It Takes a Village....

When iKeith and I decided that he was going to attend the World Wide Developer's Conference in San Francisco, I decided that I wanted to go with him.  I immediately thought about tricking  inviting my parents to visit.  They live in Dallas so visits are not very frequent and what better way to get to really know your grandkids than to be solely responsible for the care and feeding of them for 6 days.

The few times that I've left my little angels children in the care of relatives...it required two people to do my job.  In the past,  Nana and Uncle Andrew or Uncle Robert have cared for them and curiously they wouldn't return my phone calls for a few weeks once they returned home from their gig.  My guess is that they were too exhausted to answer the phone.

Before my parents even arrived they enlisted the help of Aunt Bobbi so she moved in to help.  Bobbi played the role of iKeith....taking over from exhausted Grandparents at the end of the day.  Grandpa Bob made the comment that iKeith doesn't pay me enough to raise his kids.  Oh, don't you worry...iKeith paid dearly on our trip! (hence the Eat Pay Love theme)

My Aunt Faith (sister of my Mom) arrived the day before my parents so that she could visit with all of us.  It also turned out to be very helpful to have an extra set of hands available while I finished packing and writing the Weiss Kid Instruction Manual.

Within minutes of the Grandparents arrival, Mallory put Grandpa to work drawing pictures for her.  This was the first step in her plan to wrap him around her little finger. Luckily there's lots of room there right next to her Daddy and her Poopa.  She also told us that we could leave for our trip now...she dismissed us with a wave of her hand.

 We all piled into my Armada for the trip to the airport (finally used that third row of seats) and before our plane even took off...Mallory was enjoying her first In-and-Out Burger after her first trip to Cabela's.  

A tent and tunnel (or a vestibule* as iKeith calls it) was purchased and erected in my living room.  Even though it is camo colored...I can still see it.  I believe there was an alterier motive in the purchase of this tent.  My suspicions are that it was used as a containment device since the tent can be zipped closed.  Since returning home...we've nicknamed it Kiddie Jail.

Much to the delight of the children, there were many trips to Lowe's for lightbulbs.  Our house was built by a crazy electrician who loved canned ceiling lights.  Many of them had burned out and in this poor economy....I didn't want to spend the money to replace them.  My Dad made it his personal mission to re-light my house.  Thanks Dad!

There were also many trips made to local fast food establishments.  When they took Alex and Mallory to  McDonald's they asked Alex what he wanted on his Burger Cheese (that's what he calls it) and he said Ice Cream.   They also went to Burger King.

One day they went to Chick Fil A and the kids said that they wanted to eat in the car while watching Tinkerbell.  Grandma went inside to get the food and Grandpa hopped in the backseat to get the movie started.  And then he couldn't get out because the child safety lock was activated.  Grandma returned to find all three of them trapped in the back....so they ate back there together while watching the movie.

Grandma and Grandpa like to read and Grandpa told the kids that the Grandparents Union requires him to take a 15 minute break every hour.  Pretty soon...Grandpa's reading glasses (both pairs) had gone missing.  When Mallory spied him wearing Grandma's glasses she informed him that those were not Papa glasses and he told her he couldn't find his.  She finally fessed up that she'd hidden them from him and brought them back.  She's so sneaky!

Once we returned we had a family dinner at Maddox in Perry to thank them for all of their hard work and for taking care of and loving our kids as much as we do. Thank you Grandma Diane, Papa Bob and Aunt Bobbi!

In the words of Mallory: All of us...We're a Family!

Definition of Vestibule:

1. Enclosed or partly enclosed space (vestibulum) in front of the main entrance of a Greek or Roman house or building, i.e. an entrance-court or fore-court.

2. Entrance-lobby or hall immediately between the entrance-door and the interior of a building.


*job update*
We are still unsure when the lay off will happen.  It appears that nAS.a will not be making any more payments on the FY2010 budget so now we wait to see if Keith's company is willing to play this game of chicken and wait out the decision from Congress.  It feels a lot like we're scheduled to go before the firing squad...except that most Death Row Inmates know when they are going to be executed. 


I just realized....if things really go bad....we can live in the tent.

Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.
- Serenity Prayer

Eat Pay Love Tour

Now that I'm home and have had a chance to look through my picture I thought I share a little more about our trip. More pictures HERE.

The first thing we did after dropping our luggage off at Hotel Abri was to find something yummy to eat and drink.  We walked around in a daze for about an hour and then we found it.  Johnny Foley's Irish House. We ordered Crispy Prawns in Lager Batter served with Cilantro Aioli, Lamb Sliders with Eggplant, Goat Cheese and Mint Aioli and Garlic Fries! It ended up being one of our favorite meals.

 iKeith is very excited because he got to order two beers at one time.

Monday Night we ate at Hana Zen Sushi. iKeith was pretty tired from the day and this place was right around the corner from our hotel...it was perfect. We ordered our favorite sushi rolls and a couple other's that we like with quail egg. It was the freshest we've ever had and we loved all of it (except the Spicy Tuna Roll...too spicy for me). We tried a flight of saki and enjoyed a bottle of our favorite.

