A delicate balancing act: Part 2

So at home I thought carefully about trying to get myself and 2 kids, our luggage and 2 car seats through the airport, away from baggage claim, and onto a shuttle to the car rental location. Knowing that I'd arrive at 6 am Boston time, even with folks usually being ever so helpful to a mom traveling with kids, I decided it best to be self sufficient and able to haul everything w/o help if needed. This turned out to be a very good choice as by the time all of our luggage arrived (car seats a distant last), everyone had already gone, and all that was left were the other families traveling with kids (who were all gone by the time I attached the car seats).

It might have been a pain to haul the 3 wheeled stroller through the airport, but with the help of a couple of bungee cords, both car seats are suspended off the sides (look past deserted baggage claim area and the slightly haggard tired looking children and note that the car seats are not touching the ground).

It worked like a charm and I managed to haul through the terminal to the rental car shuttle while the kids rode.

Everything else went pretty smoothly. No traffic leaving the city, found a Starbucks right off. MMMM, Starbucks... Life is good.

3 hours of shitty plane sleep

So other than waiting just a little too long and missing the cheap ticket window by just enough to have to choose between double priced tickets or an overnight leg, I chose the overnight and even convinced myself that it would be a good idea as that way I'd not have to entertain two children for 6 hours straight while trying to confine then to their seats (by myself). What I did not think through is how it would be to try and actually sleep with two children on top of me, each adjusting and twitching and half waking up when they couldn't spin freely, or being startled in by an alien noise, of attempting to sleep sitting up and jerking awake every time my head sagged.

The photo is courtesy of the flight attendant and taken at 11:30 or so (the flight took off at 9 and the children finally collapsed at 11pm). This arrangement of two apples on top "worked" (if you want to call it that) for about 45 minutes before I gave it up. My bountiful pillow and blankets supply went to make a little bed for Kiwi on the floor, and I put Kieran mostly on top of me, where we twitched and shifted for the next 2 hours. Flight was 9pm-3am (WHAT WAS I THINKING). Kiwi woke up at 2am, and didn't go down again until the car ride home. Kieran snoozed until we landed, and both kids walked of the plane with 3+ hours of sleep (can't believe I was jealous of 3 hours of sleep).

Now off to get our luggage and the car.

No mommy, that would be pee littering ...

OK. So maybe not my best moment, but I was trying to explain to Kieran that if he needed to use the bathroom on the drive to Vermont, he would need to give me a little warning as we were not in the city, and there was not a bathroom to be found every 5 blocks, so he could not tell me that he needed it "right now". Then I tried to differentiate and say that if he just needed to pee, then we could pull off on the side of the highway and open the door to the minivan and he could pee out the side.

He said, "No mommy, that would be pee littering."

I laughed so hard I almost ... pee littered.

A delicate balancing act: Part 1

Airport drop complete.

Have to stand in line for check in even though I've printed online boarding passes as Jet Blue requires that you do standard check in you have luggage and/or lap child (both).

Emergency bathroom run with Kieran while trying to do said check-in while we are at the counter. At least we get to come back to the front of the line when we get back.

Just us (Kieran, Akira, and I), my 2 nap sacks of food, snacks, and entertainment, my bag stuffed with 3 (yes three) full size pillows and several previously filched and much used airplane blankets, and our HUGE double stroller.

Through security with 2 large bottles of water, a litter of drinking kefir, tubes of creme and such exceeding 2 oz (I'm going to miss having young kids and being able to pull all of this off with a smile and a "its for the kids"), and down to waiting... and another emergency bathroom run (thanks to the god(s) above that these are happening off plane rather than on).

Now entertaining at gate A2.

How do spit balls rate on the Homeland Security Advisory System?

In Eager Anticipation

So after a weeks of prep, converting books on tapes and movies to MP3s and MP4s and 3g2s and mixing and matching media so that I had every contingency and two separate media devices packed full of choices, after making lists, trying to pack with care, sorting through all of the power cables I'd need to support all this rapcay (pig-Latin), putting together packs of games, little books, markers, balloons, stuff stuff stuff - we were ready to go.

