2017 through the eyes of the dog

Anyone who has spent much time with us lately, knows that our dog Lucky has become like a favorite child......she's eternally happy and an eager companion to even the most mundane of tasks.

Given I've been a blog slacker, Lucky agreed to provide a recap of what kept us busy in 2017....














Rain finally benefits our drought

(after years of no water, we had a serious deluge in early 2017)


However, does not help our deck building project

(2-3 month deck build turned into ~6 with rain delays and special railing we had no idea was special.  #learningwhattoaskinadvance)

The beach year round never gets old

(we still love that there are so many places to get into nature)

and Disc Golf in SF - who knew?!

(we discovered another gem in Golden Gate park - the disc golf course.  So fun!)

But, my love for water does not help the smell of our car

(we knew it was bad when after loaning it out, it was returned with an air freshener)

We continue to love slowing down in Tahoe

(winter 2017 was met with the most amazing snow - we got to ski and sled a ton)

(in turn - meant for more water in spring.   Circular loop with smelly car)

And I know I am loved based on what I get away with

(when everyone is asleep, I sneak onto the couch.  Then sneak back to their bedside before dawn to appear attentive)

(for my birthday, I got a trail of snacks leading me to my homemade cake.  The vet says I am 10 pounds overweight)

(making me an even better pillow)


Driving to MN is a long haul, but well worth it

(It took 2 silly long days to get there.  But driving meant Lucky could come) 

(Her enthusiasm made the drive worth it.  Proves attitude gets you all kinds of benefits in life)


Everyone is in a good place 

(with Q entering high school, we have 3 kids in 3 schools) 


But there are a lot of places to get everyone

(Thankfully, 2 / 3 can ride the city bus that stops right outside our door)

(and X can scooter to school)

Construction's all consuming

(With the decks done, we moved on to the house renovation.   It seems, once you decide to shift a stairwell, a zillion other dominoes fall.  Next thing you know...)


Tiny house living requires getting cozy

(We moved into an apartment across the street from our house.  5 of us + the 2 pets in a 2/1 means those sharing a bedroom are the lucky ones - Q merely has a 'nook')

(It's nice to have all the light of a south facing apartment, unless your bedroom is in the v. bright living room!)

International travel leaves me with a toddler & a cat

(After international travel 'withdraw', we booked 2 big trips in 2017.  

Visited Kiev friends & cousins in Cape Town & went on a cruise with the McDougal family to Australia/New Zealand.)

(Lucky was cared for by our neighbor Baby E and his cats.)

My people insist on festive

Costumes aren't limited to Halloween around here - superhero run, Star wars viewing, Oktoberfest, Santa run - if you want to wear sometime random, come on by anytime! 

Clinging onto summer via nearby adventures

San Francisco schools start back silly early - we are already into week 3.
Our (now somewhat dated) day 1 shots show the palpable enthusiasm...

As an 8th grader in a K-8 school, Quincy was part of the flower tunnel welcoming the new K students....

Zoe was excited to go back - she loves school and adores her friends...

Meanwhile, Xavier was brave - once again being a new kid as he moved to a STEAM school....

Getting back into the grind in mid-August is just too much of a buzz-kill...so we set out to extend the carefree days of summer....this town makes that pretty easy to do.......

Mountain Home Ranch
This past weekend we headed ~60 miles out to Calistoga & stayed at a fantastic 100+ year old ranch.

With horses...

'Hot Springs'..

(OK, really kind of room temp & with lots of 'floaties' - but cool)

A lake...

And the most kid used - a pool...

We went with a load of other school & neighborhood families - and had a ball soaking up as much relaxation as possible...

Closer to home, we continue to seek escape from school schedule madness....

Sunday Streets
Once a month, the city shuts down stretches of city streets to cars & opens them to people to bike, walk or do any other physical activity.   The idea was modeled after Colombia's 'Ciclovia' days - promoting free, healthy activities and community building.  We like Sunday Streets for a chance to bike ride without car worries & see the SF random....

Like a juggler...

   
Or a festive band...

A fancy bike & giant dogs....

And a swarm of bubbles.  
From a wagon...

From the back of a bike....

(We chased the bubble bike lady for 3 blocks - I now have a Christmas wish list item.  I so want to be a bubble bike lady too)

From SF 'Summer Santa' with bubbles....

That said, the very best bubbles of all were the soccer bubbles.... 

These were from another event promoting SF's new professional soccer team - the SF Delta's - and SO fun to play in.  Z cracking up...

Especially fun to ram into one another in....

And do tricks...

While it's always a bummer to get back to school grind, SF's love of dogs helps ease the pain.  One of many at Xavier's new school...

