9 Months and 37 years, Pasadena and Hogwarts

It's not every day your young man turns 9 months, now is it, eh?

Or 37?

Well, Little Man and I both did, respectively, and on the same day.

It happened to coincide with a most auspicious event, a choir tour to Pasadena, which meant that The Wife and I had to take advantage of heading over to see Harry in Hollywood.  Having already experienced The Wizarding World of Harry Potter on the other coast, and visited Disneyland just a month before, it was just the right timing to finally see That Other California Park.

We flew to teeny-tiny Long Beach airport (and lost a baby toy, alas), rented teeny-tiny Kia Rio (despite their insistence that I upgrade for a larger care and my insistence that I and my very small party picked Economy size for a reason), drove DIRECTLY to the beach (which was wonderful and different from other recent beach visits), and then made our way to teeny-tiny Ramada in Pasadena (it wasn't the best place ever but they did [eventually...] have a crib, which was of utmost importance).

The front-facing camera is a game-changer I tell you.

We missed our babies!

We had some food at the impressively named Top Restaurant and the next day headed first thing to see Harry.

When we went to Universal Orlando, Harry only inhabited one of the theme parks, and I will say that based on our experience there at the time, Hollywood's version seems almost identical.  We bought our passes online which allowed us early entrance (but not free parking -- wah waaah), and this turned out to be a really great thing.  We were able to do all the big time attractions before most people even had a chance to get into the park.  The weather was great, the rides were few but fun, the experience was unique (all the escalators!) and the tour was worth is for the Bates Motel.  I had a birthday button from the very start which I'm pretty sure led to my being chosen at Ollivander's.  It was all very magical and the wand that chose me was cool but I ended up getting the Elder Wand instead (eep!).  We borrowed a friend's interactive wand so we could try that new feature, and I didn't feel AT ALL silly waving my wand and needlessly uttering incantations in front of shop windows...

Don't think I missed an opportunity to flaunt this little baby.

Or this one!

That's what we in the fandom like to call a REAlly Hidden Mickey.

Worth the hour-long backlot tour just for this set.

There was other stuff there too, like Squishee Milhouse.

Little Mister didn't seem to realize it was his 9 months, but he had a good time anyway!

I realized only too late that we were actually driving RIGHT PAST the Disney animation studio, which seems like a huge misstep on my part not to take more advantage of, but as far as I've learned we couldn't just traipse in and ask for a tour anyway.  It was enough for now to just see it, along with all the other Disney landmarks I've heard so much about (Griffith Park, Forest Lawn, etc.).

Later that night my choir met for rehearsal and dinner, which featured a lovely birthday sing-along and delicious ice cream sundae, and then the next day was the actual purpose of the trip:

Twohey's!  AKA 2ee's.  Don't ask, I don't know.

We were invited to perform a 23-minute show at ACDA.  It's a real honor to sing there, and we made the most of our time by showing just what a community choir can do -- wide vocal range, four languages, variety of style from early sacred to contemporary musical theater, and some effective and subtle choralography to top it off.  We were informed later that this ain't Utah, not just anyone gets a standing ovation, but...

We had just a few hours to wrap things up and get back to the airport, which is indeed teeny-tiny, and then head back home to see our other babies, from whom we had never until now spent a night apart, but who were safe and happy in the care of Nana and Papa.

Reunited!  And pretty happy about it!

It was nice to have another mini-vacation just a handful of weeks after our full-on family event, and baby boy did a great job on the airplane both ways, Julie was a great sport trooping along on my choir tour, and I mastered that last phrase of German that I had been struggling with.

Back home, back to work:

I wasn't there for my birthday but they decorated for when I came home all the same.

Then of course there was this...

This...

THIS!!!

As for Little Mister, he's still a happy healthy boy.  He's very active and crawling all over the place, he's eating plenty, he's having trouble sleeping through the night (at the time we had a plan which is now set in motion...), and he's starting to be more... vocal...  More on that in the weeks that followed.  He's really starting to prefer his mommy, especially to strangers, but he's still pleasant around relatives and friends.  He's been a champ through some sniffles and is showing real signs of more teeth appearing.  We're pretty sure he has a late-arrival birthmark, his hair is lightening considerably, and he is still tall and chubbsy.