Kieran, in great anticipation as he was waiting to get ready for the flight, fell fast asleep as shown. I of course took a photo before waking him up. Would not do to have him nap before trying to take an overnight flight (something I don't think I'll do again, but more on that later).

Skipping Ahead

Ok, so I've skipped ahead and not posted the rest of our vacation (quick notes: San Diego Zoo - FAB, Lego Land - mixed feelings, beach beach beach - need I say more), nor anything on my last trip (Kiwi and I back east for my nephew's Bat Mitzvah). Perhaps someday I'll get there. Perhaps not... I'll let you know.

Your child found what?

So frankly, when the casual mention of a condom wrapper found under the bed skirt of our Marriott room as I checked us out got us %25 off our Disneyland hotel, I pretty much thought that was our "good luck" for the trip. Boy was I wrong.

I'd found the Park Manor Inn in San Diego when looking for efficiencies (with kitchen), and while it got good reviews, looked generally nice on screen, I was not expecting to walk the "historical site" to be quite so lovely.

On check-in, I discovered that our king bed suite with a murphy bed was instead a queen bed with a pull-out couch, and that the hotel was just about booked solid for the night. The manager noted that one of the few available rooms happened to be the room next door (a studio rather than a suite) and it had a king in it. All well and good, but it did not have a couch or pull-out bed, so no place for Kieran to sleep (the kids performs acrobatics all night long and there is no way any of us would get sleep with all 4 of us in the same bed. The managers solution to this problem (so that we would not be inconvenienced by having to swap rooms during our four day stay here)? Why don't we just keep both suite and studio for our stay since they are adjoining (yippy skippy !!!). So we are hoteling it with 2 full bathrooms, 2 bedrooms, 2 kitchens, and and two tvs (and 800+ square feet). Talk about being spoiled. Did I mention that our rooms overlook Balboa Park, that we have 1 of 6 balconies out of eighty some rooms (of course we are not using it much as Akira can fit right through the bars - yikes). We can see the planes coming in to land at the airport looking huger than huge. All the rooms are old school (Chip & Dale furniture, beautiful gilded mirrors, incredible carved tables, upholstered chairs). Don't look too closely of course, as the guilt mirror might be artfully attached to the wall with 3 inch drywall screws, and the upholstered chair caves under ones butt (the springs are as old as the hotel). Named a San Diego Historical landmark by the city in the year hrmph-hmmm-numnina, the charm is there - as long as you don't look to closely.

Its gorgeous. Lovely. Spacious. Not sure if I'll ever want to stay in a regular hotel again.

More Disney

Upside down or inside out?

Kiwi as the young King Arthur

My very own pirates of the caribbean

The secret pirate salt trick

Kieran's first bad weather driving escapade

Rain poncho or slick souvenir

Bippity Boppity Blog - A day in Disneyland

The little bit of rain that I was hoping for drenched us twice in the early morning, but also kept the crowds down to a dull roar (something less than the average 41,000 per day). It of course abated right after we spent $30 on ponchos, but per our guide book, they make lovely souvenirs.

We'd read up and planned our trip to hit rides early, leave for nap and come back refreshed (a must for all after our night in Santa Monica at The Hotel California, which felt a little like the song - we had a hellish night due to a overactive real gas flame heater in the room cooking us to 85+ at 2:30 in the morning, dragging my self awake to hobble over to the concierge just to find out how to turn it off).

We got soaked as we waited to get in to the park, and again on one of the outside rides (Autopia), but for a rare moment, Kieran did not care as he got to "drive the car".

Going to an amusement park as an adult can be fun, but going with your own kids is mindbogglingly better. I was last in Disneyland some 15-16 years ago. As an adult in a place like Disney, it is too easy to look past the glitz and illusions and miss the whole thing. But with a child in tow, looking to you to make it all real, its a vortex of fun ... every new turn is a new moment to revel in.

Throughout the day, Brian and I playfully vied with each other for the fun of riding with Kieran - it just made the whole place sparkle. Granted there were a bunch of new rides that Disney has added in the intervening years, but being there with the these two - WOW. Even Akira, who on many of the rides was alternately terrified (shown left) yet begging for more (actually signing "more" furiously as she let out wee wails), quickly learned that queuing up lead to more rides and would pull us toward lines with more-more-more.

