was to send it over our balcony (2 stories up!). I was certain one or more of them would be maimed or killed in the process, especially when the guy in charge was barking instructions at the other guy who had apparently never attempted this, but who also had one end of a large strap tied around him as the other end was tied around the monster sofa-sleeper while it teetered over the edge of the railing. I could hardly watch. In the end, only the landscaping harmed (for which we were promptly billed by our diligent HOA).
We're so glad we moved, but at the same time, we never want to move again.
Grace and I are expecting our first baby around the first of the year. We're very excited and are already thankful for the support of our family and friends. All we can hope for right now is a healthy baby and mom ... so far so good. Here are some pictures and video (high | low) from the first ultrasound.
On Sunday, April 9th, Grace and I celebrated one year of marriage together. All of Grace's travel paid off with a great suite at the W in Westwood. I loved that you could order dog food from room service. After lunch together, we went over to Grace's parents' Westwood house, where they had kept our wedding cake in their freezer. It had been thawing over the weekend. Though it seemed intact, including the flowers, I deemed it inedible. We had such a good time at our wedding that it still seems like yesterday. This year flew by, but we're always thankful to have each other.
Grace and I quietly celebrated our birthdays together. Grace's parents gave us a generous gift, as always. My parents treated us to dinner at Jardiniere in the city. Thanks to all of them for thinking of us. Thanks also to Francis and Jon, who sent us Reuben sandwiches from Zingerman's in Ann Arbor! It was not only a surprise, but also a great treat.
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