Holiday 2011 Activities/Update.

Santa's cruisin' Centralia, WA's Main Street!
We stopped at the McMenamin's there on way home from Kanye/Jay-Z.

I need to use this more often!! Wanted Caver to see our Christmas and New Year's Eve photos, so thought I'd post them here for all to see.

Ashe and I saw Kanye West/Jay-Z's Watch the Throne show in Tacoma on December 16, 2011. We had the best time. Ashe kept thanking me for taking him and saying it was the best time he's ever had. I don't know if that's true, but I know he really loved it. No pics from the show, but took a few during the trip to Tacoma. Dennis and Finn went up with us to hang out at Hotel Murano (amazing!!). BTW - if you are ever there, be sure to check out their yummy, delicious restaurant, Bite.

These first photos are from the Tacoma trip to Jay-Z.

Finn at the Tacoma Build-A-Bear, since he didn't get a Jay-Z concert. : )

The art at the hotel...really amazing place the Hotel Murano.

VIEW FROM OUR ROOM AT MURANO - 22ND FLOOR - Mt. Rainier..
The Tacoma Dome, where we saw the show, also, on the right.

We had a nice Christmas and New Year's. Mom's health is improving, so that's good. Dad's doing alright for now. No holiday visits to the hospital for either, so that's great!!

The four of us had our Christmas (Eve) with my mom and dad and Caver's family at my parents' house. It was just the ten of us and such a mellow, fun time. Everybody was in great moods. We kept the adult presents to a minimum (which we always SHOULD do), and the four boys had a blast. Caver made some great appetizers; I got a Honey Baked Ham...was so nice.

Caver, Sean, Tuck, Cade @ Granny's on Xmas Eve.

THE FOUR CRAZY BOYS - LEFT TO RIGHT: Tucker, Cade, Finn, Ashe.

Passing out presents.

Christmas morning we woke pretty early. Ashe and Finn looked at their presents from Santa, while we waited for Granny Elaine to arrive. Grandma Janet was in San Diego with Dennis' family. Holly was with her dad's side of the family.

When Elaine got there, we had some coffee and pastry - the boys opened their oodles of presents and were elated with everything.

Dennis worked Christmas and the next night. The boys and I headed to the Hyatt Place at Portland's Cascade Station for a two night in town vacation (I hate that staycation word!!, yet I just said it)...We just pampered ourselves and relaxed and indulged in food and shopping and swimming. Just a blast with my boys!!

New Year's was spent at home with the boys. We stopped at mom and dad's, but mostly spent it at home. Ashe, Finn, Dennis, and I. I went and picked up Cade and Tucker at a party where they were with their parents. We got home about 10 p.m. and they were up til 1 a.m.!! They spent most of Jan 1, 2012 with us and then we had some peace and quiet. Rose Bowl watching today (Jan 2nd) and that's it!!

The "poppers" (bottles that you pull the strings on) - I kept trying to get them and this is pretty good live action. ;)

Finn & Tuck Whoop it up.

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

The Last Couple Months.

We have had a busy couple of months. Finn's birthday...We had a nice Halloween. I spent some time in San Francisco around my (42nd!!) birthday. We went to Andina for Thanksgiving dinner. It has been action packed and a lot of fun.

Finn had a few birthdays, including a dinner (sushi), friends, and separate family party. His actual birthday is Sept 25. Our 10th wedding anniversary was September 22nd. We ate at Red Star for our anniversary. If you haven't been there, it's much tastier than a "Tavern" as the name says. We went to The Original the next day when the boys joined us for our second night at Hotel Lucia.

We had a fun Halloween at Caver's, as usual.

Shortly after Halloween - around my birthday, I hitched along on Caver's trip to San Francisco. We stayed in Union Square at the Hyatt on Stockton.

The first picture is a view from our hotel. Our friends had this room. Poor us - we had a suite : ) with not quite as nice a view. But the suite was bee-you-tee-ful. My sister and nephews had birthday flowers and gift waiting for my arrival. It was so nice to walk into.

Rusty, Tuck, Cade...Michael & Caver @ yummy, yummy Q Restaurant.

At Barbara & Rusty's Richmond apartment after lunch at Hard Knox. It was the tastiest soul food restaurant.

SFMoMA

Union Square and flying home.

Thanksgiving at Andina Restaurant. No cooking for us!!

A Couple of Weeks in May (2010)

Boys after Saturday Market, in the fountain.

This has been a busy month. It started with Mother's Day, on May 9, 2010. We went to Elaine's. We had Chinese food from Mar's Meadows, a place we went a lot when I was a teenager. Caver was out of town, in Arizona, with Lisa...Mom didn't want to cook...everyone knows I don't cook. Mar's was yummy!! Helen Bernhardt's cake and ice cream for dessert. We got about 10 different dishes...dad was home for Mother's Day but went to the hospital shortly after.

Granny with her sons-in-law on Mother's Day

Finn, Granny, Tuck, Cade

About a week later, Saturday May 15, Caver had us over for dinner...she grilled and made yummy food. It was so nice. The boys played and had a great time!! Granny came for a while too.