Kieran was so enthralled with the mini rollercoaster that he begged to be taken on a big one. We picked the lowest key of the large roller coasters, and I got the honor of co-riding. We put our hands in the air and screamed our loudest screams together (it was brilliant). He did NOT want to go on with Brian a second time, but couldn't stop talking about it either.

We dragged Kieran out at 11 pm. By that point, the dogs were barking furiously, and it wasn't Goofy or Pluto.

In case you are wondering about the blog title, this is the song that the Fairy Godmother sings to Cinderella:

http://www.searchanylyrics.com/lyrics-60396-Disney-BibbidiBobbidiBoo.htm

WTF is a Yumburger?

Among other things, Santa Monica and Venice beach are famous for the Santa Monica Pier, the Venice Beach Boardwalk, places like Muscle Beach (a gym right on the boardwalk), and a frenzy of roller-bladers, roller skaters, skate boards, bikes, pick-up games of beach volleyball, street hockey and more. The "strip" is roughly a 1/2 a mile long stretch of cheap sun glass shops, head shops, t-shirt shops, grungy hippies, a good sprinkling of bad artists, a small handful of good ones, and even on a quiet morning like this one, no less than a dozen pan-handlers, including a half dozen "honest ones", with signs like "why lie, need money for beer, pot, etc". Oh, almost forgot. I counted at least 6 or more sidewalk vendors selling little bundles of sage for smudging, and I could not help thinking that there must be an awful lot of folks in Venice needing to clear bad karma, walking the boardwalk saying to themselves, oh yes, don't forget to pick up some sage for smudging. By the way, good karma is worth exactly $1 in Venice beach per the sign of one pan-handler. I say, why pay ... bad karma is free !

Kieran of course began the morning being unable to walk (I'm too tired mommy), but was perfectly capable of running almost a mile in the stone barrier next to the walk-way, provided I would pick him up and fly him between the gaps. Akira soon followed suite, but at a much slower pace.

Sadly we'd decided that even though we were taking the doubled car as Kieran likes to call it, we would only take our single rider stroller, as it would be easier to manage. 2 miles x 2 ways of beach, barrier, boardwalk, and backache (from carrying Akira on shoulders and sling as Kiearan insisted on riding in the stroller for the sections he wasn't running around like a hooligan) was enough to convince that there was no time like the present to acquire a buggy board for the back of the stroller. Thanks very much to a quick google search and a couple of phone calls, I found a store that was close enough to our next destination (the Hollywood walk of fame) to make it 'on the way'.

Like all tourist stops, the Hollywood walk of fame lives up to expectation. You don't expect to be wowed very much, its just gold stars on the ground with peoples names on it. At the Chinese Theater, all the really old ones are hand and foot prints with signatures drawn into the pavement. We saw the "squares" of the Marxs Brothers, Judy Garland, and Will Smith (somebody must have really liked Independence Day). But as you walk along the boardwalk weaving too and fro to avoid being run over by other tourists, casual noting that Jesus and Superman are walking together and chatting with each other across the street, and you start spotting name after name of star you know, well, its kind of fun, and you find yourself surprised that you are actually, just a little bit awed. Just little.

Of course the kids couldn't care one lick for the stars, but Kieran got a kick out of Sponge Bob, Snoopy, and Micky, and was mildly indifferent (at best) to the star of Winner the Pooh. His tour de force was the promised ice cream and being able to pick the flavor, the topping, and finishing not one, but two bowls of ice cream. If you can't see it, his whole body is hunched up (cold) and he's eating ever so slowly to stave of the ice cream headache that hits with every third bite.

Now we are on our way to the Anehiem Marriot near Disney (tomorrow) which I expect will fully blow Kieran's mind. We took a wrong turn and are in a very odd section of LA. Not scary at all (at least not at 7pm), but odd. We just past a Jollibee drive through restaurant that advertises Crispy Chickenjoy and Juicy Yumburger.

I think I can figure out what is in Chickenjoy sandwich, but what exactly is in a Yumburger?

8 days. 5 cites. 3 big attractions.

Mommy, can we take the doubled car?

