Saturday, July 28, 2012

Dylan and Haley's visit...

Grandson Dylan and his girlfriend, Haley came for a visit!  They had visited us two years before and had flown down, but this time they drove down in Dylan's new car.  They arrived on Saturday evening, and outside of the stress of driving through San Francisco (there is no good time to do that!), they had a great trip.

Dylan arrived with all of the parts and pieces to build a gaming computer, so he and Lee spent Sunday getting most of it together.  Haley and I got bored with that after awhile, so we went shopping and to Starbucks!  When we got home, they had come to a standstill, as they needed a couple of cords.

Sunday night we went to dinner to celebrate Lee's birthday!  We had dinner at Sushi Main St., one of our all-time favorite restaurants on the coast.  The sushi was wonderful as usual!

On Monday we picked up the cables that Dylan needed, then drove to the east bay.  Nathan had volunteered to drive a Coast Guard boat up to the CG station in Alameda, and was going to be free for awhile once it was delivered.  We met him at the Hilton Hotel in Oakland, and after he changed into "civies", and having a great lunch at the hotel restaurant, we headed for San Francisco.

Walking across the Golden Gate Bridge was on Haley's "bucket list" for this trip, so that was our first stop.  It was pretty cold and windy, but we started across anyway.  We decided at the half-way point that we had gone far enough - the other half of the bridge was covered in fog, anyway!

Our next stop was the Ghirardelli Square ice cream shop, where we all shared an "earthquake" - a huge ice cream concoction with lots of syrups and ice cream.  We didn't quite finish it, but did a pretty good job!

Then it was time to take Nathan back to the hotel as he had an early morning start the next day to drive back to Long Beach.  But it was great to see him, thank you, Coast Guard!
Dylan, Haley and Nathan amused themselves (and us!) all afternoon by naming all of the original 150 Pokemon, except two!  It was quite amazing!  They got the two remaining Pokemon when we got home, as Haley has them all listed, in order, on her facebook page!

On Tuesday we drove down to Santa Cruz for some sun and fun at the beach and boardwalk.  Dylan and Haley enjoyed the rides and Lee and I enjoyed the sun.  We had a picnic lunch and whiled away the day until the sun began to go down and it got cool.

On Wednesday Dylan and Haley went to Great America and had a great time there, with more rides and the water park.

On Thursday we went into San Francisco.  We took BART in and got off at the Powell St. stop.  We walked through Union Square and up into China Town.  The kids had been looking for San Francisco sweatshirts, and we found them there.  We had a great dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, and then went to the Symphony!  It was a grand and glorious day, and we were all pretty tired at the end of the day.

Then it was Friday and the kids left!  Dylan loaded up his new super-fast gaming computer, and all their stuff, we packed them a lunch, and off they went.  They spent the first night in Oregon and the second night in Seattle so they could do some outlet shopping!  It's all about the journey, you know!

Now they are safely home and back at work.  We had a great time visiting with them, and hope that they had a great vacation.  We're planning on them in two years!


Dylan and Grandpa with computer components!  They actually built it and it actually worked!!
Sushi Main Street!  The chef built Haley a special teriyaki beef roll!
Brother reunion!  It had been a year since they had seen each other.  Nathan is in his work uniform and carrying his sea bag, ready to check into the hotel
Dylan, Nathan, Grandma and Haley
Ready to walk the bridge!  Don't let Nathan's attire fool you - it wasn't warm!  In fact, they have hot chocolate!
In honor of the Golden Gate Bridges 75th birthday, they were taking pictures!
We thought this was hysterical!
The best kind of Earthquake - 8 scoops of ice cream, whipped cream, bananas, cherries - the works!
Thumbs up!  Have to admit that it was pretty good!
Although not nearly as attractive!
Lunch on the deck in the sun!  Haley and I had gotten pedicures this morning, since we were going to the symphony in the evening
Santa Cruz!!
Artichokes are one of Dylan's favorites and we always have them when he's here.  Haley - not so much!  We found these artichokes in Half Moon Bay that had been allowed to bloom!  Haley was even more convinced that these thistles were NOT food!
The hearts in San Francisco
Some nice lady took this picture of the four of us - then asked for a donation
The Golden Gate Bridge in a heart.  These decorated hearts are all over the city
The entrance to China Town
Dylan and Haley joined the "see no evil" trio by covering their ears, mouth, and closing their eyes!
At the entrance to China Town.  These sculptures are on both sides of the street
Success!  San Francisco sweatshirts!!
On the deck at the Cheesecake factory, waiting for a table
After the symphony at the BART station, heading home
Standing room only!
Time to go home - sad faces!!  No, we didn't make them leave
That's better!  Heading off on a great journey through the redwoods, then shopping and then home!  Life is good!

