Drinking it in

There comes a time as a parent that you realize although you can control the experiences you set before your child, you cannot control their reaction to it. Something that you love or loved as a child may not be at all interesting to your child. And as my poor physicist father can attest, after raising three scientifically ambivalent children, your kids are not little yous.

They are their own people, drawing off your collective genetics and taking them in a different direction, sometimes farther, than you ever thought possible.

But ever so often something special to you clicks with them too and its awesome.

On our New York work-vacation (my work and their vacation), the very-much-missed Mimi and I took the girls to see their first Shakespeare play. At four and six this is quite a stretch, the language is challenging, but the circus-themed performance of Comedy of Errors had many visuals to enjoy - a lady with a pink beard and mermaid in a wheelchair - and Athena especially, drank it all in and loved every minute of it.

It was delicious to watch.

Of course it helps that the Festival is held outside on one of the most beautiful pieces of property ever to exist and picnicking beforehand is a must.

Zoe got a little bit antsy towards the second half of the 2nd Act and after a loud stage whisper to Mimi "When is it going to be over?" was quickly whisked away to the concession stand to help close out the cash registers and other fun activities.

Athena stayed until the last curtain call, absolutely riveted.

She is now completely in love with Lucky Gretzinger who played Antipholus in Comedy of Errors and romanced the mermaid right out of her wheelchair.

Hmm, maybe she is a little me.

Santa Cruzin'

It's settled. This is now our family tradition for my birthday celebration...an annual trip to Santa Cruz, an awesome little surf village in Northern California, which just so happens to be an easy drive from San Francisco (where some of our favorite people live), and boast funky restaurants, miles of seashore and a huge boardwalk with rides and treats and endless fun.

We're chalking this trip up to a recon visit and will add to it next year. It was so much fun, but not nearly long enough and frankly our hotel could have been more appealing. Next year, we'll do just a little bit better and even better the following. Etching out what will hopefully become many more family memories.

We arrived about midday on Saturday and went directly to the boardwalk, meeting Alaine, Ian, Delphine, Sophie there and even our darling Unca Stu zipcar'd down for a quick visit.

It took about three and a half seconds for the little girls to get reacquainted, all were giddy with excitement almost immediately.

But even with our good friends, Zoe did not forget her Unca Stu. She clung to him like velcro, and rode every ride she could with him.

The Dude was left out of alot of the fun - but there were a couple of little guy rides he enjoyed.

Mostly he just waited by the sidelines with me or Chris.

It was an excellent evening of junk food and whirling, flying rides that made me ill. Can someone please tell me how a little girl who gets car sick every time we go over the mountains can cry "Again again!" after the most vomit-inducing spins and stomach-churning dips and rises? Because I just don't get it.

The next day - my birthday - started with an excellent Birthday Brunch and too many Mimosas. So many that when left unattended for a minute, Alaine and I slipped into an awesome little vintage-inspired dress shop next door to the restaurant. While the husbands and kids waited impatiently outside, we tried on dress after dress and both left with a real find. There are a couple of weddings coming up, you know!

After that, the rest of the day was spent at the beach.

It was 75 degrees and beautifully sunny.


But the water was way too chilly to do anything but chase waves.

and take pictures,

and dig in the sand,

and take a few more pictures...



The kids played in the sand until almost sunset, while the grown ups enjoyed some snacks and margaritas and Coronas at a nearby Mexican cafe - the end to a lovely birthday!

Hot Summer Trip

We began our holiday weekend by heading directly into the heat. Palm Springs was just slightly cooler than the surface of the sun at 115 degrees, seriously, we found the one place on earth hotter than Bakersfield to go on vacation. But Baba and Nana had a cool, salt water pool and a well air conditioned house and lots of cold beverages.

The little ones immediately dove right into the pool - you really don't feel the 100+ degree heat when up to your neck in cool water. They did not come out until they were completely pruney and demanding hot dogs.

The next day was dubbed the "Greatest Day Ever" by Athena, after a little breakfast we "discovered" the Children's Discovery Museum of Rancho Mirage and fell in love with the place.

They had an awesome art station and science activities, a bungey chord maze and the Dude could not be torn away from the ping pong ball pipes.

Zoe found the play Vet Clinic and was completely transported to an alternate reality where she was Dr. Zoe who gave solemn diagnosis to stuffed ferrets of vague illnesses like "acuture" and pronounced they needed days in the hospital to recover.

Meanwhile the Dude and his Dad found a real live CHiPS motorcycle.
(duhn duhn da na...)

When Athena found the dress up area, well, we knew we were going to be here awhile.

Jack and Baba settled down to look at an "encyclopedia" (remember those?)

Zoe made an adorable Fireman

And Baba introduced Jack to a funny thing called a "typewriter"

(I think this museum made Baba feel old).

My girls take dress up seriously but eventually we were able to drag them out with promises of PF Changs (Athena's favorite restaurant) and Cars II followed by a wee little trip to Ben and Jerry's.

After a quick rest, we regathered the troops for dinner to celebrate Nana's birthday. She does not like birthdays, she's had enough of them she says, but we did manage to lure her out to her favorite restaurant as long as we promised not to make the waiters sing.

The restaurant was terribly popular and had a minimum 30 minute wait, so we opted for the terrace to be seated right away. It was still around 100 at 8 o'clock at night, but they had fans and misters so we were fine. Immediately following dinner, we were paid back with a fantastic fireworks display at the neighboring golf course.

We had the perfect view right from our table, it was truly and unexpected and magnificent end to the evening.

The next day, we got up bright and early (Jack was up brighter and earlier than the rest of us) and packed up to head to Aunt Barb and Uncle Ron's traditional July Fourth BBQ.

There was football...

and corn toss...

and basketball...

and a whole lot of cousins and aunts and uncles.
There is only one person who can make Chris look short,
his cousin Matt, aka "the Big Guy."

And, sparklers, of course. I love this picture. These are our girls in a nutshell. Zoe carefully examining her sparkler trying to figure out how it works and Athena dancing as if to say "Yay! It's sooo pretty!"

It was a great weekend of concentrated family time. Ahh. When we asked Athena and Zoe what they liked best about our weekend trip, Athena said "the cereal at the hotel" (these poor children are denied Fruit Loops at home) and Zoe said "playing basketball at the hotel."

Wait a minute, we said, what about swimming in Baba's pool, or the children's museum, or the fireworks, or seeing Cars II? "Oh yea!" Zoe said, "I liked all of it, except I did not like throwing up in the car."

No, that was not a highlight, but all the rest was.