Part 2- San Francisco

With great excitement Paul and Grayson arrived in San Fransisco. They had so many new experiences. I think they were a little overwhelmed by the size of the city, and it took them awhile to get comfortable. They had the "unique" city experience of interacting with and observing some of San Fransisco's more colorful characters, including the very intoxicated transient that threatened to kick, hit and pee on their car as they arrived at the hotel.

While they were there they also went to the Aquarium of the Bay,

watched sea lions at Pier 39

and got dizzy on a carousel at Fisherman's Warf.

They saw cable cars and street cars,

Grayson got his picture drawn,

and they checked out the mermaid statue at Ghirardelli Square.

They rode the street cars,

saw an albino alligator at the Academy of Sciences

and visited the Palace of Fine Arts.

And at the Exploratorium Grayson conquered his ingrained perceptions and drank from a toilet bowl drinking fountain.

Such great memories!

Grayson's Big Adventure- Part 1

This year it was Grayson's turn to go on a special Spring Break trip with Paul. He was SO excited about it, and really enjoyed planning and getting ready for the trip. Their ultimate destination was San Fransisco, but they made a few fun stops along the way. Their first stop was the Oregon vortex and House of Mystery.

This is quite an interesting place. Bottles roll uphill, things look taller or shorter when they really aren't, and many other visual abnormalities. Paul said Grayson kept saying "This is messed up!" He really enjoyed getting to be a part of the demonstrations.

On their way into California they got to enjoy the beautiful Smith River.

Day two dawned with a trip to the Trees of Mystery in Klamath California.

I really enjoyed seeing their pictures from here and remembering going there myself on a family vacation many years ago.

They rode the sky tram and got a great look at the beautiful trees. He was a little scared being up high, but was impressed by the trees.







He even got to meet Bigfoot while he was there!

9

Today our baby turns nine. We love this little guy SO much. He brings so much fun and laughter to our family and is as sharp as a tack!

A few facts about Rowan at 9:

Favorite food: Dutch babies
Favorite movie: Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Favorite restaurant: Famous Dave's
Favorite TV show: Battlestar Galactica
Favorite game: Yugioh
Favorite book: Horrid Henry series
Favorite music: Headstrong by Trapt
Favorite thing to do: play Poptropica
Favorite toy: i pod touch
Best friends: James, Lukas and Tristan
Most important thing you learned this year: spelling

Celebrating

We had a fun little birthday celebration with my parents this weekend! They are always a special part of everyone's birthdays and WAY too generous!

15

Yesterday Fuller celebrated his birthday by, going to school, running 6 1/2 miles at track practice, and getting to the DMV too late to take the permit test. Bummer. But we did celebrate later with cake and presents and lots of love for this guy! We are so proud of him and are really thankful to have him in our family.

A few facts about Fuller at 15:

Favorite food: Enchiladas
Favorite movie: I am Legend, Hancock
Favorite restaurant: Chipotle
Favorite TV show: The Walking Dead
Favorite game: Skyrim
Favorite music: rap, Drake, Lil'Wayne, Young Money
Favorite thing to do: Run and play video games
Favorite toy: X Box
Best friends: Talon, Tyler, Jake, Mitchell, Daniel
Most important thing you learned this year: how to do laundry

Seattle for a Day

Last Friday we realized we had a completely free weekend, just waiting for us to figure out something fun to do with it. We have been wanting to go to the EMP (Experience Music Project) museum for quite awhile, and we always love being in Seattle, so we made a plan.
We headed North right after breakfast, and got to Seattle in time to meet my sister and brother-in-law at Dick's for lunch.

After a great lunch and visit we headed over to the EMP.

We enjoyed exhibits about guitars, Jimi Hendrix, Nirvavna and Avatar.

One of our favorite exhibits was all about horror movies. (Although I did have to cover Rowan's eyes for part of that.)

They did have many great movie items, including Freddie Krugers glove, and Edward Scissorhands' scissors. And this guys from one of MY favorite scary movies, Alien.

We were treated to a beautiful sunny day while we were there, which made walking around the city even better.

Of course we had to make a return visit to see the gum wall.

Grayson came prepared, and enjoyed adding his own contribution.

While we were at Pike Place we enjoyed bags of hot, fresh cinnamon donuts.





We had such a great time! I love these kinds of days together.

Happy Birthday Dr Suess

Last Friday the grade school kids celebrated Dr Suess' birthday. Over the years we have read his books so many times we practically had them memorized. His books have been such a special part of my children's childhoods.