And there they go, in Dylan's new car.  Come back soon, you guys - we had a great time!

The Brown's visit

Our dear friends from Phoenix, AZ, Betty and John arrived for a visit, along with most of their family.  John, Betty and granddaughter Ashley arrived on Saturday evening, their daughter Leslee and her kids Katelynn and Matthew arrived on Sunday morning, and their son Jon and his family arrived on Monday morning.  Son Jim and his wife Kristi weren't able to make it, sadly.

We had a great time!  They rented the Little Red House, which is around the corner from us and just down the street from the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve.  The kids loved the beach and playing in the water.  Katelynn, Matthew and Ashley also found a lot of sea glass and have begun their own collections!  Betty and John also did some beach combing and found sea glass.

We went into San Francisco, where most of them went on a tour to Alcatraz.  Lee, Betty and I stayed behind, and spent some time at Pier 39, as well as enjoying the beautiful sunshine that day - it was quite a treat!  Everyone enjoyed Alcatraz, and then went to the Aquarium by the Bay, which is located very near the pier for Alcatraz.  The kids all did some shopping and got souvenirs from San Francisco.

We celebrated the 4th of July by attending the Half Moon Bay 4th of July parade.  It's a real "small town experience", complete with tractors, horses, kids and pets, etc.  All of the participants in the parade throw out candy for the people watching so Ashley, Matthew and Katelynn each had a bag of candy when it was over - better than Halloween!
In keeping with tradition, we bar-b-qued hamburgers and hot dogs and had all the accompaniments to go along.  Lee lit a fire in our fire pit - the first one ever and except for the smoke everyone enjoyed the warmth.

We spent a great day at Santa Cruz, too.  We left foggy, overcast Moss Beach and about 30 minutes down the road, the sky turned blue and the sun came out!  We took a picnic and set up camp on the beach.  The kids had a great time on all the rides and with the amusement park food - they even had deep-fried Twinkies and oreos!

We went to San Francisco a second day and drove through China Town so the kids could see it.  It was really busy and crowded so we didn't try and stop, but it's on the "next time" list.  We went to Fisherman's Wharf and visited Hyde Street Pier, where 17th & 18th century sailing ships are open for touring.  Very interesting look at maritime history.  Of course, no stop is complete without an ice cream at the Ghirardelli Square ice cream shop!  They each found personalized bracelets from a street vendor, saw the cable cars at Bay Street and saw a different part of San Francisco.  Then it was time to go home for dinner.

The next day, sadly, people began leaving - Leslee and her kids and Jon and his family both flew out on Saturday morning.  Then Betty, John and Ashley got all loaded up and hit the road, as they had driven up.  And then it was awfully quiet around here!  Lee and I didn't quite know what to do with ourselves!

So, thanks you guys, for coming to visit us!  We had a wonderful time and we hope that you will all be back!  There's still lots of stuff to do!

Leslee, Matthew, Katelynn and Ashley at the Little Red House.  Jon and his family stayed there, too, as there were two "bunk rooms" in the back, that accommodated everyone
Ashley at the beach
Granddad and Ashley, taking a picture of the harbor seals on the beach below
Katelynn and Matthew at the beach.
Katelynn
Ashley and Katelynn on the old sailing ship at Hyde Street Pier
John and Lee and the fire in the fire pit!
Lunch at Pier 39 before the Alcatraz tour - Ashley, Lee, John, Betty, Matthew, Leslee and Katelynn
Getting organized!  Tickets, everyone?
Katelynn, Ashley and Matthew
John, Katelynn, Leslee, Matthew and Ashley, ready to board the boat to Alcatraz
Jon, Marie, Nate, Ryan, Maddux and Griffin in line waiting to board
And there it is - the rock!
Lee and the kids working on a crossword puzzle - Katelynn and Matthew got pretty good at it!
Ashley
Leslee
Grandma and Ashley
John and Leslee
Hyde Street Pier and the old sailing ship
Lee, Betty and John
Matthew, Granddad and Katelynn
Ashley
Matthew
Katelynn and Leslee