On Tuesday  I did some more shopping walking at Union Square but I was bored and lonely without my favorite shopping partner in crime so I got some lunch and went to my room to read.  Once iKeith came back from another day of drinking from the firehose, we decided to eat at the Westfield Mall Food Court so that we could be back in time to see the GLEE season finale.  For our dessert, we got pastries from a Cocola Bakery. I also purchased and fell in love with my first French Macaroon...coffee flavored!

What a fabulous day Wednesday was!  Exploring the Ferry Building with Cynthia and a delicious lunch at Sinbad's was one of the highlight's of my trip. Such a historic building and the views of the bay are amazing. One of the most fascinating things I saw was a mushroom farm...so that you can grow and enjoy your own mushrooms instead of harvesting them from the yard.  I wanted one really badly...but I already have a hard time with TSA agents (they hate me) and I didn't think I could get it through security.

For dinner that night....we tried New Delhi Restaurant.  I had a different place on my list of places to try but poor iKeith was really tired every night when he got back from the conference so we took advantage of New Delhi being down the street from Hotel Abri.  This meal was one of our favorites and it's because we took a risk and didn't just order our favorites.  We did order Chicken Korma and Sag Paneer but we expanded our horizons and ordered Kofta Shah Jahani from the Historical Menu.  This recipe dates back to the 17th century and consisted of a meatball stuffed with an egg and cooked mughlai style.  It was amazing!  Unfortunately...I left my iPhone in the hotel and didn't take any pictures.

Since I successfully walked from the Ferry Building to my hotel on Wednesday, I decided to venture out to Japan Town to do some shopping.  I decided to walk rather than take a cab to save my money for a yummy lunch.  It was supposed to be 1.2 miles but I ended up on the wrong side of a six lane street and walked past the mall.  And I forgot to eat before I left so I was starving when I got there.   I shopped at the Japanese Mall for Bento boxes for the kids and finally found a spot to have a cup of coffee and a muffin.

I also found myself the coolest tote bag that fits my personality and my  iPad perfectly!

See the little apple? 

Do you know about these Angry Little Girls? I am totally a cross between Angry Kim and Disenchanted Debra!

As I was preparing to walk back to Union Square with my heavy shopping bags...iKeith called and wanted to meet me for lunch.  Carrie Bradshaw style...I hailed a cab and met him at Annabelle's Bar and Bistro where I had the most delicious Mahi Mahi sandwich!

Then I spent the rest of the afternoon reading in my hotel room.  iKeith came home with more energy than previous nights so we walked to China Town and had dinner at Hunan Home's.  It was recommended by Jonathan at our hotel and it was great!  All in all, I walked 4 miles on Thursday!

Friday....I did some last minute shopping.  Our hotel had L'occitane products in the bathroom and after 4 days of using the shampoo and conditioner, I was having the best hair day of my life.  I had to have it to take home!!  I sat outside of the Starbucks next door to the conference center and watched the Geek Parade while waiting for iKeith to get done.  I admit it...I'm a Geek Lover!

We checked out of Hotel Abri (Tyler...I'm going to miss you) and decided to high tail it to the airport before the Friday Afternoon rush.  Our trip on the BART was not scary this time....it would appear that all of the ganstas were either at work or at home watching Oprah.

We ended our trip by having real liquor filled (with extra shots) Margarita's at Chili's in the Oakland Airport.  We had a wonderful time and I can't wait to get my hands on the new iPhone4!!

iKeith told me not to give street people money....but as I was walking back to my hotel one day there was a guy playing a song on a trumpet that struck me so hard that I gave him $5.  It's our song now.....

Eat, Pay Love Playlist

Going to California.................................by Led Zeppelin

California Dreamin'.............by The Mamas & The Papas

Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay.................by Otis Redding

San Francisco.....................................by Scott McKenzie

I Left My Heart in San Francisco...........by Tony Bennett

The Sweet Escape...................................by Gwen Stefani

Let's Get Lost.............................................by Chet Baker

Fire................................................................by Glee Cast

Magic...........................................by Olivia Newton-John

My Life Would Suck Without You......by Kelly Clarkson

I Will Follow Him....................................by Sandy Posey

Eat Pay Love and a Photo Tag

I've been tagged by Monica of Moon Over Maize for a photo game.

Here’s the game: in my photos go to the 8th folder and choose the 8th photo…then tell the story.

This picture is from the 8th folder in my 2010 photos and was taken a couple weeks ago. Alex is such a big boy now days that he rarely takes the time to cuddle. But this evening after dinner he curled up with Keith in the big leather chair and put his head on Keith's chest.

They grow so fast....


I'm almost ready to go on Vacation tomorrow.  My to-do list only has a few more items left to check off and my parents will be here this afternoon.

I'll be blogging from San Francisco and we're calling it the Eat Pray Pay Love tour!  I'm gonna Eat, Keith's gonna Pay and we're gonna LOVE!