HAD to post this!
Lisa took this last night and just emailed it to me.
This kid cracks me up.

Doing some home repairs. Sans pants, again. You might remember a similar scene.

Maddie took this one. Thought I'd throw my pride out the window and post it.

Potato from our very own garden!

She is crying here b/c I am taking a picture of her and her baby. Honestly, you'd think I was TMZ or something.

You may notice that this stroller does not have a seat. It's a frame that we put the infant carrier (aka "To Go Bucket") in. Another Wiebe Baby Starter Kit piece. Anyway, guess who just discovered it in the garage and is obsessed with it. She stands on her tippy toes and pushes it along the sidewalk. Catherine (who we've started calling Palliative Care Catherine since half of her neck is detached from her body now) sort of rests on the straps and is along for the ride. PC Catherine is probably Maddie's most favorite doll. Even though she's homely as sin and frankly a bit spooky. Someday I'll blog a picture of a "tat" from when she did time "on the inside". PC Catherine is one tough chick.

We heard these constantly. They use wooden ladders and (apparently?) are the only ones that do that. They also make their own wooden ladders. Why the wooden ladder obsession? B/c of all the crazy overhead lines.

Aww, so cute after all these years...
As Steph said - who knew a dance at the grade nine prom could last so long...

My front flower bed. Thanks Mom and Dad for helping me create this! I totally love it and can't wait for the backyard to look like this.

Martin and Osa

Ok, so I finally did some shopping on the last full day we were in San Francisco. Jason wanted a nap so I headed out on my own. At first all I could find were crazy high end shops that were just a little too out of my tax bracket. Then I was wandering around a mall (not just any mall, mind you. This one gave out samples of STEAK in the food court. No Cinnabon crap here).

Anyway, stumbled upon Martin and Osa and thought "This looks like my people". And truer words were never thought. They had a whole sale SECTION that was 20% off the already lowest price. Craziness. So I loaded up and headed to the dressing room. I know you'll think this is ridiculous, but really, most of you think that anyway so I'm not too worried. These pictures are from in the frapping dressing room. This room was bigger than our bathroom in the hotel and literally twice as tall. So great.

Now, a few words about The Purse.

So after I bought a million things at Martin and Osa, I headed outside and saw Anthropologie. Mom gets their catalogue so I thought I'd check it out. What a fantastic store! And that's when I saw it. The Purse. Wasn't even looking for it. But isn't that how love happens? Well, as you know, I'm so tight I squeak. I had to text Allison and Morgan and then go home and email my mom. All three of you were very supportive. After I read my mom's email I decided to go back the next morning and buy the damn purse. Here is a cut and paste from my mom's email:

"I AM SHOUTING: BUY THE PURSE!"

Really, how can you argue with that logic?

Lisa told us this story last night when we called her. I have copied it from her blog.

scene: in the van, on the way home from daycare

Maddie, "I live in Saskatoon".

Mackenzie, "no you don't Madeleine"!

Maddie, "No, no, I live in Warman not Saskatoon".

Mackenzie, " I live in the Mountains" (very loudly, surprise, surprise)

Maddie, "NO, NO, MACKENZIE HODGSON. YOU DON'T LIVE IN THE MOUNTAINS YOU LIVE IN SASKATOON"

Mackenzie "I live in Saskatoon"?

Mommy, "Mackenzie, you live in Saskatoon and Saskatoon is on the Prairies".

Mackenzie, "No, Mommy I want to live in the Mountains"! and she starts to cry

Maddie, "My Friend Fernie lives in the mountains. Ya, my friend Fernie. Wanna visit Fernie"?

Mackenzie, "Fernie"?

Maddie, "Ya, you know Fernie, my friend Fernie. He lives in the Mountains. We go there, K"?

Wednesday: Last full day in SF

We thought we had a little time to kill before our Park Loop tour so we went into Macy's. Ended up eating in the food court (ha! what an understatement). They have wine and sushi happy hour from 4-8 - what food court do you know with that? We ate at the Wolfgang Puck Express. Here you could choose sandwiches, pasta, salads or pizza. I knew it was going to be the greatest pizza of my life with the guy started hand rolling the dough. Then added the toppings and put it in this OVEN. How cool is that? And truly, it was the most wonderful pizza. I know I'll dream of this pizza for a long time to come.



And then it was time for our Park Loop Tour. This tour took us to Golden Gate Park and back. We had wanted to check out the science museum there, but apparently today they had free admission. I can't believe the line up. Long. Long doesn't even describe it. I bet people waited hours to get in. Not worth it for us. So we toured the park by bus. We were too damn cold to get off the bus, although moving around on the ground likely would have warmed us up. The tour also took us past Alamo Square so that we could see the Painted Ladies (see below). We went down Haight St as well. Probably would have been a bit more eye opening had we ventured off the bus, but the bus didn't seem to be stopping so we just stayed on.

A Painted Lady is any Victorian that has at least 5 colours. Victorians were built up until 1901 I think (or whenever Queen Victoria died). After that the houses are less ornate and are called Edwardian. Another difference is that Victorians were built for a single family and Edwardians were multi family homes. These homes here are generally the ones that people think of when they say "the Painted Ladies". And of course, what could be more perfect than a beagle in the bottom right corner (50 pts if you spotted it before I said that).

That was the second beagle we've seen so far. Apparently there are more dogs than kids in this city. This must be why there are so many stores with t-shirts that say things like: "Dogs are the new kids".

