Sue and Dan's visit...

Sue arrived on Thursday Mar 11th at 12:30pm.  Dan had arrived on Sunday the 7th as he had two weeks of training in Dublin which started on Monday the 8th.  After picking Sue up at the airport, we came back home for some lunch and then for a walk to the beach.

Friday evening after his training finished, Dan took BART to Daly City.  We picked him up at 6:30pm so he could spend the weekend with us.

Saturday we went to the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose as this was something that they were interested in, and we hadn't been there in decades!  It's still an amazing place, and it seems that we got to see lots more this time than before.  We also got to tour some of the out-buildings and the basement.  While Sarah Winchester was probably more than a little whacky, she was also very business oriented, and did a great trade with the fruit orchards surrounding the house.  She also generated her own power, had a well for all of her water needs, collected water from watering the plants in her conservatory, via drains out into the garden.  She slept in a different bedroom every night, and devised a call-system for the servents, which showed them approximately where in the house she was.  We all enjoyed the experience tremendously, and also learned that in addition to Winchester rifles, the Winchester company also made lawn mowers, tools, roller skates and a whole host of useful products - who knew??

The Winchester Mystery House

Here's one of the many quirks of this house - note the door above, which opens out onto...nothing!

Susie and Dan at the front door of the house

After visiting the Winchester Mystery House, we went to Chevy's in San Jose, which was close to Cirque du Soleil, which we had tickets to see.  Dinner was great!  You just can't beat Chevy's for consistent food.  And I can't go there without remembering countless family dinners at the Chevy's in Redwood City, when Cody, Lindsay, Nathan and Kelsey were small.

Cirque du Soleil was fabulous!  The show was OVO, and the amazing stunts they did were up to their usual standards.  We all really enjoyed it!

Sunday we took Susie and Dan to Filoli!  Susie had been amazed by all the grass and blooming flowers here, since they are still blanketed with snow, so we had to let them experience the daffodils, tulips, etc., to further enhance her spring fever!  The weather was beautiful - nice and warm!

After Filoli, it was home for dinner, as we had to give Dan back.  Lee bar-b-qued tri tips, which were delicious.  It was a sad trip to Bart, but we promised Dan that we wouldn't have any fun after he left!

We may have lied, but then again, maybe not!  Depends on your perspective.  Monday we did a wander around Half Moon Bay, then went to Hillsdale and did some shopping!  We finished up our trip with a trip to Trader Joe's, then it was home for dinner and a quiet evening.

Sue left on Tuesday afternoon, so that gave us time to take a walk down to the beach again before she left.

We had a great time, and hope that Sue and Dan will come back again, and bring their son, Clay (15) and Sue's Mom, Vivian!  Maybe this summer?

Thanks for coming, Sue and Dan!

Daffodils at Filoli Gardens

This past Sunday we went to Filoli Gardens. We were lucky as we finally got there to see the daffodils in bloom. Even though we have visited the gardens many times, we somehow get there just after they have finished blooming. As you can see from the pictures below, the daffodils were amazing!

The garden is just coming to life and into bloom and we are planning on visiting again in a couple of weeks to see how much the garden has grown.

We hope you enjoy these beautiful pictures.

Forsythia

California has Koru too.

The camperdown elm still asleep

Fun with Grandkids! Nathan and Hailey Visit

Nathan and Hailey arrived at our house on Wednesday night, for a visit. Nathan is on leave from the Coast Guard, and he wanted to come down and see some Sharks hockey games (oh, and us, too!), and invited his cousin Hailey to come along with him, since she also enjoys hockey.


They arrived in San Jose on Tuesday, Grandpa John met them at the airport and they went straight to the hockey game - which San Jose lost!

Wednesday they visited friends and then we picked them up Wednesday night. On Thursday we let them sleep in, then, once everyone was up and ready we went to Hillsdale Mall. Nathan wanted to do a bit of shopping and Hailey had some souvenirs to pick up as well. After the mall, we came home and had a walk on the beach.


We went down to the marine reserve, and Hailey found a star fish that had been washed up. We walked through the neighborhood, then up to the Montara lighthouse. The kids got some great ocean shots, and we took pictures of them. Then it was back home, where Lee fired up the grill and cooked some steaks! We ate early, as Lee, Nathan and Hailey were off to the second Sharks game at 5:30. Three very happy people got home about 11:00 pm, as the Sharks had won the game, in the last period! Very exciting!


