Busy weekend

What a fun weekend. A girl's trip into San Francisco. Too much giggling, eating and not quite enough sleep.



Back home for a busy Sunday, and then onto Fresno to see my little brother and his family. They are fixing to move to the frozen winterland (Rochester, MN) and this was our last chance to see them before they go. It was so nice to see their darling kids (and the grownups, too).







So good to see you, Jacob and Jayne.

Conversations

If your name is Maren Callaway, please do not read further as this story may only exacerbate your elevator phobia!

Every week after Ballet, Kiera and Sydney ask if they can ride the elevator down (one flight of stairs). I always make Kiera walk up them, but allow the ride down after a hard day's work at Ballet. As usual, Lisa and I both headed toward the elevator with our darling little ballerinas for the short ride down. One flight. This week we were joined by another mom and her two little girls.

After boarding, we pressed the "1" button. The door began to close and got about three quarters of the way over. Then we heard the sound of metal scraping and catching as the door pleaded with itself to 'go ahead a close already'. The sinister door couldn't quite make it all the way to the closed position. We tried the "OPEN DOOR" button. And then the "CLOSE DOOR" option also. Then we waited. And tried again. We decide it is time for the red "EMERGENCY" button.

We politely ring it. Wait. Nothing. Ring more insistently. Wait. Nothing. Ring several more times. We notice that the permit for the elevator expired in the summer of 2007. We try the ancient rotary dial emergency phone without a dial tone. Nothing. Good thing I had my handy iphone with me. Google: San Ramon Community Center. Phone number appears.

Operator: Hello, you have reached the San Ramon Community Center. How may I help you?

Britt: Um, yes. I am at the SAN RAMON COMMUNITY CENTER. I am stuck in the elevator. You could help me get out.

Operator: Oh, my. We could hear the bell ringing, but thought it was just kids playing in the elevator. Oh, I am so sorry. We will be right there.

And if a jiffy some nice men pried the door open and set us free.

We took the stairs down.

Black Rock Ranch

Three days. 8 adults. 14 kids. The ranch.





The canoeing.







The hiking.



The fishing.





The motorcycling.





(plus a cameo by my Mark, Lindsay and Caleb)





The all around group concern for both the yellow four wheeler and Ben after they were both pulled from the lake.





The four wheeling.





The karate room (a.k.a. the parental sanity room).



The Farm Adventure Safari tm





Where our tour guide, John, managed to find us some mating cows, wild turkeys, a bird in need of some orthopedic assistance and a centipede.





No trip could be complete without a swim in the lake by two year old SL2. Please see Rachel's blog for that shot.

Thanks for the memories.

Conversations

Kiera: Mommy. It says we have to hurry and go NOW. Or we will be late for Preschool.
Me: Um. We aren't going to be late, sweetie. IT says...hmmm...WHAY says that we have to hurry?
Kiera: My strawberry phone says so.



It isn't really a Blackberry, it's an old Sony Clie that Clay cleaned out of a drawer this weekend. People, can we keep that on the down low. Kiera really doesn't need to know.

The sun was beaming

Can this girl..


Or this one...



really be ready to graduate from Nursery at church and move up to the big Primary class? I can't believe it myself, but my girl did just that on Sunday and became a "Primary Girl".



Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam.

A Day in Palo Alto

On Saturday my parents made a suprise visit to my little brother's place so we crashed the party. Any chance to see the "Fun Uncle" (this is a newly given title, as Mark now has his own child Caleb and can not be guaranteed the spot anymore, or can he?) and Nana and Papa.

Looks like he is doing a good job at earning the "Fun Uncle" title...





We hiked up to the "Dish" above Stanford campus and enjoyed the beautiful view. Notice the SF Bay in the distance and the campus is there with all the red roofs.

Naturally after all that exertion we needed some Gelato. mmmmmm. I picked two varieties: dark chocolate and honey lavender. My kids liked both, but my adult family was a little sceptical about the lavender. John tried it and decided it was like potporrouri in your mouth. He is crazy. It was really good.





Hiking, treats...now on to a little culture. We took the kids to the Canter Arts Museum at Stanford. I told each of the kids to pick their favorite. Maren's was a little gruesome so this is the close up shot (excluding the violence). Her favorite part was the shiny green snot drooling out of his nose.







All throughout the museum the girls were averting their eyes at all kinds of nudity. And THEN we went outside to the Rodin sculptures (they are ALL nude). The male form, never before seen by the all girl Callaway family, is foreign no more.



This piece is a sculptural representation of the Gates of Hell from Dante's Inferno.



Maren is double checking to make sure, but um, nope, no clothes here.

Maren: So, I guess when you go to hell you are naked?
Me: Why, yes, yes you are.
Maren: That's disgusting.

We finished the day with a some delicious falafel. I love falafel.

Maren: That's disgusting.

Happy New Year

What could be better than a New Year and a new tradition. Wow. Biking across the Golden Gate filled us all with strong emotions. Kiera: sleepy. Neve: frazzled and cold. Maren: wonder. Britt: excitement. Clay: awe.





At only 1.7 miles each way, it wasn't the heartiest of rides, but that was made up for by the ambiance.









The bridge was noisy, crowded, windy and a little foggy. I loved every minute of it. The experience was surreal.

We had a few minutes before sunset after we packed up the bikes so we went down to Baker Beach for some more fine views. The fog was rolling in quick and thick, but if you look carefully you can still see the bridge in the background. I love this place.