And now I'm blogging in the mezzanine, up above the lobby. No one is up here but me and it's warmer than the main lobby b/c the doors are always open down there. I am sitting in a blue chair kitty corner to the one you see here. This picture was taken just moments ago from my chair. Can you believe the view? These pictures really don't come close. Again, I wish Chris was here to document my holiday. This hotel is so beautiful, it's just amazing. It's really how I was meant to live. And have I talked about the coffee yet? This is how I should start every day... with a handsome Mexican man named Javier pouring my coffee as I gaze around me at all the beautiful architecture. I haven't talked to Jason about it yet, but I'm pretty sure he's going to put on a long white apron Friday morning and I'll call him "Hah-ssahn" (that would be the Spanish form of Jason in case you missed it) as he pours me coffee...
And there will be unicorns and rainbows....

Travel Diary

Hello friends. The next several posts (and hopefully a few more in the days to follow) are from our trip to San Francisco. September will mark 10 years of wedded bliss and to celebrate we are taking a second honeymoon to SF. I have to face the fact that I hardly ever scrapbook anymore and these blog to books have become my scrapbooks and my record of life and adventures.

That means these posts will be about our trip. If you are looking for pictures of Maddie, you'll have to check out Lisa's blog b/c that's where Maddie is for the week. That's assuming that Lisa has the time to blog while looking after three kids and three dogs. Oh, Lisa you are a good good woman and I am forever in awe of your patience and positive nature. For almost 20 years I've been trying to capture a bit of Lisa's "Type B Zen". So far the closest I've come is a "Labeling containers, but not making the bed Type A-".....

THANK YOU LISA!

Shutter Bug

I wish I would take more time when I'm shooting these pictures. What I really wish is that Chris (my friend Kelly's husband) would come to SF and take holiday pictures for me. It also doesn't help that most of these were shot from the top of a moving tour bus. Not a lot of time to "set up the shot".




An example of the houses here in the swanky areas. Everything is squished together, there is never a space between buildings except in The Presidio (which I think is former military housing).

Not the best example of the many cool houses we saw, but this picture is meant to show the cables overhead. All the buses run along these electric cables. Don't touch - 660 volts. Yowza.

Chinatown

We kept hearing that this was the biggest (or one of the biggest, depending on the guide) Chinatown in the US and I was determined to check it out. Jason, soul mate that he is, humoured me. It honestly wasn't quite what I was expecting, but I have a feeling if we would have ventured down one of the side streets we might have seen a few more unusual things. As it was we seemed to be in the "trinket" section and it was just a lot of the same thing over and over. I was able to buy a cheap little fake jade elephant which I love. We also found some red Chinese slippers for Maddie.

This was very cool: they were shooting a scene for the new TV show "Trauma". I will definitely be checking that show out now. Couldn't really see much, but it was still my brush with fame and I'll take it.

Golden Gate Bridge

Today we took the Bridge tour, as part of the pkg that we bought yesterday. We had planned to cross over the bridge and continue on to Sausalito and Muir Woods (aka giant redwood trees). But the timing wasn't quite right. In the end, this tour was fabulous all in itself. But SHEESH was it cold. Crossing that bridge on the top deck of an open air bus...windy windy windy.

Our cute little tour guide in the red there, she was the best that we've had so far. Our driver was Ken and he is also a favorite.

Cold and foggy. So cold. But later in the afternoon it was sunny and hot and I was able to add to my sunburn on my face. It hurts when I make a surprise face now. I'll try to not do that too much.

Sleeping Beauty is trying to have a nap and apparently the typing is irritating. More later.
j

Palace of Fine Arts

Located in the Marina District,
it's the only building left standing from the Panama-Pacific Exposition of 1915.

Yes, a self portrait b/c believe it or not, we're usually too shy to ask someone to take our picture. And really, when you ask a stranger they usually take a picture about as crappy as this one (as you've seen on here already I think, if I post it.)

Good Morning!

Woke up this morning to discover that, indeed it was not windburn but a freaking SUN BURN on my face. WTFudge?? Guess we really are in sunny California even though the only exposed bit of me all day was my nose and forehead. And did I pack sunscreen. Of course not.

Today's agenda: seeing some military ships and then heading out to Muir Woods to see the giant redwoods. Should be fun.

Everywhere I go in this city there is the most fabulous Punch in the Face Coffee. This is the city for me. Ahhhh..... Although, yesterday when I went to Starbucks in the morning there was only skim milk and whole milk in the containers. GASP. SHOCK. HORROR. So I thought to myself, "Self, maybe this is what Cali is all about and people don't eat fat down here". I was of course horrified at this concept, but I thought "when in Cali..." and poured some whole milk (ugh). And then suddenly there was a bright light and an angel appeared with a full jug of COFFEE CREAM. (Can you hear the angels singing now?). All was right with the world again.

ok, hopefully Jason is ready to get up and get cracking. I think this clickety clacking has irritated him enough to get up.

see you all later
j

Alcatraz

As you read below you'll find out how we got here (on post three I'll explain how this is all out of order). Anyhoo, figure since this is likely as close to scrapbooking this holiday as I'll get I'll post pictures of the tickets etc.

View of Golden Gate Bridge from The Rock. Very foggy this afternoon, so not a good picture. We're going to try a different tour tomorrow or Wednesday and that might get us a chance to take a better shot. If not, that's what postcards are for!