My dad is the baby in the picture — with two of his sisters and his dad.
My dad isn’t doing too hot…he is really sick - and has a psycho appendage who is oblivious to life and isn’t taking very good care of my dad, so I went up to visit him on behalf of the family and took over. As we had expected..he is doing horribly, so the kids all went into high gear to get him back to himself. I spent four days in Utah, and meanwhile the kids were with Micah and Nonnie. I HATE leaving the kids, but according to the adults…they were awesome!
The first day I left, Scout and Navy hosted a backyard party for Dash and Pippi. My mom said they were so cute with them, and really took charge. Apparently, they had all sorts of crafts going on, and kept the kids entertained for hours. How cute!
BUT…..this is the day that poor Navy did a science experiment of putting soap into the microwave to turn it into foam. She put in the wrong soap, so instead of turning into foam, the soap turned into hot lava…and came pouring out onto Navy’s foot. She got third degree burns on her foot! But how smart was Navy…who immediately ran straight to the pool, and stopped the burning as she soaked her foot. My mom said her screams were like screams she has never heard before! But good old tough Navy got bandaged up, and apparently…has not made even one peep about it since it happened.
That’s saying a lot…because I have had the teeniest tiniest burns that kill for days!
Navy is literally the toughest girl I know — and the best part — she is allergic to complaining!
Another day, micah took the kids to fish. they didn’t have great fishing success, but he said they all had a blast — end even jumped off the pier after.
(not Pippi)
Notice Navy’s sock covering her bandage.
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As a mom, it is always a battle to get your kids to be awesome. But then it is moments/days like these when you are MIA. And those are really the times to see who your kids really are. And based on what I have seen for the past few days — my kids are awesome.
Several months ago, Scout mentioned that he wanted to see Alcatraz.
Done…I made tickets that day.
Fast forward to the trip…when Micah and I were discussing the trip and we realized that we never made Alcatraz tickets!!!
AND THEY ARE SOLD OUT FOR FOUR MONTHS!
Whoops!
Good thing we found out that we can get up at 5am and wait for unclaimed tickets.
The travel was easy.
Especially when we discovered that Pippi holding a bag with her BYOO in it…made her 100% happy!
The kid’s first cable car ride was a total rip off…but pretty fun — especially for Navy, who was hanging off like a monkey the whole time.
(Cautious Scout wouldn’t hang, and we wouldn’t let Dash hang!)
Chinatown was filthy and beyond crowded.
But this shop owner loved Scout’s Mandarin, and gave him a 30 minute character writing lesson!
The hills were steep, and everyone was taking the help they could.
Scout was particularly rad as he pushed Nonnie up a crazy steep hill.
And Navy is always rad…helping anyone who needs it.
The freezing cold 5am Alcatraz morning came, and we spent a few hours in line for tickets….which we got!!!
Notice that Dash is drinking hot chocolate because it was so cold — without a shirt! I told him the only way he could have hot chocolate, was if he took his shirt off because he would surely spill. He said he would, and although he was getting funny stares, we were cracking up at oxymoronic Dash!
Alcatraz has been redone. When I was little, there were tour guides. Now it is automated, which I was bummed about. UNTIL I did it. The tour was fantastic. Maybe the best tour I have ever been on. Alcatraz ended up being a big hit…especially since were were home from the island before noon.
The ultimate hit of the trip (besides UBER) was the food. The farmer’s market at the Ferry Building was amazing. It is literally the only thing I would go back to San Francisco for. It was amazing.
Then Micah took us to Little Tokyo for the fresh mochi. It was also amazing…and the difference between little Tokyo and Chinatown was embarrassing. Little Tokyo was spotless, everyone was very kind and proper…and it was a favorite stop of ours!
But as always — the best food we found, was delicious cheeses and bread to constantly munch on.
Our final stop was Fisherman’s Wharf.
It was really crowded…REALLY CROWDED…but we did find a rad shop with every arcade game from the beginning of arcade games.
Some favorite moments from the trip:
When all of the kids would get under Micah’s sweatshirt when they were cold.
When Micah found Pippi’s disgusting duck friend in his delicious mochi.
(Apparently, Duckie needed a nap.)
And the best moment of all came after a long and hot day of walking around. As soon as we got back in the hotel room, we watched Dash and Pippi go straight to their respective blankets, and cuddle them in the corner for about 15 minutes. When Navy saw them, she said she thought they were saying their prayers! I told them no….they are just worshiping their cozy idols.
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I said it last time and forgot about it….but San Francisco, I never plan to go back to see you. You and your transients…have a good time wreaking of urine, with WAY too many people per square foot.
Good thing I really enjoy being with my family…because at least I had that!
When Scout found an old teeny tiny diaper…he went into full Zoolander mode.
A few of his perfected poses were:
Party on the Beach
Flying Chicken
Iron Buns
Featured above…you see “Party on a Beach”!
Honestly….this kid had us laughing so hard. Partly because he was so funny. Partly because he was so shameless!
Pippi wanted me to take pictures of her jumping — you know, action shots!
I told her she has a “flamingo jump” — she jumps gracefully, with one leg bent up.
Then then twips wanted in.
I told them they all had to jump in different directions so they didn’t land on each other.
But in the end, Pippi wasn’t liking how “squishy” they made her feel.
I love seeing my kids play with educational toys. Scout got this rad circuit board from Uncle Dave, and it is great — teaches a ton of science stuff. So whenever Scout is away, Dash breaks it out, and gets working. He especially loves the experiment where he can send this spinning top flying in the air.
And as soon as he heard Scout comet through the front door, he quickly put it away, and ran off!
Part of me is bugged with Scout’s stuff that can’t be touched. Part of me thinks Scout is smart to not let the “master of disaster” touch his things.
But in this case…”what Scout can not see won’t hurt him”…is my mantra.
After three hours in the pool, it was high time the kids came out for a snack.
Clearly Pippi was excited about what Dash was telling her — maybe it was that they were going to spend another 2 hours in the pool…which they did!
Have I ever said that a pool is the greatest thing you can do for your kids?
Pippi didn’t see me as I was secretly videoing her make up session. She spent about 15 minutes putting her makeup on meticulously, and talked herself through it the whole time. It was pretty stinking cute. And after she did her makeup and got prepared for the day, she was over at her playhouse taking care of her 45 “babies” all morning.
This girl is a total grown up in a child’s body.
To say she will be a good grown up is a given.
Dash sits in the shadow of Scout on the Rubiks Cube. But when Britni was over for the afternoon, I called Dash out of the hot tub to let him show off his skills. Britni was in shock! Actually…his late improvement had me in shock too. He moved those piece so fast, and none of his moves made sense in my mind…but about a minute after starting, Dash had his side complete. It was highly impressive!
So yes…Dash is currently in the shadow.
But Scout… you better watch out… the sun is moving, and Dash is going to be exposed!
Leave it to Navy to create fun for the Twips. She created a whole afternoon of fun, including this kidnic with a “real” tea party and snacks. No wonder the second Navy is on the scene, the twips don’t leave her side!
I feel like every summer there is “the talk”.
The talk that consists of how we act, what summer really looks like (it isn’t responsibility free), what manners are, what R-E-S-P-E-C-T is, and so forth.
The talk usually helps for a week or so…and then we have the mini talk.
I think it is obvious, that based on the picture above…we might have been a week or so late for this talk.
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