On Sunday the 16th, there was a Sunday Parkways event that went right through my mom's neighborhood (Concordia) that we were going to attend but we decided not to go. It was raining in the morning and by the time it cleared up, the boys preferred Caver's idea of going to Saturday Market. We met her, Cade, and Tucker there. They had pizza and elephant ears and couldn't have been happier.
All four boys bought cute glass necklaces. It was so much fun. I haven't been there in years. Saw Portland's Elvis even. He was really sweet, giving me a big hug...After we broke off from Caver and her boys, my boys decided they wanted to go in the fountain. I carefully took off their shoes and rolled up their pants, telling them to get their feet wet. They ended up getting their entire bodies wet, which blew me away. Why would I take the time to take off shoes and roll up pants if they were going to do that?!? I just don't get it.

On May 21st, Finn had a great activity at school. For six weeks or so, his class studied insects. Finn told me a few weeks ago that he was a bee. I didn't get it, but that's what he was. Shortly after that, his teacher sent out an email informing us that the students were assigned an insect that they were supposed to study and become experts on. He also had two pupas that he was watching and studying in class...one of his pupas rotted, but the other turned into a beetle. Pretty cool.

Finn on far right

Grasshoppers

Mantids

The insect study culminated in "Insect Interviews", that the kids participated in, with all their parents watching. There were six categories of insect (ants, grasshoppers, mantids, butterflies, ladybugs, and bees). They all made costumes in class in the morning. In the afternoon, the parents came and interviewed them, asking them questions about what they eat; where they live; who their predators are; how honeycomb is made; how far they can jump; etc. The kids had so much information and were so darling, sharing everything they learned. Loved it.

Finn's field day was on May 24th...I volunteered to help. I was assigned to the exciting Marble Pick Up game. It was interesting. It was marbles in a barrel with water. The kids had to take off their shoes and pick up as many marbles as they could with their feet in 45 seconds. It was a somewhat cold day. Totally entertaining to watch them. Finn did most of the activities. He did another water game as well (pic to the left), where he had to fill up a container faster than other kids. It was all fun stuff like that, ending with parachute games and popsicles. The kids had a good time.

Busy May....

New York City, Day IV, 25.Apr.2010

Luggage display (of those who came through Ellis Island)

I loved my fourth day in Manhattan. It was a lazy day, but I loved every minute of it. The four of us had tickets to go to Ellis Island, but I decided to bag it. I was not up for a ferry ride. I was not up for being on a tour/event that was a minimum of four hours. I wanted to just wing it and have some alone time. I love my travel mates as much as anyone I could have traveled with. I just liked the idea of exploring New York a little bit on my own.

Janet & Elaine at Ellis Island at the very center of this pic

Here are some of the Ellis Island pics that Dennis took.

I slept in...

I walked from our hotel at W. 75th & Broadway Streets to the NBA Store, at 52nd and 5th. I included a map here. It gives you some perspective of the distance, and also notes a FEW of the cool things I walked past in a 20 minute walk. You can really walk from one end of Manhattan to another fairly easily. (The borough of Manhattan, that is. Even the island itself is only about the length of a half marathon. Manhattan borough, though, is very walkable) I enjoy walking in NYC, too, so it's actually fun to me.

The NBA Store is very, very impressive...even for an average fan like me. Check out the picture of just the cool entry. I spent over an hour in there by myself, then another 1/2 hour or so in there with Dennis the next day when we went back together...I just loved all the cool things for the boys there. Yes, I bought myself a Knicks tee shirt (or two), but it was the boys who really scored!!!

On the way to the NBA Store I walked right by the Museum of Modern Art, not on purpose. It was Sunday, remember, so it was absolutely packed. Probably 1000 people (I'm bad at estimating...but it was at least the amount of space - probably more - as the Crystal Ballroom in Portland, OR, and that holds 1000 people.) in the lobby alone!!! Waiting to buy tickets; sitting; gathering; who knows what/why...it was as if they were using it as a meeting/hanging out space. I just was glad this was NOT the day we chose to actually go through the museum as visitors. I was by myself, and just shopping. I bought some cool gifts for people and went on my way. More on this museum for day five's post!!
Walking back to the hotel, I walked by the Jekyll and Hyde Club, which was (coincidentally) on the list of things I wanted to see. I really just wanted to see the building. Make these pictures bigger. Imagine this, just walking down the street, in between regular office buildings. See the Starbucks next door. Trump Tower a block away. Just a strange, strange site. I should have gone in (and would have had the kids been with me), but just took pictures.

We had dinner at Arte Cafe, on W. 73rd, near Columbus. What a treat. Dennis and I saw it on one of our walks, and noted we wanted to go there at some point. It was in the bottom of a building. It was so darling...nice actually. It had pictures of Italians everywhere. Looked to be strictly locals in there. A family. A mom with her daughter. Just very low key. Somewhat out of the way. Just the best. Elaine's mussels were delicious, as was my pasta. The dessert of creme broulee was superb as well . Again, about a 7.0-7.5 on a scale of 1-10 (the creme broulee was a 10!!!) , but well executed. Just not extraordinary.

That's the end of the pleasantly mellow (for me!) day four. Day five soon!! I'm sure these are boring to anyone reading them...mostly my own travel journal. ; )

ELAINE & DENNIS, PROBABLY IN HEATED DISCUSSION!!

creme broulee
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JANET AND I, HAPPILY NOT IN HEATED DISCUSSION!!