Hello Everyone! It's been awhile since I've done much but put up pictures since I got home with Mom & Dad. Can you believe it's been almost a year? It sure has flown by! Well, I thought I'd invite you along to share my first summer vacation in San Francisco. Mom, Dad and I met Uncle Dan at Papa Kenny & Angela's house there and we're having a ball. Come see what we've been doing . . .
We left St. Louis on Saturday, June 24. Here's Dad and me on the airplane. I'm all set up with my DVD player. Cool, huh?
Nothing goes with a movie like CEREAL!
We flew over some really pretty places like the Colorado Rockies . . .
. . . and Nevada. Things sure look different from up here! I was soooooooo excited I just couldn't contain myself. I don't think Mom and Dad were very happy with me. They woke me up early, hoping I would sleep on the airplane, but I just coudn't sit still. And, HEY! 4 hours is an eternity for a 2 year old!
Finally, 10 minutes before we landed in San Francisco, I managed to get a power-nap.
Papa Kenny and Angela were waiting in the terminal when we arrived and we went to a really cool place for lunch. We had to wait outside, but Angela was so much fun to play with that I hardly noticed the wait. She even let me wear her glasses!
Finally we got a table and Papa Kenny kept me entertained.
Uncle Dan joined us and afterwards, we went back to Papa & Angela's house to settle in and relax.
In a little while, we started working on dinner. Uncle Dan was bragging about his barbecueing skills so I wandered out to see if I could learn a thing or two.
He taught me everything he knew. I love Uncle Dan!
While the food was cooking, Daddy and I played in the back yard. They live on a nice little lagoon . . .
. . . and they have their own little boat dock. Here's the back of Papa's house from the dock.
Then I stopped in the kitchen to check on Angela.
Finally, dinner was ready and we ate. Uncle Dan really IS a good cook! It was delicious and filling. Afterwards, I got PRESENTS!
But really, part of the reason we're here are to celebrate Papa Kenny's birthday, Uncle Dan's birthday and Daddy's birthday - all of which are within 2 weeks of each other in June.
The chocolate cake sure was yummy!
Once we all had cake, Uncle Dan and Daddy opened presents from Papa Kenny.
Then we gave Papa his present. He sure was surprised. It's what he always wanted!
A new boat! So, it's a little smaller than he expected. Still, he was a good sport and had a good time with it. After that, I had to go to bed. Tomorrow would be a BIG day.
The next day, Sunday, June 25, we got up and got ready to go to Lake Tahoe. Papa and Angela had rented a house there for a few days. But before we left, Daddy always says it's a good idea to take time in life to smell the roses. And Angela has some really pretty roses (and other flowers in her garden) to smell!
As the big people were loading the car, I supervised.
Then we all packed into the van and hit the road.
The trip took about 4 hours, including stops. It seemed to take forever, but we finally arrived at the cabin in the mountains in Truckee, California, in the Lake Tahoe area.
I sure was glad to be out of that car!
Here's Mommy in the great room. . .
. . . and me, checking the place out.
Uncle Danny had to set up his computer right away . . .
. . . but took a moment to play with my dolly.
I think Angela and Papa Ken were glad to be there, too!
Here's our bedroom.
And here's a view of the trees out the windows in the great room. They sure are tall!
Unfortunately, we found a scary, unwanted visitor in the bathtub- YUCK. Fortunately, Daddy bravely saved Mommy and me!
Once we got settled, Angela and Uncle Dan went to the store and rustled up some grub. And again, Uncle Dan showed his BBQ prowess and cooked up some big, YUMMY steaks!
I watched from the edge of the back deck.
Dinner was wonderful. It sure was peaceful in that beautiful cabin in the mountains. After dinner, Angela played with me for awhile and I finally went to bed.
The next morning, I got up early. It was Monday, June 26. My body clock was 2 hours off, so I was wide awake by 5:30 AM, local time. I smacked Daddy in the head and told him to "WAKE UP!!!!" He came to and we went upstairs for breakfast.
I enjoyed my juice . . .
. . .and we waited for everyone else to get up. By mid-morning, everyone got moving and we headed out for a late breakfast together. We went to a neat little restaurant in Tahoe City called "Rosie's".
Uncle Dan is SO entertaining!
Tahoe City is a little town right on Lake Tahoe. Rosie's is right across the street from a little park that leads down a bank to the shore of the lake.
After breakfast, we walked down there.
Angela and I took off our shoes and waded along the lake shore.
It was FUN! I just loved the feeling of the water and sand squishing under my feet and between my toes!
But there was more to see, so after a short while, we headed back to the car . . .
. . . and on the way, I was head and shoulders above everyone!
