California - Day 2

Our second day in San Francisco started out much like our second day in China....EARLY, with 4:00am being the ideal time to wake up. Of course, both boys pointed out to us that it was really 7:00am at home. We caved around 5:30am and began our day....our first stop was the Palace of the Fine Arts. Amazing the architecture that went into that particular structure. We took it all in as we walked around the surrounding reflection pond and made our way into the Exploratorium.

The Exploratorium is a hands-on science center for children of all ages....really something there for everyone, even Ryan.

Following the Exploratorium, we boarded a bus back to the hotel. MK fell asleep and slept through people talking, laughing, horns beeping, etc. as we made our way across the city. Following our brief stop at the hotel, we chose to take our first of many cable car rides into Fisherman's Wharf. After a short wait, we boarded the cable car and the boys were allowed to stand on the very back with the controller.

We traveled a few blocks and then we stopped. On a hill. A very steep hill. And people started to get off and catch other cable cars as they turned by us. And the chatter of "our broken down cable car" began. The next thing we know, this thing appeared and literally pushed up us the hill.

By the looks of this guys bumper, we were not the first cable car to be pushed up a hill. Of course, I casually asked the controller if our brakes worked!

Lesson #2 learned....help is always just around the corner!

California 2009 - Day 1

Ryan and I decided if we could do China with three children then we could certainly tackle San Francisco with three children. And the verdict is, we were right. We arrived home safely, soundly and sleepy last night after 8 days of nonstop touring. The only thing missing from our trip was a laptop for us to recount the day by day activities so I am forced to go on memory. After arriving safely without incident in San Francisco, our first order of business was to find a cab to accomodate our family of 5....as well as our luggage aplenty. We did well, scored a van and off we went. Our hotel, the Hilton, in Union Square was awesome though they first thought that we would all fit into a room with a king bed and a crib....seeing as we do not co-sleep, that was NOT an option. We were told to go to dinner and it would be resolved. Ok, so off we go to learn our first lesson in the big city. Walk to dinner, my fave the Cheesecake Factory, then walk to the hotel. Oh yeah, we need water for the children.....so we stopped at this little corner market. Go in, grab a 2 gallon jug of water, a six pack of Coke and a tiny little, one serving size bottle of juice. We pay, we go to the hotel, we are given a Bay view room with two beds and a crib, much better, and we also scored free breakfasts for the duration of our stay. We were feeling good. Just before bed Ryan says to me, "hey, you know, I think we got ripped off at that little store....we paid $16 for water, coke and a little thing of apple juice"....lesson one learned.

It's off to school she goes....Mason-Kate started her preschool this morning. She was greeted by all of her last year schoolmates as well as some new faces, one new face being her newest little buddy from China, Colby. Colby's mother, Kendra, is her teacher....yay! She had a great day, she didn't cry though she did tug at my leg a bit. The boys were so cute. They wanted to take pictures of her going and coming....and, of course, they each had to give her a big hug goodbye!

*click on this pic for a larger view....her face is classic!

This morning we spent at the local childrens medical center having MK's hearing and her ears checked. Great news to report....so far, so good. MK's tubes remain in, one ear the tube is nice and secure, the tube in the other ear is hanging on for dear life - it will likely fall out soon. The ENT will see her again in six months to evaluate her tolerance for fluid post tubes. The fun part of the morning was doing the hearing screening....I had tried to prep Mason-Kate for this by reminding her of the little monkey that clangs the cymbals together to get her attention. My plan backfired. A) the "monkey" that I recalled was actually a bunny and B) MK decided that every sound she heard was that of a monkey - even when there were no sounds being made. Somehow, thankfully, she managed to pass all of the tests. Being that is was a school day, I took the opportunity to point out to the boys all of the ear charts placed around the office. We discussed the outer ear, the inner ear, the hair cells and their importance, all kinds of interesting things. Great school lesson for them plus I was hoping that maybe their visit would inspire one of them to become, say, an ENT. So, as we walked back to the car after our visit, I asked the boys to state one interesting fact they had learned today at the drs. office. Their response, "well, we learned that the elevators in this place are super cool!" HMMMM.

Friday afternoon we packed everything up and headed out into our backyard. Our friends, the Kenneys, joined us for a backyard campout. We ate, we laughed, we told spooky stories, we played in the water, went snipe hunting and then, the men and children, curled up into the comforts of the tent for the remainder of the night.

In other news, our family attended the open house for Mason-Kate's preschool last week. Her teacher will be our friend, Kendra, who recently returned from China with her son, Colby. Colby will be in Mason-Kate's class as well. Anytime we mention school, Mason-Kate immediately says "me, Colby, school" and then laughs....not sure what the laugh means, hopefully she is thinking she will have fun with Colby at school.

Monday our local schools began for the 2009/2010 school year. I had worried that the boys and I would be feeling a little sad and missing our friends - notice I say all of us sad, all of us missing our friends :) I spent a lot of time at the boys school while they were there so naturally I have a lot of connections to the school. Anyway, I knew when C made a phone call to his friend the night before that all would be well. His conversation was something to the effect of "well, you have a good day tomorrow. Too bad you won't be with me....we will be done with our day before you even make it to lunch and then we will be swimming!" Ouch. Then during our school time Monday, C looks at me and says he is so glad I am his teacher. This coming (a) from the child who loved, loved, loved his teacher last year - we both did and (b) from the child who recently told me it is embarrassing to give your mom a hug in front of your friends....ok, he is NINE so he is growing up....it is nice to know that he is happy to have me as his teacher. P has the attitude of just give him what he needs to do, let him do it and he is out of here, venturing on to playing better things in life. He doesn't complain about work but he does want to know up front just how much he is expected to do, how many pages he has to read and can he have a snack when he is all done....those are his concerns. I love that I am able to curl up in a chair with him and listen to him read to me daily, he even likes to include MK on this when she will listen (she always says she will listen but she almost always talks!). And MK, well, she has come so far from this time last year. She welcomes new situations, there are no tears when I leave, she is all smiles when I return, her life in that respect is all roses. I must note that she received some new flip flops yesterday.....she has worn them nonstop, even in bed....and I must note that EVERYTIME she puts them on her feet, you can bet they are on the WRONG feet. I will tell her this, she will laugh and say "oh well, I sorry mommy" and switch them around.

Ahhhh, relax! For those who follow us along, you know by now that relax is just generally not what we do in our family. We tend to stay on the move. This week, however, was different. We stayed put. When not at home, we traveled as far as the neighborhood pool. I even noted to Ryan yesterday that my gas gauge had not moved all week....now that is definitely a first! To say that we enjoyed this week would be an understatement. We loved this week. Though we were at home, we had friends over everyday, we swam a lot, did some schoolwork and just hung out. Good times.