California Continued

The second full day of our trip was spent criss-crossing Los Angeles County with the Childs family.

Our first stop was The Blue Star, in the industrial part of LA, for breakfast. A block from the restaurant we had to drive around a long line of pick-ups with scrap metal to sell, waiting for the giant magnet to swing over and relieve them of their loads. 'Twas colorful.

We ate a hearty breakfast in the sunshine on this outdoor patio. The outsize pleasure (and novelty) of eating outside in March made me feel like a rubbernecker. These days it's hard to remember that I'm a native Californian.

The excellent Thorne.

After breakfast we headed to Pasadena to check out a house. (We aren't in the market, but Steve and Danica are.) We stumbled across an estate sale at a super fancy, super tacky house. Being us, of course we stopped.

Next it was down the hill to play at the park (and use the bathrooms) at the Rose Bowl. Once we were plenty hot and sweaty, we drove to Alhambra to the legendary Fosselman's. My stout (as in beer) ice cream was delicious, but if you go, do as the locals do and get the cappuccino ice cream. It has chocolate in it and it is good. If I had noticed the brown butter flavor (which I just saw on their website), I definitely would have asked for a taste. I have never considered myself an "ice cream person," but I loved everything I tried. I can't believe I lived in California for all those years and never went to Fosselman's. Don't be like me.

Sometimes we miss California.

We relaxed for a bit in Los Feliz at Steve and Danica's and then it was off to dinner at Umami Burger, which we've been hearing lots about. Their namesake burger didn't blow me away, but the California burger and the Truffle burger were finger-licking good. (No, I didn't eat three whole hamburgers myself, but I probably could have.) It was such a treat.

The whole day was a treat, in fact. Driving all over the place was part of the fun, since it had been so long since we'd been to California. It could only have been better if we'd fit into one car and enjoyed everyone's company all day. (We split up; boys in one car, girls in the other.)

Our family is so blessed to have great friends. If only we could figure out how to live near all of them.

Four!

Four years ago today, I was the proud mother of two teeny boys and a brand new blog. As stick-to-it-iveness is not one of the qualities I'm known for, this may be a personal record for my pursuit of a non-required activity.

So here's a tip of the hat from Nels of four years ago to you, my friends who check in and make this so much fun to do.

A Day at Knott's

I've loved living in Oregon and Washington, but I do wish my kids could share many of the experiences I had growing up in Southern California. My grandparents lived just down the road from Knott's Berry Farm, and my grandpa has always loved roller coasters, so Knott's was a big part of my childhood. Even though this was a short trip, I figured an afternoon there was a great way to spend some time with Grandpa and do something the boys would enjoy.

We had gorgeous weather, and the park was all but empty. The sparse crowd was actually kind of a downer, but it meant that we didn't have to wait in any lines. We often got to ride again without getting off the ride at all, which was a good thing with two tired little boys. I graded the day "exceeds expectations."

Reporting for fun.

Varmint.

The Sierra Sidewinder was our first ride, and I was afraid it was going to break Grandpa and scare the boys off trying anything else. It's a swiveling roller coaster. Scared me to death. The boys were total troopers (as was Grandpa) and it turns out that Willem is something of an adrenaline junky. Surprise, surprise.

Matching dimples.

Willem is looking over my shoulder as I write this. He just pointed to the picture below and said, "Say that one is the boring-est." That one is the boring-est.

These cars went really slowly and then whipped around the corners.

Pure joy.

This little roller coaster was the favorite ride of the day. I think they went on it nine times.

We stopped in at the Calico Saloon so Grandpa could wet his whistle ($9 beers ensured that he didn't get sidetracked too long) and we happened to catch this (family friendly) performance. Man, that is one tough way to make a living. The banter between the actors and the crowd was quite lively, and Nels loved every minute of it. That boy is just itching to get on stage.

The show took me back to the days after college when I used to circle the amusement park entertainer jobs in the classifieds and bemoan the fact that I was a third-rate singer and that my dancing didn't rate at all. Some day I'd love to do community theater again, but the dream of being an actor is one youthful wish that it's a big relief to have outgrown.

I really talked up the Log Ride, both because it has always been one of my favorites, and because the cross street we live off of in Camas was originally a chute that conveyed logs down to the mill at the bottom of our hill. The ride's unexpected plunge into pitch blackness scared the boys more than anything that day. And Willem ended up in front (bad mom), taking the brunt of the splash from a grateful Grandpa (who nevertheless let slip his only profanity of the day.)

Guess who's terrified of Ferris Wheels?

