More San Fran fun

Boyd on the flight out to Oakland. Bubster had a GREAT
flight. He slept a good part of it, then watched a little TV,
then chilled out for the landing. Good traveler. 

This is one of the rooms at the Exploritorium. The Expolritorium was "alright,"
probably not something we'll do again though. The kids preferred the aquarium
for sure. But it wasn't too crowded, some of the exhibits were interesting.

Oh man, the ferry cruise through the bay... I almost lost my $hit a couple times.
First, the line was two miles long. Then, some family cut in front of us right at
the last second... and then made a fuss and held up the line because not
all of their cousins knew where the cut spot was yet! This was my fault, I
was the first one in line and they caught me not paying attention. But then,
they overcrowded the boat BIG TIME compared to the last time we did this,
I think it was a different company. I stayed downstairs to get drinks for everyone
and the family went to the top to get a good spot. That "good spot" eventually eroded
into a bad spot when the boat was so beyond full that it became standing-room-only.
I was frustrated but once we got going, Boyd fell asleep (again) and I was able to secure
Evey and I a good standing spot where we could actually see.

The kids on the beach in Pacifica. We originally tried to hit the beach in San Fran
(just for the heck of it) but the crowd was so ridiculous, we ended up turning around
and taking the drive down the Pacific Coast Highway to Pacifica. Stopped and
got our feet wet, then grabbed a snack at some fancy restaurant. Unscripted, but fun!

Let's start sharing some of these San Fran 2017 pics!

I took selfies with both kids. I think those two photos
(included in this post) are my favorite photos from the
trip. My son is going to be a handsome man, like his
Grandpa Boyd, I can tell...

Well we've been back for a few weeks now... guess I need to start sharing some family vacation picks before they get lost in the fold!

(I mean, really... I posted photos of the garage before I posted pics from San Fran? Poor form.)

It was another great trip to San Fran. This was our second trip as a family, the first coming in 2015. We stayed at Uncle Rick's house again. (Need to get that thank you card in the mail ASAP!)

I love this photo too. Evey looks so happy, and Grandma Judy is just chill, happy
to be along for the ride... even though she's done this cruise tour who knows how
many times!

This is the selfie I took with Evey, from the top of Twin Peaks. I proposed doing
a "Talkin' Tracks" from there, but Mom nixed it, maybe because the spot I proposed
had a shrine to someone who had died up there not too far away...

I'm not going to lie, I was not excited to go to HIRO SUSHI for dinner, and I
did point out to Adrianne that if we were in, say, Wheatfield, Ind., and I told
her that we were going to meet my cousins at a sushi place... Adrianne would
have stayed home (not that Wheatfield would have a sushi place, ever.) But it
was a fun experience and while not my preferred spot to eat ever, great to see
her cousins and happy that they were excited to see me and the kids...

We were there for seven days. Direct flight from KC to Oakland. Left Friday morning early, arrived at Rick's by 3 p.m. or so (if memory serves) and then on the way home, a comfortable trip... on the road by 8 a.m. PST, direct flight, home by 7 p.m. CST.

We went back to Golden Gate Park by Evey's request (I think that was one of her highlights of the trip again) and we also returned to the California Museum of the Sciences.

We never took a trolley ride last time, so we fixed that this time. It was interesting
enough. Don't really need to do it again. I like getting where I'm trying to get.
But it was fun to do as a family. Boyd fell asleep on the last five minutes...
he had a knack for falling asleep at everything we did. I think Judy has about ten
photos of him asleep at various locations. Last time we came, we brought a stroller,
this time I was Boyd's human stroller...

We also took a trolley ride for the first time, visited the kid's museum, the Exploratorium, for the first time, and spent a day driving down to Pacifica and hanging out with Adrianne's cousins.

Adro and I also snuck in a date, we went to a bar called Holy Water that had a religious theme. That was a highlight of the trip for me!

Oh, and we caught a Giants game. Versus the Cubbies, reigning World Series champs. Because you know how we do.

More photos to come!

The east wing (or Batcave)

So I've been working in a new office the last few days... the weather has been so nice...

Yup, the garage is being converted to a GAMEROOM! If this doesn't excite you, then you are no fun.

And if you worry that this is really a plot to move me into the garage on a permanent basis... you aren't the only one! At least my exit will be (mostly) comfortable... Boyd's knees, elbows and toes seem to be getting sharper by the day.

Still to come: a flat screen on the far wall for football season. I can grill and watch football at the same time. Heck, I can MOW and watch football at the same time! Why not?

Talkin' Tracks Episode Seven: The White Stripes

Once in a lifetime

And it had nothing to do with the eclipse...

Talkin' Tracks Episode Six: Fallout Boy & JSBX

Boyd's first day of kindergarten

Boyd got out of the truck this morning and shouted "school is cool!" He was so excited and I'm happy that he is happy.

When he got there he was a little confused that some of the other kids were crying. Good news it did not phase him.

When I picked him up he said it was a great day. He did say he "almost died" on the playground equipment when he climbed too high and was scared getting down by himself. Hopefully tomorrow the playground go smoother for him.

Back home from vacation

We had a great trip to San Francisco! Thanks to Uncle Rick for hosting us again. I've got lots of photos to post...

An update from Evey

Hi it's Evey. Right now we are on our vacation in San Fransisco staying with uncle Rick. We just updated  Talkin' Tracks episode 5 with Gwen Stefani and Dire Straits. Check it out!

Episode 6 is coming soon.

My dad just asked me questions about Talkin' Tracks that I will answer.

1. What is my favorite episode of Talkin' Tracks: I like Talkin' Tracks episode 3 because right after we jumped in the pool and cooled down.

2. What could make Talkin' Tracks better: Better locations that are really cool.

3. What would we do next year that is not Talkin' Tracks: A comic book series where we talk about the superhero movies, comics and superheros.

Talkin' Tracks Episode Five: Gwen Stefani & Justin Timberlake, Dire Straits