Even one at my gym class!

While the nag factor of homework, packing lunches and basic personal hygiene is creeping back into full swing, here's to trying to keep the fun alive - and if all else fails, bring a dog

RV'ing from (nearly) sea to sea

After a couple of years of talking about it, we pulled the trigger on mixing up our mode of transport to get to Minnesota.  We were all excited...

Logan braved city traffic and our hill - boldly parallel parked this 30' bad boy for the load up....

Xavier insisted we needed some flair - a Rudolph nose.....

We spent the next week 'touring' (that's RV speak for going places).  And along the way learned a few things about RV life.  Our top 10:


1) It's literally all with you!
OK, an obvious one - but how fab it was to just unplug and roll.  We had it ALL
Cool beds up top....

A full on kitchen...

Room to hang out...

And given the '70s style' no seat belts, room to run around (or pee on the move)....

(Zoe's dance party)

2) Load her up so you can just keep going
With a childhood of cross-country drives, I was well coached on the magic of chicken legs & chocolate chip cookies to keep mouths too busy to bicker....

While that time-tested technique proved a winner, the canned wine addition was a serious miss.  Learn from our mistakes...it's seriously weird

3) She drives like a whale
Logan was likely a trucker in a past life - he observed the whale like conditions, but carried on driving a good ~90% of our 2,500 miles...

Meanwhile, my ~10% was accompanied by white knuckles & a strong reluctance to pass...

4) People seriously pimp out their RV's
We thought our 30' was a beast - until we saw the serious scale of some of our neighbors....

From a distance for comparison - ours = center

We also thought ours was festive - until we saw some real RV flair....

Clearly these guys know what they're doing...

5) Even casino parking lots are gorgeous in Reno
Aiming for ease, we booked a site right off the fwy in Reno for the first night.  
Given it was a casino parking lot RV park, we had low expectations.   
But dang....Reno really is more than slots and bad buffets

6) Idaho - well there's a cool water park
I'm sure the rest of Idaho is fab too - but our stop in Meridian (outside of Boise) was solely focused on hitting 'the largest water-park in the NW'....

This one was terrifying....

7) Yellowstone rocks
The scenery is mind blowing....

The wildlife abundant...

(those are Bison - NOT Buffalo by the way)

..and not at all afraid of us

The geysers are just as fantastic as I remember...

...although the kids did not share my fond memories of the sulfur smell

The town of West Yellowstone was also fab - has a gorgeous RV park with a ropes course right next door...

8) Cody is mean to its baby cows
Cody, WY it turns out has more guns than people.  It's a real cowboy like town...thus a western show BBQ was a must

With nightly rodeos and visions of fun bucking bulls, we had to join...
It started with a really long prayer + flag bearing horse ladies...

That said, our San Francisco sensibilities were shocked to see what would clearly count as animal cruelty here...

After roping the baby cow, they flung him on the ground & tied up his legs - Zoe and Xavier screamed when one was caught and cheered aggressively for the baby cows who got away

However they did also participate when the kids were invited to chase baby cows - catch the flag on his tail & win a DQ!

(clearly one need not go overseas to experience a new culture)

While our RV park in Cody was significantly less lush...

...it boasted some cool amenities

And we were able to brush off the dust with some class III fun to top it all off...

Given the heat, we rolled out of town a day early - and felt like hard-core RV'ers taking advantage of Wal-Mart's RV's welcome to stay policy (we were one of about 10)

9) South Dakota: more than you'd expect
Not only on the way, but we were excited about some of SD's attractions....

Yes - a toilet seat that lights so you can find it in the dark!  

Dear friends who moved to S. Dakota & re-did their bathroom had no idea how much time 3 kids could spend playing with all of the functions.  They've never been so clean....

Fab to see the Pay-Crawfords - clearly keepers - welcoming our day 7 grit with a smile!

That said, we experienced the hot end of their extreme weather & learned the AC blowing from the cab isn't quite enough to keep the whole rolling house cool...

We all leveraged frozen treats to cool down..

10) Truck stops sell some serious flair 
In effort to really get into the spirit, we decided to hold a Truck Stop Outfit contest....built outfits as we went, making purchases only at stores that also sell gas.

There was a surprising range of choice....

So much so, Zoe struggled to make a selection...

It's a toss up who 'won'....

Yes - that IS an eagle head cane (NO - it is NOT a 'pimp stick' as his big brother taunted)

As the bulls-eye truck stop target, Logan had massive choice & fit right in....

All in all, a pretty colorful experience....

Here's to summer adventures, random journeys and the joy of a house on wheels!