It wasn't until Shaun started teasing me that Grandpa noticed how freaked out I was and started rocking the seat. (To the best of his ability, anyway. He's too tiny to do much.) This is my "trying not to lose it in front of the kids" face.

We ended our day with a feast at Ma Knott's Chicken Dinner restaurant. The boys were almost too tired to put their forks to their mouths.

Loaded with leftovers, we stopped by Grandpa's place (where he gave each of the boys a $2 bill and a pen that says Shay's Pour House) and then made our way back to the quiet sanctuary of Shaun's sister's house, where we were made to feel right at home for the duration of our stay.

There's an excellent brewery in Placentia, and we were thrilled to find their fine brews available at Albertons when we stopped in for some cough syrup and our own whistle-wetter. If you ever see something from The Bruery available at your local bottle shop, jump on it. Everything we've tried has been delicious.

Ahhh.

And We're Off

Somebody's excited.

Just taking the shuttle bus from long-term parking was a thrilling novelty for our easily entertained crew. At some point, Willem scooted over to put his arm around Nels. Which was a thrilling novelty for me.

Buckling up! This was our our first time flying together as a family of four.

It's ginger ale, I swear.

The boys went to school on Thursday and our flight didn't leave until dinner time, which made for a very long day. They didn't get to bed until eleven o'clock, and I worried about the toll that might take on our Friday. But it's hard to worry too much when you wake up to this:

Well, ok, I could still worry. Because the first order of business was to go pick up my grandpa on our way to an afternoon at Knott's Berry Farm. And my grandpa is a bit...hmm.... I will go with the word "eccentric" for our purposes today.

Here's his house in Garden Grove, peeking out from behind his prodigiously overgrown front yard.

It's kind of like the Disneyland Jungle Cruise but with a silver Miata instead of boats.

And reminders not to forget your fanny pack.

Seriously. Do not forget the fanny pack.

Knott's is next!

On Such a Winter's Day

One week to the day before we left for California, we woke up to this:

We were ready for some sun. But snow in town in winter is just as rare as sunshine, and even more welcome to the boys. The Grandmartins invited us out for a Saturday of snow at their place. Thanks to their higher elevation, it usually sticks around longer there than it does in Camas.

First they fueled us up with a beauty of a brunch.

There was plenty of snow left to play in.

The boys had the time of their lives "sledding" down a very slight hill. Nels in particular.

Uh oh. Starting to fade.

Crazy river icicles.

Stick a fork in that boy...

he's done.

Nothing a little lolling about in front of the wood stove playing with Daddy's new iPhone can't fix.

Round 2! We dried off their gear before they put it all on again and went out for one final hurrah of the day. Grandma knit the hat!

Up next: sun.

Bests

Best Name of a Literary Journal: Bust Down the Door and Eat All the Chickens

Best Title of a Book Nels Checked Out at the School Library (with bonus awesome author name): Bladderworts: Trapdoors to Oblivion by Victor Gentle

Best Out-of-the-Ordinary Things I Am Going to Do In the Near Future: take a family trip to Southern California, go to this writing conference

Best Way to Start My Day: walking by Willem's room and hearing him reading Where the Wild Things Are aloud to himself in bed. I presume he was getting himself in the right frame of mind to face the day.

Your bests welcomed in the comments.

If You Say So...

Yesterday Willem and I were watching Antiques Roadshow while I folded some laundry. A man brought in a first edition of Cormac McCarthy's The Orchard Keepers that he'd gotten from a relative's estate. The book was in a plastic cover, so he'd figured it might be of some value.

The appraiser was a rather dry, academic fellow, who used the opportunity to educate the viewers on the collecting of modern first editions. Almost all of the book's value is in the dust jacket. In this case, the dust jacket was in excellent condition, but it was a substitute. The book was worth about $125; with the correct jacket it would have been worth much more. The man took this news very cheerfully; the book was free to him after all, and he was quite content with the outcome.

Part-way through their subdued conversation (No Keno brothers here), Willem said, "That could be you and Daddy at dinner."

"You mean--those two men talking--that's what Daddy and I sound like when we're talking at dinner?"

"Yeah."

Well, that's funny. Because if you'd asked me what I sound like when I'm talking at dinner, I would say it was more like please stop tipping your chair back/what are you DOING with your water?/scoot your plate closer to you/that's DISGUSTING/please sit on your chair/you just dipped your sleeve in your sour cream/PLEASE STOP TIPPING YOUR CHAIR BACK!

Today Willem and I were listening to the radio in the car while running some errands. Terry Gross was interviewing James Franco on Fresh Air.

"That sounds like you and Daddy."

Again!

So--if you ever wonder what we're REALLY like at home, when there's no one else around--just tune in to National Public Media. I guess.