So I've succumbed finally to the lure of a minivan. A sleek silvery blue Toyota Sienna, complete with leather seats, and a DVD player for the kiddies. I think the funny part for me is that years ago, when driving my sister's minivan and being told just how good I looked in it, and shuddering at the very thought, to now, knowing that not only was this the vehicle for me, but that I had eyes for no other... its just funny.

I won't say a whole lot about the dealership I dealt with, but as Brian points out, who cares if a car salesman does not like you, they are car salesman. I bargained pretty hard. They did not make much on me. The amusing highlights:

Thirty-Five: Just as I was leaving the dealership, the Indian gentleman asked if I saw the thirty-five. I of course had not seen a thirty-five and assumed it was a code name for some piece of paperwork they had. I said, what thirty-five. He said, no, thirty-five. This went back and forth for 3+ rounds, with me getting more and more confused (and likely him as well), until Brian said, "He want to know if you know its CERTIFIED."

"Are you serious? People are loosing their homes..." After having paid for my car, been handed the keys, walking out to leave, I noticed that I only had 1 remote for the car (supposed to have two), so I turned around and pointed this out to the "closer" (read extra slimy and very pushy guy that replaces your salesman) and he said that the car only came in with one, so that was all I got. I said that this had not been disclosed to me by my salesperson, and I expected two, so would he please do what needed to be done to arrange for me to get a second one. He said they didn't have one. I pointed out that they were a car dealership, and who better to have one than a Toyota dealership. He said I could purchase a second one one. I said I thought I had. He said that it was unfortunate I hadn't been told, but that is that. I said I wasn't leaving without a second one (you'll see this had escalated to a childish battle, but for what I paid, I am pretty sure I was in the right)... To which he exploded and almost yells, "Are you serious? People are loosing their homes... " Suddenly the head-head manager appears and instantly admonishes the closer and apologises to me (and it actually felt like an authentic apology, which is probably why he's the manager), and sends folks scurrying to produce another key fob.

The Magna Shield. In order to keep the deal and compensate for some minor damage in one of the leather seats, the salesman offered to throw in the MagnaShield interior & exterior treatment (see spray on treatment that cost $50 but is billed out at $795, and STINKS to high heaven). I said fine, not thinking what of what this would mean to me, Mrs. Scent Sensitive. Not only did Brian have to drive the car home, but he drove it for the next week, and every night we parked it in the garage with all the windows open so it could air out. We call her Stinky... Stinky Stella :)

Magic Number. Walking off the lot 3 times can save you $3000 or more dollars. Never show up without a copy of Edmonds and KBB in hand, don't purchase ANY aftermarket items through the dealer (200-1000% mark-up, and better quality through private installers), and it almost all cases, if you want a wrap around warranty, it is cheaper to purchase it from a private party than through the dealership. Oh yes, and when you are going to pay for and pick up your car, have a very sick husband and kids at home for nap so you can seriously say, "If I can walk out of here from start to finish in 1 hour, then we have a deal."

Beautiful, beautiful, wish you were here.

Great cities, great parks. Ever large city park has attractions that you go to, even if you live there, to know what the hubbub is all about. Since we've just moved here, we get to experience it all like tourist, but know that if something is really spectacular, we get to come back another day. The Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park, is one of those places. We went on Valentines day, and had the run of the place. No lines, no waiting, lovely tea, salty snacks, and well behaved kids. OK, Akira was sick and ended up with a 103 fever that night, and Kieran ran around like a madman and climbed all things climbable, but it was lovely as I wasn't having to stop him or keep him from careening into to many other tourist. There were a couple of lovely vistas, and its was certainly nice ... and because we staid for tea, we brought down our dollar per minute ratio down to a pleasant level. Its small, but beautiful, something a little lost on the kids. I'd go back with a visitor, but probably not with the kids.