Our next stop was Emerald Bay - a really pretty part of the lake.
We parked at a lookout point way above the lake. It's easy to see how this area got it's name.
We took some pictures of the area . . .
Then Angela, Uncle Dan and Daddy went for a hike down to the lake. They said it was an easy walk down . . .
. . . with cool stuff to see . . .
. . . and pretty views of the bay along the way.
They said it was just as pretty from the bottom as it was from the top.
And although the wildlife wasn't all that wild . . .
. . . it was kind of cute!
The temperature was in the low 80's (probably 20 to 25 degrees cooler than the day he hiked the Great Wall last year). And fortunately, unlike the day at the Wall, he hadn't eaten as big a breakfast! All things considered, Daddy said the walk back up to the car wasn't too bad. Either way, it made me tired just thinking about it!
We ended up driving all the way around the entire lake that afternoon. It was pretty interesting, but another long day in the car for li'l ole me. That evening, we ordered pizza from a local restaurant in Truckee. It felt good to hang out in our comfy cabin and I called it a night pretty early.
Tuesday, June 27, I was up before everyone - as usual. Today, we had to leave to go back to San Francisco. Daddy got up with me and we had some cereal.
Everyone else got up, one by one, and we packed our things and left. On the way out of town, Papa Kenny and Angela took us to Squaw Valley. This is where they held the Olympics that were at Lake Tahoe some years ago. The Olympic Village is still in place, as it's a ski resort in the winter.
It's really pretty in the summer, and we could only imagine what it looked like covered in snow.
As we were looking for a place to eat, we took a little rest in a big chair.
We found a casual place that made breakfast burritos and sat outside and enjoyed our late-morning meal.
As we were eating, I noticed an interesting contraption across the courtyard. It was kind of like my little bouncy trampoline at home but bigger! And it had poles and ropes and colors and you could jump as high as the sky!! I just HAD to try it!
So Daddy paid ten dollars for me to jump for 5 minutes and the nice lady hooked me into the harness. But before I could start jumping, the lady flipped a switch and the ropes started to tighten and it pulled me right up into the air. I didn't weigh enough to get my feet back on the bouncy part and here I was, suspended in mid air. HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLP!
That was enough for me. I was scared, but everyone else was laughing for some reason! Daddy had them get me out of that awful contraption and the nice lady gave him his money back. Whew! Was that close!
So we got back in the van and headed back to San Francisco. That's our van, reflecting off the back of the big silver truck. (Daddy and Uncle Dan thought that was cool. I thought Daddy got a little too close to the big siver truck!)
We finally made it back to San Francisco in the late afternoon. We hadn't seen the City yet, so we went right downtown. A cable car passed us right when we got out of the car - yup, this is San Francisco all right (or so they tell me).
And there was this cool-looking pointy-topped building! But something was wierd about the signs. Then we walked a few blocks, turned a corner and then . . .
. . . can you say "DEJA VOUS"?
HEY! WHERE WAS I? This looked just like the place where I was when I met Mommy and Daddy. All the signs are in that funny, familiar writing again - even the street signs!
Then I remembered that Mommy had said something about wanting to see Chinatown. So THAT'S where we were!
We wandered around for a short time so Mommy could do some shopping. Meanwhile, Daddy found me a funny hat!
After shopping, it was getting to be dinnertime. There were lots of places to eat, but we were referred to this one.
The chef came over to our table as we were reading the menus and took them away before we could order. He said that he would bring us a good selection and not to worry about it. As it turned out, it was very good. It wasn't a fancy place but I HIGHLY recommend it! Daddy said it reminded him a lot of China.
After dinner, we headed back to the car. Everyone was full and happy. On the way out of the City, we got a good look at the Bay Bridge.
Then we were on the highway and heading toward home - I thought!! We made one more stop at Papa Kenny's favorite place - THE ICE CREAM STORE!! I got blue bubble gum ice cream and Papa Kenny got a big chocolate sundae. I liked his better, so he shared it with me. Wasn't that nice of him! At a little past 8 PM, Mommy and Daddy didn't think so, as they watched me fill myself with sugar and caffeine. OOPS! Grandparents' prerogative!
Don't Papa Kenny and Angela make a cute couple? They sure take good care of me!
The next day was Wednesday, June 28. I slept a little later because I went to bed so late the night before (dang that chocolate sundae!) Mommy had to go back to St. Louis for work, so we took her to the airport in the late morning. The rest of the day, we just hung out with Papa Kenny and Angela around the house.
We did test Papa's new toy boat. It was pretty cool, but got too far away and stopped working. Fortunately, it was the thingamajig that Uncle Danny was using to control it. It just needed new batteries. Daddy thought he was going to have to take out Angela's kayak and rescue it!
