Happy Birthday at Benihana

Technically, this is the second time the kids have been to a hibachi-style restaurant.  The first time was out in CO with Amy and Jason and Bryce was in an infant seat.  Fast forward to today- Kevin and I couldn't have been more impressed with their behavior and their willingness to try all the food. Bryce was quite enamored with the chopsticks, too!

Cute Kiddos on a Thursday

A Long Overdue Post About San Fransisco

It's hard to believe we've already been back home for two weeks.  Kari and I took a wonderful spring break trip out to California to spend time with Mark and Meredith.  It was jam-packed and relaxing all at the same time.  I think that's one of the things that's so great about California- there's always something to do, but it can always be done in such a laid back kind of way.

We arrived Saturday the 23rd sorta late in the afternoon and went straight to Alice Lane.  M & M surprised Kari with a belated birthday gift.

I'm not one to brag, but Kari did pretty darn well for being on roller blades for the first time.  Within only a few minutes, she was going up and down the street  with Mark and me jogging alongside her.

We knew we had a lot to see and do, so Kari very reluctantly left the rollerblades behind and we packed up the car and headed to the cabin for two nights.  Meredith's parents have the loveliest cabin in the Santa Cruz Mountains and it was high on our priority list to get there during our visit.  We stayed at the cabin four years ago when we all went out for Thanksgiving.  It was quite a different experience this time, not having to chase a 15 month old around!  

We had an excellent brunch at Linda and Kelley's favorite restaurant, Casa Nostra.

Ask Kari who she went to visit, and she'll probably first tell you Mark and Meredith, but it will quickly be followed by also mentioning she got to visit with four dogs and a lot of chickens.  Collecting the eggs was definitely one of the highlights of her trip!

From the cabin, we took a short drive to Santa Cruz.  This is a really interesting city on the beach.  It's a college town and beach town all wrapped up into one.  It's also one of those places where you know there's going to be some really unique shops.  We were not disappointed! 

We all got such a kick out of the vintage glasses at the antique shop.

Meredith and Kari had to come up with their own fun as I browsed and browsed at the Sockshop. This was one of the coolest stores I've been to in a long time.  Hundreds and hundreds of socks!

We also went to one of M & M's favorite beaches for a picnic.  It chilly and windy, but that didn't stop Kari from getting her feet wet.  She got a little more than what she bargained for, though, and a wave totally caught her by surprise and knocked her down.  

 This is called Hole In The Wall.  We had to walk through this to get to the part of the beach M & M like so much, but you've got to be careful to time it right during high tide or else you'll get trapped!

After our picnic, and mostly Kari's clothes had dried, we climbed back out to the top for some great scenic shots.  Here, we're essentially standing on top of Hole in the Wall.

Kari and Meredith were almost inseparable.  And when they weren't together, Kari was hanging out with her awesome Uncle Mark.  

A recurring theme of the week was telling jokes.  Knock-Knock jokes.  M & M properly equipped Kari with some fresh ones to bring back to Indiana.  If you haven't heard her tell them to you, ask!

Another highlight of the trip was private ice skating lessons.  Kari had such a fantastic time ice skating this winter on our local seasonal rink, so I arranged for two afternoons of lessons.  

I think this is where Mark got the idea for the rollerblades, which Kari pretty much had on anytime we were back at the house.   We headed over to Stanford and she got to practice there a bit too.

We also ventured into the city for a day.  Highlight of the trip was finding the Fortune Cookie factory after a friend recommended it.  It was a bit tough to find- tucked in an alley and super teeny tiny once inside!

 We had lunch in Chinatown too.  Kari had potstickers and her first taste of green tea ice cream.  She was reluctant at first, but the ice cream looked too much like mint ice cream to not give it a try.  Winner!

We went to Golden Gate Park after lunch, but Kari was so pooped, and I think the three hour time difference was finally catching up to her too, that we never made it past the first park bench at the entrance to the park.  We had gorgeous weather, though!

We had purchased a couple of kites in Chinatown and Mark knew of a kite park in Mountain View.  It was perfectly windy there and tons of open space.  

Eating seemed to be on the agenda quite a bit!  We ate some fabulous food while we were there.

Burritos at the kite park!

 Fro Yo at Fraiche in Palo Alto.  Started by a couple of Stanford grads.  Really interesting flavors such as lactose free soy.  It totally would not fly in Indiana :)

 Lunch at The Creamery in Palo Alto.  We split a cookie dough milkshake.

 Pizza and a few rounds of Bananagrams at Applewood.

On our last night we headed back over to Palo Alto's University Avenue.  It's Stanford's downtown area with a ton of neat little shops and restaurants.  During Kari's skating lessons I started chatting with another mom who recommended we said we had to check out Cream.  This was a new place, even to M & M, so they were excited to check it out too.  It was over the top, really.  Pick your cookie and then pick your ice cream and then they'll make your customized ice cream sandwich.  I chose snickerdoodle cookies with salted carmel ice cream.  I can't even remember the other combos we shared that night.  We had a great little table on the second floor balcony overlooking the street.  Perfect for people watching on a mild March evening!

We could not have asked for a better week with Mark and Meredith.  We only hope they'll plan a visit to Indiana soon!