Drinking the COOP cool-aid and PNS (Parents Nursery School)

So We just finished week 2 at our new coop and it is nothing short of fabulous. Kieran wants to go to school every day (a welcome change from our morning mantra of, "I DON'T want to go to school", especially the day that I go in to assist. For those in the know, the yard is about the size (or a little larger) than Murhpy Park, but with better and more interesting play equipment, 3+ large sand and digging areas, a path that circles and weaves through, and a large shed full of great toys - there are 5 or 6 fabulous tricycles, several bikes and scooters, enough helmets for everyone, trucks & shovels, galore (not to mention it all works/nothing is broken that would inhibit use by being broken), and a chicken coop with 3 chickens who lay eggs. The main building is 3000 or more square feet in 3 big rooms, has tons of well loved and fabulous toys, a great dress-up area and many a craft and project box.

Today was super fun and fast because we made cookies, which made my "station" the most popular place to be. What was great is that we got to make a big mess, get flour and sprinkles everywhere, from the cookies to, well, someones hair, and in the end, sweep it all up and eat yummy cookies (did I mention the full kitchen with not 1 but 2 stoves), and just let the kids go. The house rules are that as long as its safe, the kids get pretty free reign (no guns, pretend or otherwise, and "you can't say you can't play" are the other hard and fast rules). Its both hard and easy for me. Kieran of course immediately tries to push the mark and can make many an activity a danger to those around him, but is mellowing out and having fun. He got covered in flour today and loved every minute, and I got to let him do it without destroying the house.

Akira is thriving and quickly acclimating, and (YIPPEE) wandering off and being fine away from me. Many of the moms bring the younger siblings in who get to enjoy the school as well, and everyone keeps an eye out for the siblings as well, and quickly herds them back if a problem occurs. It amazing as by the time Akira is ready to be there, it will be so normal there should be no transition in leaving her for the day (I hope).

The moms so far seem welcoming and very nice overall ... a very warm response as is often typical of CA. The kids .. are kids. We are all having fun, which is how it should be.

I think we'll stay a while.

K2: Mommy, why do cowboys always ride west?

I had to think about this for a minute, and was about to offer a geography lesson to this clever question when Brian popped his head in and answered, "That is because cowboys are always riding off into the sunset, and the sun sets to the west."

We caught the sunset coming out of San Francisco on the ocean side yesterday. Sunset over the ocean in California is beautiful in winter. The colors are brilliant. This is the rainy season so there are often clouds making it all the more spectacular, and there is nothing like the sun setting into or coming up from the ocean.

Adventure day was San Francisco to the Randall Museum, a small museum set close to the top of one of the hills that overlook most of San Fran, and give a breathtaking view of downtown, the Golden Gate Bridge, and other parts as well. It is between the Castro and the Haight district, so after the museum, and a hike up to the highest point on the hill to drink in the view, we headed down to Haight St for lunch. The luncheonette recommended by our "Fodor's Around San Francisco with Kids" (thank you Trish!) had a line out the door so we headed down the block soaking in the ambiance of all sorts of cool and eclectic shops, from a Himalayn store, 3 or 4 smoke and head shops, a stained glass place, and more "vintage" stores than you can shake a stick at.

Our wanderings took us to a South African restaurant (think Addis Red Sea in Boston) for some amazing finger food cuisine that even Kieran gobbled up (yummy). Afterwards, I headed back to the car to have Kiwi nap for a while, and Brian and Keiran headed back toward the museum to climb up to the top of a second hill-top park, and reported even more amazing views. Kiwi fell asleep while nursing so I walked with her in the sling and wandered Haight St. As I walked into and out of various vintage stores, I thought it would be great to come back as there were lots of cool and offbeat clothes to check out. After a few blocks, I spotted a Goodwill. Someone once said that a thrift store can tell you a lot about an area. There is one a few blocks from where we are that is always hopping, but I can't understand why. One quick look in will tell you that its thoroughly picked over and the chances of finding something worth the time is close to non-existent. On Haight St., SF, the Goodwill is all about designer labels. Its fun to walk through the store - its clean, well organized, well let, and well stocked. I picked up a little knit sweater for $3.49 (a fancy french label), and $1 for a beautifully beaded purse for Akira (probably $100 in Nordstroms if it was a dime), and a skateboard helmet for Kieran. Total under $10. This is a place where you could dress in style for $9.99 or less (OK maybe more if you actually wanted shoes and a coat). Kiwi slept through the whole thing. I'll have to go back someday when I can actually try stuff on!

