San Francisco

 My aunt Vickie went with Dell on a Princess cruise.  It ported in San Francisco.  I picked them up and drove them to SFO.  But first we went to Coit Tower.  I'd never been inside!  It was cool.  It was a monument erected in 1933 from funds donated by Lillie Hitchcock Coit with a request to beautify the city. 

I was surprised that they didn't prohibit the scooter going to the top of the tower.

It was an unusually clear day in San Francisco.  Golden Gate bridge is in the distance.  

Fired a daytime fill flash here and it looks like the kids are in front of a green screen!  It was too backlit otherwise.

Vickie and Dell

I lugged around the Canon 5d mkiv and my tripod

Alcatraz with Tiburon in the background

Bay bridge on the left with Benioff's Sales Force tower on the right

Ended our SF Excursion with Ghirardelli.  Mmmm.  

We dropped off Dell and Vickie at SFO at 12:51, nine minutes early!  Vickie was a little stressed about my assertive San Francisco driving. 

Blake held it together until the car ride home.  He got two warnings and on the third offense, lost his Wendy's meal.  He moaned and wailed that I didn't give him ample warnings, that Parker intentionally triggered him, that he's trying to control himself but the temptation is too great.  

Heidi has a hard time following through with punishments but I held firm.  No Wendy's for Blake.  I said, "Is punching Parker more important than Wendy's?  If yes, then I hope you're satisfied.  If not, then I hope you've realized that your actions have real consequences.  You cannot continue to blame others for your bad behavior."  This probably won't nudge any substantial behavior improvement but I think eventually, he will take responsibility for bad behavior, whether living under our roof or not.  I've been wrong before, though.  

Okay, bye.  

April haps

Heather and her family came over for Easter dinner and egg hunt.  

I had a fun time hiding the eggs.  The kids complained about how easy they were to find but left four unfound.  Hanna was excited about finding her eggs.

Mister finding the eggs out in the garden

Blake was in a good mood for the Easter egg hunt

de la Salle vs. Northgate meet, a sort of tribute to seniors Friday afternoon.  Jacob, Alyssa, and Scott.  

Hanna came with me to the meet right as it ended

Scott doing Atlas man with Bro. Cropper's Tesla that he took to Ball.  

I wanted to get a picture of Scott and his date, Amelia, but we were also hosting Heidi's birthday bash at the house.  Over 70 people came!  The water was a chilly 68 but the kids played in it all afternoon.  Thank goodness for the hot tub.  

Using the bonus room for food service.  We did taco bar.  I made way too many beans.  Heidi's pulled pork was a hit.  

I'm glad we're finally getting to use the yard for entertaining.  There were several seating areas that allowed for the right mix of isolation but inclusion.  

 

Weekend

Kira had a dive meet at UC Davis on Saturday.  It was cold and windy but she did well.

Watching the women's rugby game at UC Davis

Tuff guy after stake conference in Oakland

Blake with the flowers at the temple

A mom and her daughter

Even princesses go to church

Taken by Scott with the Canon 5d mkiv

Brennan joined us for the weekend

Candid of Kira

Timer on tripod

The men in black, galaxy defenders

Jeff and Diedre were in our last family portrait, not visible until I blew it up to 30" for the office.  Now he tries to photobomb us whenever possible.  Jeff is behind Heidi with his wife.

I sent him this picture with the caption, "The next cover of the Liahona!"  I don't know if I wrote it on my other blog but I told Jeff that he'd done a great jorearb on his talk.  He said, "Is that Strongbad?"  Few people outside of my circle of influence are familiar with Strongbad, so we had an instant kinship.  

 

Seen and heard

 This morning Parker and Blake were talking about what they'd do if they had a time machine.  Parker's like, "I'd go back in time."

Me:  "Oh yeah, when would you go back to?"

Parker:  "Kindergarten, because first grade's really hard."

Blake said, "I'd go in the future, to 2025, and I'd be all grown up."  

Me:  "You think you're going to be a grown-up in seventh grade?  That's not how time machines work anyways.  You'd just skip ahead and arrive in the new year with your current knowledge."  

I guess it seemed funnier when they said it.