Wherever We're Together...That's My Home : 2011

December 20, 2011

My Favorite Tour Day

so far

San Francisco, California

Today was one of those days that we didn't plan, just went out on an adventure. We wanted to take Grace to a playground and we ended up doing so much more.

Golden Gate Beach

Golden Gate Park Children's Playground

The Golden Gate Bridge

And then lunch in Sausalito.

It was a beautiful day! I loved that it was just us, exploring San Francisco.

December 16, 2011

New Holiday Tradition
San Francisco, California

This year Grace seems to semi grasp the concept of Santa. She knows he's coming to town and she knows that he knows who's naughty or nice. We have heard many a time this holiday season (after calling her out on some not so good behavior), "I don't want to be naughty! I want to be nice!"
A few weeks ago when we asked her what she wanted Santa to bring her she responded with, "Presents!"
"What kind of presents?"
"Presents!"
Then the answered changed about a week or so ago..."A JUMP ROPE!"
"That's all you want Santa to bring you?"
"YEP!"
So, for the first time ever she colored Santa a lovely picture

and we wrote him a letter asking for a jump rope.

Here's Grace mailing her letter to Santa Claus...a tradition in the making.

We also took her to see the Christmas tree at Union Square.
In 2003, David and I were touring with RENT and the cast performed at the tree lighting ceremony in this exact same spot.

I'm pretty sure Grace prefers this tree though. Her gasp was audible throughout the store and was then followed by, "I LOVE PINK!!!" Which is exactly what she is saying in this picture!

Maybe a pink tree will be a tradition in her house someday.

December 18, 2011

My Talented Family

San Francisco, California

This past week David was on Good Morning Sacramento. Sadly, the show is on in Sacramento, not in San Francisco! However, I could stream it live online and Grace and I were able to get a glimpse of David on the news. I tried to record it with our Flip camera...here's our little video.

Of course the battery dies right as I went to record the video. So I got out my phone and caught the rest.

Did you see him? The back of his head is famous!!!

(I love Grace's narration!)

And now onto the littlest Pepin.

Gracie my not be as famous as her Daddy, yet, but with that voice ya never know!!!

December 16, 2011

Park Trip

San Francisco, California

Before moving to the next city, I like to do a little research first. I search online for the local grocery stores, the museums, the library, kid friendly activities and of course the local parks. I was so excited to find that there are 2 parks within walking distance of our apartment, Dolores Park and Mission Playground!

Above is Dolores Park...however, this is what we found when walked there...

They have torn down the entire park and have huge plans for an amazing park to replace it...

in 4 months!

That's alright though we still have Mission Playground, right?

TORN DOWN AS WELL!!!! What a bummer!

There are, of course, many other parks in San Francisco. However, these two were so close to our place, it would have been nice to able to walk on over and hop on a swing. Oh well, at least I now know if we ever come again there will be 2 new beautiful parks waiting for us.

December 14, 2011

Mission Library

San Francisco, California

Fortunately, the library is within walking distance from our apartment and Gracie loves library trips. So, off we went to explore the Mission Library and walked right into story time. Perfect! Little Miss.Grace walked right in and sat herself down, never once looking over at me to see if I had made a run for it.

Surprisingly, it's pretty chilly here...so the library was packed. After story time the librarian got out a ton of toys for all the kids to play. We ended up staying all morning, playing and reading. It was a really nice visit. I have a feeling we'll be spending a lot of time there.

December 15, 2011

December 13, 2011

Mission District

San Francisco, California

Our new home:

Living room

Kitchen

And our bedroom

A few weeks ago, David put Gracie down for her nap in her crib and about 15 minutes later she was standing next to our bed where David was resting. The little bugger climbed out of her crib for the first time. I asked her why she did it and she said she wanted to see Daddy! So, I went online that evening and ordered this little air mattress for her.

Anyway, the new apartment is great. Lots of space for running around and the occasional dance party. There are only two down falls...there are maybe 3 outlets in the whole house and not one of them is in the bathroom. So needless to say, you can easily find David's razor, my toothbrush, our phones and our computers plugged in somewhere in the kitchen. And speaking of the bathroom...this is the bathroom sink...

It's about two feet across and less than a foot deep. Littlest sink I have ever seen.

So, again a lot of our toiletries don't fit in the bathroom...you can find our deodorant next to the sugar.

But, none of this matters, because Grace thinks the apartment is great. There's a long hallway to run up and down, lots and lots of pots, pans, strainers, etc. anything you can think of to play kitchen band, she gets to sleep in the same room as mommy and daddy and a tiny sink that's just about Gracie's size!

December 12, 2011

Los Angeles, California to San Francisco, California

A Day of Travel

375 miles

Our first "real" travel day! About an hour into the drive we saw signs saying, "Snow in Gorman. Traffic jammed!" Well, that certainly won't affect us, right? It's 60 degrees and we're in LA! Wrong.

However, traffic jammed in Gorman in nothing like a traffic jam to the rest of us. We moved right along, over the hills of snow and right back into the sun and flat lands of California.

Grace seemed to enjoy the travel day. Lots of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVDs, books, sing a longs and of course lots of play time with her new BFF on the right...Daisy Duck! Let's cross our fingers for all our travel days to go this well!!

December 11, 2011

Our Last Few Days

Los Angeles, California

Grace and I took one last trip to the Santa Monica Pier.

And we took our last trip to the Ahmanson Theatre.

It's time to pack up and move on! Toodles LA! San Fran here we come.

December 08, 2011

December 5, 2011

Universal Studios

Universal City, California

Universal Pictures Stage Productions is the live stage division of Universal Pictures and it just so happens that they are producing Bring It On. So far, this has been extremely beneficial for us! They gave everyone involved in the show an IPod Touch as an opening night present and they recently gave everyone 2 tickets to Universal Studios. So, of course we took them up on this offer!

Sadly, after being there for all of a half hour or so, we discovered there really isn't much there for children. There was a 4-D Shrek movie that I took Grace to while David rode on one of the big kid rides. She thought that was pretty cool...the chairs shook, water squirted at us, and Shrek tooted. Everything a two year old would want! There was also an animal show where "famous" animals did their tricks. Here's Grace with the doggies in the show.

We bribed Grace with a soft pretzel and got her to go on the Studio Tour. Between King Kong, ferocious dinosaurs and Jaws we were sure she would have nightmares for the rest of her life. She spent most of the ride covering her eyes or burrowing her head into my/David's shoulder. I see therapy in her future!

We also tried to show Grace that she shouldn't be afraid of the characters walking around.

Little did we know, she was right. They are absolutely terrifying!

Imagine Dora about a foot away from your face begging you for a high five!

Or how about Curious George?

He's trying to kiss me,while humping my leg and David swears the monkey flicked him off!

After all that, she was still all smiles at the kids jungle gym!

I, however, may or may not be pregnant with a monkey baby!

And that was our Monday Family Funday!!!!!

December 06, 2011

December 2, 2011

Our 5th Anniversary

Los Angeles, California

As you may or may not recall, I'm a huge fan of traditions. And one of my favorite traditions started a few years back on our first wedding anniversary...getting our Christmas tree. Then we come home and spend the afternoon decorating. It's one of my favorite days of the year because we get to spend time together as a family, celebrate our marriage, and start getting ready for the holiday season.