Wilkie Court: The walking tour

So in case you wanted to see what our new place looked like, I've included a walk through video. The place is bitchin! If I'd known all I had to do is come to Silicon Valley to get amazing weather, a big house, and a beautiful yard, neighbors who are bringing over cake and cookies like it was the 50's (OK, so most of them have been here since someplace around then - we are one of 2 young couples on the cul-de-sac with everyone else being a geriatric) was leave everything I know, my family, and live with the thought of earthquakes, well I'd have done it years ago :) Well perhaps not, but this place is fabulous so far.



In the distance, I just heard the train blow its horn as it went by. I was briefly worried, but it goes by so quickly that its a matter of seconds and its somewhat distant. Brian referred to it the other day as, "the sound of affordability", which suddenly put a lovely and positive spin on it.

Sad thing about this house is that we are going to get totally spoiled, and if time comes to buy our own place, what we can rent and what we can buy here ... Let us just say that there is NO cross-over. If the economy breaks down to the point that we can (technically) buy a house like this, we won't be able to buy it anyway, because we'll be paying $20 for a bottle of water instead :)

Mommy, there is crap on my sock

Symmetry - how sweet the sound it is.

So the most amazing thing about this week is not that we've totally landed on our feet, or that we found this amazing house in the 11th hour, or that its been 68-70 degrees almost every day making afternoon park time an absolute pleasure, or that we all survived a stomach bug in 24-48 hours with no permanent effects ... its that Akira signed to me that she needed her diaper changed!!! Only happened once, and then the stomach virus hit, so we'll see if she picks it up again.

I'm reminded of something my mom said more than once, and that is that she loved having kids and watching them develop, that she was on pins and needles (ok I'm paraphrasing here) waiting to find out what little person would emerge, who they would be, what they would be like, and what they would say. Akira is turning out to be a cutie-patutie!

My funniest moment (other than reading Brian's "guest blog" below, was Kieran coming into the kitchen last night and firmly labeling the wood chips and such stuck to his socks as, "Mommy, there is crap on my sock," and Brian saying "Kieran, you should say socks, not sock, because there is crap on both socks" as I diligently tried not to laugh .. too hard...

Settled in Style: 4129 Wilkie Court, Palo Alto CA 94306

Not much to look at from this photo, but we did it. We found a place and closed on it (its a lease, not a sale), just 18 hours shy of the moving truck coming. I'd looked most of this week and seen over a dozen places, mostly crappy or shoddy, and even though hand down this is the nicest of them by far, I think I wasn't ready for the search to be over, or at least I didn't expect things to pan out at the last minute like this. I hemmed and I hawed and I couldn't say exactly why... the kitchen was a little small and dated, the train closer than I wanted, the sun at the wrong angle (just kidding). Brian saw the video and was baffled by my response. He suggested that I go and hang out in the area this morning, and by the time I was done, it was a done deal.

Its big (2000 sq ft), all on one level (ranch style), has a lovely fenced yard, and is 500 ft from a park. The kitchen is a bit small and outdated, but the rest of the place is nice and huge (yes, huge). We've got 3 bedrooms, and office, a dining room, and essentially 2 living rooms - one of which will be the play room. Oh, and a big 2 car garage, a driveway that fits 2 cars, and the house is on a quiet cul-de-sac. Its centrally located, although it is on the "other side of the tracks" from old Palo Alto, which means that for the particular neighborhood, you get a lot more bang for your buck. The same rent near where the temp house is, just 8 or 9 blocks away, gets you 2 minuscule bedrooms in an OK house, or 3+ dilapidated bedrooms in a crappy house. Old Palo Alto vs New Palo Alto which was still farmland up until the 50s. Also, much of Palo Alto is near the train tracks, and this is a hair closer than I thought I'd be into, but after spending 2 hours at the local park and then the house I decided that we should take it.

Funny thing is - because it was on the other side of the tracks, I almost did not go look at it - really decided to at the last possible moment, called, and found out there was to be an open house an hour later. And this morning, sort of like when you see something on ebay and decide you might want to bid on it and get committed out side of reason, there was a bit of a frenzy for this place (someone after us offered $100 more a month, but a later start date), which we apparently won by a matter of minutes. In this market, to have several people go after the same house seems to be unheard of. You should have seen how flustered the rental agent was that people were even waiting for the open house.