So happy!  Even when his nose is runny!

Beach boy.

So happy!  Clever Mommy to remember to bring his li'l hat!

*blink*

 Love that boy!  I was glad to share my big day with him!  See you in a couple weeks!

Oregon Coast: We Went There

We went on a trip!  An honest-to-goodness two-days-to-get-there road trip.  And we all survived.  In fact we had a great time and everyone did pretty well in the car, especially considering the longest they've ever sat for a drive was 3.5-4 hours (and really, they don't have much mobility, so they're pretty good sports overall).  The plan was to meet The Wife's family on the Oregon coast where a beach house had been rented, but we wanted to make the most of the drive (everyone else was flying or lives a little closer than we do) so we went a couple days early and took our time visiting the beach and doing some sightseeing.  I hadn't been to Oregon in over ten years and the kids of course had never been so we thought we would make the most of it.  It was marvelous.

Day 1: Driving.  We stopped once or twice in Idaho to stretch our legs and have lunch etc. and then made it in pretty good time to Baker City, OR, where we enjoyed the indoor pool and nice breakfast and Elena of Avalor at the local Super 8.

Some rest stops can be pretty interesting if you look around.

 Day 2: More driving, where the freeway was blocked due to fires and we ignored the gas station guy who suggested a five-hour detour and took Shelley-at-the-visitor-info-booth's advice which only cost an extra half our or so, we almost ran out of gas (I swear I had enough to make it to Portland!), did a quick drive-by of the insanely crowded Multnomah Falls, we found a funny tiny country store to get some emergency fuel (we were amazed we made it), and tried to navigate through Portland before finally arriving in Lincoln City, which was tiny and charming and our motel was a five-minute walk to the beach.

We almost left Kitty at this place.  Can you imagine the nightmare that would have been?

BEEEEACH.

 Day 3: Up to the Tillamook factory for samples and a deserted tour, further up to Cannon Beach for the most glorious time and a wonderful Goonies moment and lots of great jumping pictures (none of which I have among these), then back to Tillamook for lunch, where it was NOT deserted and we waited a long time but it was pretty good grilled cheese.

 Day 4: Exploring Lincoln City and the surrounding area of Depoe Bay etc., where we discovered an aquarium but it was way too expensive so we just had a picnic on the benches outside it instead and went exploring and met a friendly squirrel.  We did a little window shopping, and then the rest of the fam arrived and we settled in to our fun dwelling place.

O hai.

 Day 5: Beach house!  There was room to sleep all 20+ of us and we went straight to the beach, which was so close we could hear the waves through our windows.  We just relaxed and ate and played games and flew kites and dug in the sand all day.  I put on my swimsuit and intended not to remove it for three days.

Just a few minutes away from our beach house!  And the sun is out!

 Day 6: Depoe Bay!  We went to the tide pools and there was plenty of exploring to be done.  Crabs and mussels and seals (so I'm told) and lots of cool places to explore.  More food, more relaxing, more hot tub.  I took a quick morning run on the beach, which was rocky but soooo foggy and magical.

This was a really cool place.

 Day 7: Starting to wind down and preparing for our long drive home.  We went back into town for some last-minute shopping, dining and whale watching in Depoe Bay and then said our sad goodbyes as we drove back toward and through Portland (ooohhhhh, Portland... your traffic was the worst.  Thanks for adding like three hours to our drive) and made it back to Baker City where a lack of motel vacancy almost spelled disaster but a room mixup with the Super 8 management led to an upgrade and a discount.  I'll take it.

My cute girl in Depoe Bay.

 Day 8: They say getting there is half the fun but getting back blows.  We were just glad to finally roll into this valley and know we were less than an hour from getting out of the car.  But really, hardly any complaints from the back seat, they were really good for 95% of the time.

Hello, SLC.

 We were sorry to say goodbye to this cool little house, but probably even sorrier to say goodbye to this glorious (free upgrade!) rental car.  Lesson learned:  Get and use your own insurance.