That evening we went to a Greek restaurant in the neighborhood for dinner. It was very good, too. Then we went home and called it an early night.
On Thursday, June 29, Daddy had made plans to see his cousin Barrie who lives in Saratoga. That sounded good to me - I had Papa Kenny, Angela and Uncle Danny all to myself and NO PARENTS around to tell me "NO!"
Papa let me play his electric piano . . .
. . . and Papa and I got some bonding time in.
After dinner, we even got to go back to the ice cream store!
Then I stayed up late with everyone and watched TV. Daddy had called once during the evening, but Angela assured him that I was in good hands!
On Friday morning, June 30, Daddy got back from his visit with Cousin Barrie. After Uncle Danny and I told him about how much fun we had, Daddy told me about the concert. Papa Kenny had let Daddy take his BMW Z3 for the night, so he picked up Barrie at her house and went to the show.
They met Sherri and Victor there, friends of Barrie's, and had a picnic dinner before the show.
The venue is called the Mountain Winery. It used to be the Paul Masson winery and it's nestled up in the mountains, not far from Barrie's house in Saratoga.
Daddy said it was a pretty place to see a concert.
As night fell, you could look out over the whole San Francisco valley, from the Bay itself, to San Jose and into the Los Gatos Hills of the Santa Cruz Mountains beyond the winery. Daddy said it really was amazing!
The act they saw was Jonny Lang - a bluesy, rockin' young guitarist and vocalist. Barrie scored 3rd row, center seats so they really had a good view. I don't know much about music (I just like kids songs, myself) but Daddy said it was awesome and that he, Barrie, Sherri and Victor all had a good time.
Daddy also said that driving Papa's car on the mountain roads was lots of fun, too! I can't wait 'till I'm old enough to go with him!
After exchanging stories about the night before, Papa, Uncle Danny, Daddy and I went out for a late breakfast. Afterward, Papa Kenny fulfilled a promise he'd made earlier in the week and we went to the TOY STORE!!!!!! I had fun looking around, playing with things and even tried on some new sunglasses.
I got a bunch of presents - some I could take on the airplane so I wouldn't be bored on the long ride home. (I think Papa did that as much for Daddy as for me, 'cause he knew what a handful I'd been on the ride out!) Then, we went back home and took inventory of my new stuff! Papa Kenny helped me.
Then I took a nice long nap. When Angela came home from work, we all went out to dinner at a deli. Everyone said it was good. I wasn't too hungry so I just played! (Do you suppose it was that bag of goldfish I ate before we left?) After dinner, Uncle Danny had to go to the airport and go back to his home in Los Angeles. I was sad to see him go - we had so much fun together and he is SOOOOOOOOOO FUNNY! I'll miss Uncle Danny and can't wait to see him again. Papa and Angela dropped of Daddy and me on the way to the airport and I soon fell asleep on our last night in San Francisco.
When I woke up on Saturday, July 1 at 6:30 AM, I found myself in Papa & Angela's room. I promptly woke them up and Papa took me up to my Daddy. I played in his bed for a half hour but that was enough. It was time for him to get up! Daddy had packed the night before, so we got washed up and went downstairs for breakfast. Then Daddy and Papa Kenny took the van back so us gals (Angela and I) hung out together. I just love hangin' out with her - she's sooooooo cool!
Soon, it was time to go to the airport. I said goodbye to Spencer and we loaded up the car and took off.
It was getting to be mid-day and I was getting a little sleepy. For some reason, Daddy kept playing with me in the car so I couldn't go to sleep! We made it through security with no problem. We had a lot of stuff, but Daddy's a good pack-mule. He said he had lots of practice in China and whenever we go anywhere with Mommy. Once on the plane, we dove into the snacks we brought with us.
The take-off was a little scary, but the view of the city was worth it.
Once we were in the air and leveled off, it was kind of boring. And the next thing I remember was Daddy smiling at me and telling me what a good girl I was for sleeping for 3 hours! He said Mommy would be so jealous! He took some pictures of me while I was asleep so he could prove it.
Finally, the plane came to a stop at our gate. We got off and made our way past the security checkpoint and there was Mommy, waiting right there to greet us. I ran to her and gave her a big hug, then Daddy came up and did the same thing. We went out to dinner and talked about the last few days then went home. I missed my doggies, Gus and Gizzy, and they were glad to see me when I walked in. I was glad to see them, too, and my house and my own room. But I sure had a great summer vacation with my Mommy and Daddy, Uncle Dan, and Angela and Papa Kenny. I hope we get to go back again soon!
Thanks for sharing our vacation with us!
Love,
Lily Beth