Yes, yet again, a little patients and perseverance turned up what will hopefully be a diamond in the not so ruff.

The Value of Roughing It (Guest Blogged by Brian)

Our first two weeks in California have been fun and exciting, but they have not been easy. Yes, we have enjoyed fun day trips here and there, and we're very much appreciating the mild, sunny climate. But while waiting for the movers to bring our possessions over from snowy Boston, we've had to do without some of the basics for a while: basics like furniture, warm blankets, and television. Even our internet access has been intermittent. While these hardships have been trying, I think they have brought us closer together as a family and will make us stronger people individually.

I am not above "roughing it" or "camping out." I am a man's man, and I own flannel shirts. I think the fact that we have to drive two miles to Starbucks every morning for our lattes is exhibit A that we can harness our wild environment.

But this week we have been sleeping on airbeds; sitting on milk crates with plates in our laps for our meals; relaxing on a set of blankets spread out on the hardwood floor that we refer to as "the couch" (in times of destitution it is important to maintain one's aptitude for irony); cooking with rudimentary facilities and limited supplies (we have only two pots and one small frying pan); dining out at places that don't have tablecloths or stemware; and trying to watch movies on a laptop screen.

But what has buoyed us throughout all of this is the knowledge that there are people in the world who are far worse off than we have been. In some third-world countries whole families must live in a room the size of a hamper. They are forced to eat nothing but the tamarinds and coconuts they find on the beaches. Instead of bifocals, they all have monocles and can only see out of one eye at a time. And their drinking water comes directly from sewage pipes, where they must hold out their demitasse cups to be filled and sipped, filled and sipped, filled and sipped. It's a monotonous and dangerous life in such places (I know this firsthand, because I saw it on television once).

Our time in this desolation has left me pensive moments to reflect on my family, and I have concluded that if we focus on the misfortune of others, it helps us to better appreciate the things that we already have. But if we spend too much time focusing on them, we won't have time to think about all the cool stuff we could be buying.

And I think that is a lesson for all of us.

Buzz Butt Bumblebee

So the kids have been troopers the past few days. As you all know, we are in temporary housing - good for a 3+ months, but we need to have found a new home by then. Our stuff arrives on Saturday, afternoon, so if we'd happened to have found a place by then, we'd only have to move once. So to that end, I've quickly sifted through the availability inventory and have sadly not found anything I'd take hands down. There is a lot of really crappy real estate out there, but for sale and for rent. I am continually amazed at the stuff that has clearly rented before and landlords that are surprised that one might object to (including but not limited to), 200 year old kitchens (at leas they look that way), buckled flooring, 1950's kitchen appliances (can't believe they still work), converted garages being passed as bedrooms (look ma, just add carpet and a full wall shelf that blocks the doors), "move in condition" means its currently vacant, and "no major problems" apparently excludes sewer back-up and a whole house termite fumigation.

All I can say is thank god for google maps and craigslist. I can look at photos, get a "street view" look, a quick satellite view to see the yard and general neighborhood, go back to street view to "walk" down the street and see the neighborhood, and all before I've made a call to rule a place out.

All said and done, with a little diligence, there are nice places, and with a little patients, one of them will become our new home.

If I don't kill Kieran first, he may even get to enjoy it. Today in one of the rentals, he a. tried to slide down the stairs face first, b. tried to climb the brick fireplace to the ledge above, c. benign - picks a citrus fruit at every house that has one. We've had oranges, lemons, and grapefruit to date, some ripe, some not so ripe,

So we are surviving. As of 10:36 pm on Thursday, we are staying the course and keeping with this place until the right place come up.

More on this topic later.

More monkeys than you can shake a stick at.

This morning I woke up to white frosted grass in the front yard and and the pools of water collected on the hot tub's rain cover (don't be jealous - it is non-functional) were frozen solid.