We'll miss this charming seaside cottage, but we'll probably miss this luxurious RAV-4 even more...

 The Monday after, this was on my mind...

*sigh*

What a nice time to be had.  There were a few hiccups and a really unfortunate accident with a cousin involving an emergency ambulance ride for hip surgery in Portland, and The Boy is going through a weird bedtime reluctance ritual, but overall it was just nice.  It was so great to go to the beach.  The water was freezing and it was often quite windy but it was enough to see and smell and feel it.  I have come to hold the opinion that every human should see the ocean at least every other year.  It does wonders for one's perspective.  It was great to go on a real family vacation and the kids had a great time with The Wife's almost entire family, and I'm glad they've seen the big water.

Next: Disneyland?...

California (Not Disneyland) Babymoon, Part the Second: Open Your Golden Gate

(For those wondering, the title of this portion, though of course a lyric from a fairly well-known standard, was actually in reference to Martin Short's memorable performance of it in Clifford, which I sang many times leading up to this trip, and which can be seen here.  You're welcome.)

Then after we finished our work activities and such, we were on our way to San Francisco!  We had a great time (Julie's first visit, my first in over a decade), and it was a just right vacation for us and The Speck.  We were able to find a nice old hotel for a pretty good deal right in the heart of the city and spend the day walking around (Pier 39 was basically a ten-minute walk away), and then wear ourselves out just in time to come back to our room and spend the evening watching TV and ordering Thai delivery and planning for the next day.  We had asked for suggestions from San Fran-savvy friends and family in case there were any gems that we couldn't miss while we were here, so we had a nice little itinerary planned, with a few alternates in case anything fell through or we didn't feel up to things at the time.

Julie and the Great Glass Elevator

See how great it is?!?

Only the fanciest of hotels for us.

What the heck, it's a (fairly) comfy bed in a (fairly) safe place.

And not a bad view!

And now I shall outline our activities in bulleted and photographic fashion:

• The Jelly Belly Factory!  Of course our first stop was a family favorite (which I had never until now visited) right on the way from Sacramento to San Francisco.  We took the tour and had lots of samples and bought some Belly Flops and everyone loved Julie's shirt, which made its debut today.

The lobby!  They don't allow photos on the tour, so these would have to do.

Giant Jelly Bellies suspended in mid-air!  Wacky!

Just happy to be here!

Thanks, Poor Unsuspecting Soul/Volunteer!  It's always nice to be in pictures together.

I wasn't sure if I was in this shot or not.  Turns out I was!

Care Bear Stare!!!  And check out that stylish bathroom decor!

• Then we drove to the Walt Disney Family Museum in the Presidio (we managed to have a Disney vacation after all!!!).  I've been hearing about this museum and its many merits for a long time, so when we were going to be so close, I would have been truly remiss not to go there.  Not as many people know about this museum, but it's really nice and thorough and a great tribute.  It's run by his family, NOT the company, so it has a lot of information and displays about his youth and upbringing, as well as a great deal, of course, about his career and films and parks.  I admit that it did make me pretty happy to finally see that giant scale model of Disneyland, since we weren't able to make it there this time.  How would it be to just grow up in some midwestern town and then move to LA with basically nothing and then become this humongous film and TV success?  Crazy.  What if there were a theme park one day named Grahamland?  That sounds so weird.  I wonder if Disneyland sounded weird to him or his family ever.

(As a side note, if you're using GPS to go here, take note that there's a Montgomery Street in the actual city that is NOT the same as Montgomery Street in the Presidio... Yes, the museum was not THERE, were Vicki first led us... No.)

After hearing about it on so many podcasts, I'm actually here!

:D

:x (More like :> )

What would I give to sit at this desk all the day long?

The view from the backside of the museum.  Pretty nice.

There was a bench... of... some significance.  Probably from Walt's hometown or summat.

Julie said to be napping for a picture like a hobo.  The sun was VERY bright on my eyes.

I don't know anyone who loves a diorama more than this girl, and this one is a DOOZIE.

The Skyway!!!  I miss it so.

This is us "at Disneyland" (hey, we do what we need to do).

It's almost like being there!