On Friday we had a full day planned! We got everyone up early, and with a picnic lunch, headed to the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate park. We enjoyed the aquarium, the planetarium and all of the other exhibits. The kids went to the King Tut exhibit, as it is due to leave SF at the end of this month to go to it's final exhibition site in Cairo. Lee and I had already seen it, but it was a great opportunity for Nathan and Hailey to see it, without going to Cairo.


A little before 5, Lee went out to the car for our change of clothes, as we were off to Teatro Zinzanni, a fabulous dinner show in San Francisco. The show was great and we all really enjoyed it. The kids weren't too sure about some of the gourmet cuisine, but they did well. It was nearly midnight when we got home, so we decided that everyone could sleep in as late as they wanted! Except if they weren't up by 10:30, I would roust them out! Well, Hailey was the last one up, but it was just about 10:00 am.


Saturday evening was game number 3. And since they were spending Saturday night with Grandpa John, they needed to be packed up and ready to go before we left for San Jose. We left here a little after 2 pm and made a brief stop at Hillsdale. Nathan and Lee went to Barnes and Noble, Hailey and I went to Old Navy. They both came out with bags. : )


Then on to San Jose to the Sharks store! We had about 45 minutes there before it closed, and both Nathan and Hailey were able to find things they wanted, but Nathan was disappointed that they had no Heatley jerseys. Hailey got a really cute Sharks hoodie, so she was all ready for the game. Nathan also found things for his youngest siblings.

At 5, we walked down the street to Amici pizza for dinner. We were able to sit outside and eat, which was wonderful. Nathan insisted on buying dinner (thank you, Nathan!). After we ordered, Nathan and I took our Sharks purchases to the car and got our jackets for the game.

We dined leisurely, although the crowd of people waiting for a table, any table, grew, so we headed down to the Shark tank, where we discovered that it was beanie day! We all got Sharks beanies, so Nathan and Hailey were Sharks completely!

At the Shark tank Nathan discovered that they DID have Dany Heatley jerseys! Score!! He also got a hooded zip-front sweat shirt that he had looked at in the store, but not in his size. Not only did they have his size, but it was on sale, 40% off! Nathan was a happy camper, and the game hadn't even started!!


We had great, lower bowl seats! Nathan and Hailey went down to watch the warm-ups and to see the Sharks players come out of the locker room. Nathan got a great movie of them coming out, and Hailey got to high-five all of them! Two very excited, happy people!!


Then the game started! The Sharks were making shots at the goal like crazy, but no scoring, by either team, in the first period. At the beginning of the second period, the other team scored, so we were down 1 - 0. We maintained that score through the second period, and continued to make shots, but to no avail. I think that the Sharks need to sign that goalie!!

Finally, in the 3rd period, we got two more goals, on power plays, and held on to win the game 2-1. It was pretty exciting, and adding a Sharks win to all of the other "wins" of the day was frosting on the cake.


And, then it was time to take them back to Grandpa John's, as he was taking them to the airport on Sunday morning for their return trip home. We had a fabulous time with them, and really miss them! I'm sure that they will return again, though - Nathan will need regular Sharks fixes, and since they're right in our back yard, we'll benefit!


Thanks, Nathan and Hailey, for coming to visit us!

Hailey finds a starfish on the beach

See? A starfish!

Nathan and Hailey with sea life

Nathan and Hailey with the giant "asparagus"! It's a century cactus, with a HUGE bloom!

In front of the shark sign at the youth hostel, located at the lighthouse in Montara

On the bluffs

At the lighthouse in Montara. This is one of the lighthouses that Dave maintained when he was in the Coast Guard.

At the aquarium

Hailey and Nathan

They took this picture of us as we entered the Academy of Sciences - it turned out really well!

In front of the lion statue

Going in to the King Tut exhibit

At Teatro Zinzanni, all dressed up!

More pictures at Teatro Zinzanni. Nathan's mohawk got quite a bit of attention from the performers - we half expected him to be chosen to participate.

On Saturday we stopped at the statue place so that Nathan and Hailey could play with the dinosaurs, and Hailey could take pictures of them for her friend, Brandy.

At the Sharks tank! Sharks sweatshirts and beanies!

During the game - everyone looks pretty happy!

Heatley jersey!!

Nathan looks like his life is pretty complete! And we hadn't even won at that point! : )

A wonderful three days with grandkids!!