So of course we decided it was a perfect day to go to the skating rink in downtown San Jose for Kieran to go ice skating. It was a beautiful day for it. Kieran and Brian skated in sweaters and jeans while Kiwi and I took in the granite staircase in front of San Jose's art museum, and thier lobby which had a fabulous exhibit of carboard monkies.

Sadly the only photos I have of Kieran skating are on my phone, so they'll never make it here.

I have to admit the exhibit made me want to start making art again... or monkeys ... or maybe just some cool craft projects with the kids. Arm with with a cardboard box, a glue gun, and some markers and baby, watch out!

Tomorrow Kieran starts his new school, and Brian goes to his new work. Big day!

The scope of things

A very simple pleasant day.
We hung out at the house, the park, and the library.
Kiwi sat under a very big tree.

He left a poop at Rotten Robbie's

Morning and a forecast of rain found us heading out to San Jose to the Tech Museum (free with our reciprocal MOS pass), and we lucked out as downtown San Jose still had Christmas Town up - tons of X-Mas trees on white felt that looked like dirty driven snow. The museum itself was nice and had a good number of decent exhibits, which says a lot after just having been to the Exploratorium. Would have been great if not for the $20 parking in downtown SJ.

After lunch, we headed out to take Kieran to see the Tales of Despereaux, which was very cute. So many different story lines, but sweet. Akira slept through most of it (amazing the number of things we've pulled of this week while the kid(s) were napping.

By the time we got out at 3:30, there were huge patches of blue sky and fabulous cloud formations, and just as we got on the highway and saw signs for Santa Cruz (also 35-40 minutes away), we both got the same idea and decided to head there for sunset. We arrived down at the shoreline on West Cliff Bvld to see a bunch of surfers taking advantage of the last waves of the day. It was amazing as we huddled together at the top of the cliffs in 45 degree weather to see the surfers hanging out in the water. I don't care how thick the wetsuit is, you've got to be crazy or young to go sit on a board and get soaking wet in January. True enough, those that came out of the water were in there late teens... The sunset was beautiful and lovely as sunsets are.

We had dinner on the Santa Cruz pier with an old CA girlfriend of mine, and then headed back into town, when Kieran suddenly announced his burning need, and with a grimace and a pre-stunk gas station restroom, he left something behind.

Holy Toledo Batman

Wow. Wow. Wow. The Exploratorium (www.exploratorium.edu) in San Fran is like the very best of every hands on museum I've ever been to, all in one place, and to a factor of 10. It has an amazing number of exhibits, and just about all of them work (sorry MOS). The place stretches on for ages, and after 2+ hours, we'd made a pretty decent stab at a lot of the exhibits, but had skipped as many. It was hard to get through because either Kieran or Kiwi (or both) would be riveted with a particular exhibit and not want to move on. My favorite moment was sitting with Kieran at a huge echo tube and singing "the grand old duke of york" together, and another was wearing a pair of headphones with "goat ears" attached which scooped the sound in interesting ways - I could hear things very clearly in whatever direction faced ... and they made both Kieran and Akira laugh when they saw me.

We headed out during naps over the Golden Gate Bridge to Muir Beach, and drove over the mountains and through windy roads to the beach and discovered that even in winter, beaches are quite popular in CA. Kieran and Brian headed down to the water where Kieran discovered that it is virtually impossible to touch the water without getting wet, especially when one is trying to outrace a wave. When I got there with Akira, Kieran asked if we could hike up the hill that overlooked the beach, so we went about 2/3rds of the way up - a goodly hike for K2. A backroad down lead near a marsh and some very interesting dried spiny weeds - made me wish I could have been collecting for one of my dried bouquets.

The drive back from the beach brought us back into a misty day. The views of the cloud shrouded and back lit hills was breathtaking, as was the thought of biking up the windy, twisty, steep roads as cars whizzed by.

We headed for home, stopping in China Town for a quick lunch ($12.50 for 2 full entrees, assorted tidbits, and delicious pot stickers and a large helping of MSG). Well, it was cheap and tasty. The streets were crowded with shoppers grabbing groceries, and in the cold as we hurried by shop after shop of strange dried oddities, all Kieran could say is, "its smells really yucky". Thank god its not summertime - even I'd be scurrying away - too many dried anchovies!