They had a stop-motion animation exhibit happening, and Wife found one of her favorite friends (though he's looking a bit underdressed).

This is the actual model they used in the movie!  But it's so itty!

•  The next morning we went to the Aquarium of the Bay on Fisherman's Wharf (after a minor detour involving confusion about local transportation).  It was pretty neat, but also pretty small and expensive for the size and amount of creatures it has.  You would think an aquarium ON THE BAY would have more to offer, like a window into the bay or something.  We still had a good time, and we liked petting the little baby rays, though the handler was pretty sassy to the lady who was there with her little girls.

Tiny Alcatraz.

We initially planned to only get this close to the Ghirardelli factory.

Eat WHAT now?!?

Oooewwwhhh i c.

!!!!!  (The sharks inside weren't this big, but STILL.)

I'm always kind of fascinated by jellyfish (as you may recall from our visit to the Vegas aquarium).

She loves a diorama, but she also REALLY loves an aquarium tunnel.

Peek-a-boo.

So big!  She knows her fish from her Animal Crossing fishing experience.

Peek-a-boo again.  I had to not take too much notice of the fishes swimming like two inches from my face so I wouldn't be like, eep.

TWO tunnels?!?  Deluxe!!!

GROSS.

How can she love them??

The noblest (and most still) turtle in San Francisco.

Touchy-touchy.

They were so cute, they kept coming up and bobbing around on the surface like puppies.

See??

Swimmy-swimmy.

So kewt.

Always on the lookout for a smart chapeau.

They did NOT have whales.  Harrumph.

• We had an appointment to go to the Rock a couple hours later, so we spent a while walking around the Wharf and Pier 39.  There's lots of shopping and touristy stuff, which was fun, and lots of food, which was AWESOME, and a school choir performing (like my choir tour days of yore, though these ones were much younger), which was, well, bless their hearts.  I'm sure they had a great trip and enjoyed being in a choir, ha ha.

How long had we been talking about getting chowder in a bread bowl before this trip?  A LONG time.  It met and exceeded our every expectation.  Well done, Boudin.

I can't believe these dudes are still hanging out here.  I wonder if they're the same ones I saw when I was in high school.

Yep.

This one was VERY territorial of its platform.

See?  It knocked off several audacious others just in the few minutes we were watching.

• Thence to Alcatraz!!!  When I mentioned this as a possibility for this trip, Julie was preeeetty excited, and it turned out to live up to her expectations (and my memories).  It's interesting that a prison where people were so miserable (not that they didn't deserve it) is such a major tourist attraction, but it's still a neat place to visit.

A very nice view of the city from the ferry.

They are very welcoming.

We decided this bird was fake, but we still haven't decided exactly why.

Gardens!

It felt weird being all smiley and posey for pictures in such a miserable location, but you know, tourists do as tourists should.

This was mostly making fun of people who were posing all cute and totally happy in solitary.  Julie was like, whaaa?  So she tried it out.

One must respect the library!

Recreation yard... yikes.

There were so many birds and they were not shy.

Seriously, what a view!  It's not tempting to desperate-to-escape inmates at all.

"Just like Julia Child's kitchen!" - Wife  "Yes, but for very different reasons." - Me

She likes these California poppies a lot from her days of youthness.

On the ferry back.  'Twas rather windy.

:D

• Then we caught some more foods and caught the cable car (after a long wait and listening to a pesky busker) back up to the top of Lombard Street, where we observed and acknowledged its famousness and uniqueness and then walked down the other side back to get some rest.

Seafooooood ysplz.

She likes her fish and chips.  Alas, no mushy peas this time.  *sigh*  Windermere.

Grumpy waiting (like 40 minutes) for the cable car.

Jay kay i happee.

We thought it best not to hang on to the outside.  After a minute someone offered Pregnant Wife a seat.

It's so windy.  (Like, it winds a lot, not that there's a lot of wind... Oh, you know what I mean.)

Some people were driving down soooo fast.

But most took it nice and slow, as one should.  The HouseHunters fans in us wondered how expensive it was to live on this street.

