The Last Year of a Single Digit

 

 

Tiana is 9.

 

 

Her greatly anticipated day was a bit duller than she had

originally anticipated because for the first time EVER

we could not celebrate her birthday on its actual day.

 

That evening she had to display her Spring Project at the school festival.

Bethany had an event at her charter school that lasted the whole evening.

Nathan had a college night class.

It just did not work.

 

Once she overcame her disappointment and adjusted to the fact

that we would celebrate the next evening, everything was fine.

 

She made a family tree for her project board.

 

After we had set up her project board and were waiting for the festival to begin,

 the two of us went to IN N OUT for a birthday treat.

As usual, we were not disappointed in our wonderful food.

 

This school bus was at the festival.  There was also a fire truck and police car.

You can tell when a child is home schooled; they find getting on a school bus to be

VERY exciting.

 

The next night rolled around and finally everyone arrived home so the

celebration could begin.

She wanted a princess party and Little Caesar's Pizza.

It was a simple princess party but it made her happy.

For the unwilling males among us...

 

This was her thrift store find on her birthday.

She was very pleased with this sweatshirt.

It's VERY far away from her feelings when she was two years old

and could not stand him!

 

Not every 9 year old asks for a waffle maker for their birthday.

She was thrilled and plans to make her own waffles.

 

A new camping chair was desperately needed.

She has grown so much that she no longer fits in her child sized chair.

 

And to wrap up the evening...

Key Lime Pie from Schwan's.

It's her favorite.

 

So, never content to languish in the here and now,

she has begun her countdown to the very grown up age of 10.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Someone...

got a little older last week.

(Thanks to the cake, age is no secret around here!)

 

 

To celebrate, we hit up the big city.

We didn't even mind the rain

because that is exactly what we have been praying for around here.

This picture says it all: cable cars, hilly streets, newer high rise buildings,

very old buildings and dampness.  It's San Francisco.

 

We began our day with a tour by the National Park Service of the waterfront area

which includes the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park.

 

 

 

The Hyde Street Pier houses a collection of historical ships.

We were able to visit the three that were open that day.

Due to the wind and waves, the smaller craft were closed to tours because the

boats were pitching around quite a bit.

 

 

The C.A. Thayer was undergoing restoration.

She is a 156 ft. three-masted schooner that sailed along the Pacific coast.

The way it responded to the waves made me concerned that Rudy would get

sea sick while still in port.

 

The most impressive is the Balclutha, a square rigged ship that was built

in 1886 in Scotland to haul California wheat to Europe.

It is 256 ft. long and survived many months-long trips around Cape Horn.

 

The sailor quarters were in the forecastle.

Miss T refused to lay down in the bunk; she said they were creepy.

We all agreed that they resembled coffins.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the big stove in the tiny kitchen where all the meals were prepared -

three times a day for months at a time.

Behind the kitchen was a pen for livestock.

 

Every ship needs a colorful captain...

 

It was really neat to go down the steep steps and see the cozy  quarters where the captain and his wife lived. It was certainly not spacious but was a bit more luxurious than the crews' quarters.  There was a bedroom, bathroom, living/dining room, and a kitchen.

It was too dark down there for me to get any good pictures.

 

The Eureka is a side-wheel ferry.

It was built in 1890 to haul trains across the bay and then rebuilt in 1922

to haul passengers and their automobiles.

 

There is a display of old vehicles and carts on the lower deck.

 

The seating area is upstairs.

 

Then it was time for lunch so we walked over to one of Rudy's favorite areas:

Fisherman's Wharf.

 

Some of us choose exotic food:

 

and others of us choose to not be exotic:

 

We were warmed up inside and out and ready to tackle the afternoon.

Stay tuned for the rest of the day...

 

 



 

 

 

Happy 15th Birthday,

Bethany

 

 

 

This post got lost in the crazy shuffle of life and
was never published.
So...despite being a month late...
Happy Belated Birthday, my sweet girl.

 

How Time Flies

 

How do they go from this to...

 

this in such a short time?

 

Happy Birthday to my favorite sons!

 

*************

The boys are in the fourth year of attending classes at a charter school

two days a week.  Due to the class dates changing every year
(T/Th, W/F, M/W, T/Th)

they have never actually had to go to school on their birthday.

I think that real life might hit them pretty hard next year.