BBQ -- It must be summer

After having to reschedule our BBQ with Sharon and Dave four times due to the rain, we finally managed to BBQ with them two weeks in a row! The first week we visited the Gajdosik's at their house... and while George the cat loves my David, David doesn't love cats. Hence, we must be outside while at their place. So, two weekends ago was finally sunny (sort of) and warm (at least). Nate and Connor had a great time together. It's amazing watching two toddlers around a sea of toys. Invariably they both want what the other one is playing with. I know every parent has observed it. A naive friend of ours, Scott, suggested that we just buy the same toy and then there won't be any fights. Scott obviously has a steep learning curve ahead of him when his first-born arrives this December!

Last weekend Scott and Nadya, our professional couch-surfing friends, invited us along with Sharon and Dave G. to a house they were sitting. It was a great playground, and neutral territory for the boys. No toys to lay claim over! The funniest story David told me was watching Connor run around after Nathan, repeating, "Nathan, stop! I want to tell you something!" Naturally Nathan didn't stop because he wanted to be chased. Finally, Connor went up to his dad and said, "Dad, Nathan won't listen to me!" To which Dave G. replied, "You see? You see?! You see how frustrating that is?"

I don't think Connor got it, but David was howling.

Anyway, it's nice to see the boys grow up so much. Here are some photos from the two weekends courtesy of Sharon's camera.







Nate kept running up from behind us and pushing our heads together for a picture.



I have swimming pool hair, but it's nice to have a photo with the three of us!



BBQ #2

Nadya with Will (Sharon and Dave's second)



We couldn't convince Connor to pose with Sharon and Will.



Everybody loves a cupcake.







The boys nearly drained the fountain using the toy watering can.

Francisco Follies

For Canada Day, David and I escaped for a much needed weekend away in San Francisco. Originally, we planned to bring Nate, but we forgot that sans passport he is definitely high on the list of potential terrorist threat to homeland security. So, we flew in the troups (aka Pepere) and escaped on our own for three fun filled days. Much to my pleasure, David put away the crackberry for the entire time, and it was almost like we were young and single again... save my huge belly.

Dining was phenomenal. On Friday night we went to a cute little restaurant around the corner from our hotel (the Palace). Cafe Tiramisu was in an alleyway, sandwiched between a French cafe and a few other street-side cafes. It was very European, and we chose to eat on the street as it was still relatively warm. The food was delicious and relatively cheap. We struck up a conversation with the regulars sitting next to us. Definitely a piece of Europe in America.

The following evening, our planned night out at the Fog City Diner was aborted (by us as we walked into the restaurant) and instead we ended up at Bix's. A great choice. We flirted momentarily with trying to get into a cancellation at Boulevard, but were glad we hit Bix instead. We arrived just before the evening rush and managed to stake out two seats at the end of the bar, where we were able to have drinks and our dinner. The place was set in the style of a 1920s or 30s jazz club, and by 9:30pm, we were being treated to live jazz music. Our dinner was delicious and my only complaint was that my shrinking stomach meant that I had to share a dessert with David. I would go back to this restaurant in a heartbeat... perfect atmosphere, great food, fun crowd.

Sunday morning, we enjoyed champagne brunch at our hotel. A wonderful treat (I donated my champagne to David, which was somewhat unnecessary as it was all you can drink). We forgot to bring down our caviar to have with eggs, but that didn't matter. There was too much to choose from anyway.

When we weren't eating, we spent time wandering the Farmer's Market, Chinatown and the Golden Gate park. We watched two movies (unheard of for us), napped and fought sunburns. It was a great weekend and I hope we can do it again sometime... once we've recovered from the cash bleed!

Attached are some snaps from the trip... nothing spectacular, but I even managed to get one of myself taken.

FARMER'S MARKET



Beautiful flowers everywhere.



We couldn't resist, and bought the peaches. This market was heavily organic.



Zucchini flowers. Right next to it was a pile of lemon cucumbers. Heirloom and heritage tomatoes abounded.



We were encouraged to buy this coffee. Definitely good, but we're not convinced it was worth the 25 minute wait. It was a "home" operation. Next to the expresso machine, was this old school drip coffee mechanism. I imagine someone found this at a garage sale and thought, "Hey, great ambiance for the farmer's market."





David went wild for the wild mushrooms!











CHINATOWN





GOLDEN GATE PARK

Look at the sign to the left. At the entrance we used, we stumbled across this free dance session. The people were having so much fun and there were all manner of styles and expertise.





THE JAPANESE TEA GARDEN





Definitely looking preggers when I sit down. And pretty pasty white. Thank you Vancouver rain.





David on the barrel bridge. He looked fine on this side, but considerably less graceful coming down on the other side.



THE ROSE GARDEN







Turtles sunned themselves all day.



THE PLANATARIUM

We saw "Chomp" the special exhibit of carniverous plants. It was fascinating, although very steamy and muggy!