• The next morning we drove about until we found some Redwoods, which turned out to be at Muir Woods.  They were tall and big and Julie was so glad to finally see some like she always wanted to, and was completely satisfied with her experience visiting them.  It was nice to take a walk on the paved roads (though parking was a nightmare) for as long as The Speck would allow, and we talked about how nice it was to walk in nature and fresh air and sunshine and that we could both find enjoyment in things the other might mostly be interested in.

It's not really golden, it's not really a gate, but it IS really a bridge.

So big around!

Thanks again, Poor Unsuspecting Soul (Volunteer).

Wife has long wanted to see these big tall trees.

She liked them a lot.

I really wanted to climb over and take a picture INSIDE one of the bit hollow trunks.

Then we found this!

It went all the way through.

I was scared because some kids followed me trapped me in and I couldn't get back down.

And then we found THIS, which is even better.  The ranger lady passing by took the picture because she said "it's [her] job."

It's always a good time for a Senior Picture photo shoot.

I was getting creative with our Disney Princess fruit snacks.  After this a giant purple glass slipper was squooshed up against her chin.  Also, eurgh, I need to clip my fingernails in this.

• This visit to and from the woods facilitated nicely a crossing of the Golden Gate Bridge, which crossing we ended up doing four times in all, trying to find a place where we could park and look around and take pictures.  But at least we definitely had a chance to drive across!

Back across we go!  I don't remember which time this was.

Pretty neat view of the bridge and the city.

First this side...

... and now this side!

She's here too!

Who or what is photobombing who or what?

That guy in the back totally walked RIGHT into this picture as we were getting ready to take it.  Notice your surroundings, people!

Then we tried again without him.

She likes this town.

Stoic fellows we.

• Then, on a recommendation of a few people at work for a nearby beach, we drove just a few minutes down to Ocean Beach.  It was windy and a tiny bit cold, and the water was definitely freezing, as expected, but we looooooooved being there anyway.  I'm pretty sure it was our favorite part of the whole trip, even though we only spent an hour or two there and only waded in the water (that was quite enough, br).  I was surprised there was such a nice beach so close to the city!  It was the perfect way to spend our last afternoon there.

Yes, I'm one of those people who take these kinds of beach pictures.  It was just so nice.  And to think I used to even hate getting sand stuck on my feet and between my toes!

At the beach!

See??

A twist on a classic.

But not without a small instance of the classic itself.

...plus this.  (Note that he's in the photo twice.)

Come, waves.

Time for some jumping pictures!!!  I was determined to get a great one and I did!

This was an in-between pose for the next one, but I thought it was funny anyway.

Leapfrog!  Never play it with unicorns.

Up, up and away!

Wife avec Speck even did some!  She had some air too!

Jumping Bump.

Oh I like the beach.

Feets.

:D :D

Many a Poor Unsuspecting Soul was on hand, but for some reason it sometimes takes a while to find one anyway.

Sometimes I just do.

• We couldn't decide what to do for dinner that night so we ended up at a fancy restaurant at Ghirardelli Square that I can never remember the name of, but it was fun and delicious and Julie had her second chowder-in-a-bread-bowl for the trip.

A bit Prom-ish, but oh well.

It was just as good as we could have hoped or wished (again, never as good as at *sigh* Windermere).

And then, after just the right amount of days and style of vacation for my trouper of a pregnant wife (seriously, I'm pretty sure she never complained or fussed or anything and was as great a traveling companion as ever, even with The Speck in tow), we drove back up to Sacramento earlyish the next day, turned in the car and flew home by the afternoon, so we could recoup and be ready to go back to work the next morning.  It was a very fun work/play babymoon, and we're so glad it just happened to work out, and that it was just a few weeks before the recommended/required date not to travel pregnant.  We didn't get to do exactly EVERRRRYthing on our list (Pixar, Fentons, more of [actual] Chinatown, some kind of Hmong food, which I couldn't find anywhere), but we did check off a lot of things in just a few days, and then that will give us things to do on our next trip there!  Now, work, when are you going to send us to London??  Julie's work did!!!  Ha ha ha.

And now the final stretch until The Speck at last makes his big debut!