Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween all you ghosts and goblins, princesses and pirates, beach bums and land sharks. Hope you all had safe sugar huntings.

Hey Peeps

Yes we are alive. Just moving very slowly. What we've been up to:

Starting school: the big K. that right folks kindergarten. Of course I forgot my camera on Friday when a hot air balloon landed across the major street from school in a church field and another hot air balloon was roughly 50 - 100 feet above the school. The little ones were so cute. "please land here. I hope it lands on my clasroom"

Wine Country Ukelele festival (picts coming)

We are smack dab in the middle of the Kids Fair.

And preparing for our Halau's big Ho'ike show in the middle of October.

And yes it has finally happened. I knew it would. 200GB on my computer FULL. Time to do some house cleaning. Yikes. I'm actually a bit surprised it took this long. I know what I will be doing this week.....

HA HA Suckers. I just found my D drive . 200 more GB for me. Party. They should last me a few months ....hopefully...

Fairyland Part 1~ The Sleepover

So the weekend before last the wee one, my mom and I went on an overnight adventure to a very magical place. Nope, not Disneyland. Fairyland in Oakland. It’s been around for almost 60 years. In fact, it will be celebrating the anniversary in a few weeks. Being a big kid it is one of my favorite places. It has animals, neat old funky buildings, a puppet show, mini rides for the kids, a train, even a whale and a Japanese house up in the sky with a big dragon slide (kids only please).

The adventure began when the gates opened at 5:45. We got to the gate around 5:20 and there was already a good line, but not to fear there was plenty of room for everyone to pitch their tent. We choose a location that was sunny in the afternoon and would be one of the first to receive the morning light. Okay next time we’ll make sure we’re not under a lamp post and in the main line of traffic for the food. But overall our location was not bad. We were not going to place ourselves in the bark under a tree where who knows what tiny creatures would lurk under us or overhead.

Ah here’s our humble abode. Now I must let you in on a small fact. I don’t camp. I have issues that I don’t like open air when I slumber. I like to feel as if there are four SOLID walls around my body. Unless it’s 80 to 90 degrees with high humidity I don’t even crack a window. Size does not matter, it could be a box. So this was quite a big thing for me to do. I am not too proud to admit that yes I did sleep in the middle with a five year old protecting me on one side.

So here’s a basic rundown of the evening. Gates open, rides (train, carousel, mini ferris wheel) open, kids running amuck (thank goodness they locked up the animals before our arrival), then dinner. After dinner there was a puppet show, more play time, a magic show, dessert, lights out and kids running amuck on a sugar high. (Fairyland, uhm maybe next year we can mover the dessert to after dinner, before the puppet show? It’s a bit difficult to calm down 50+ 3-8 years olds when you give them cake and hot chocolate at 9. I‘m just say‘in.)

Overall I had a great time. It is always fun to go to Fairyland and night just makes it that bit more special. We will definitely be going back next year. ( I will even remind myself to bring the extra battery so when my camera dies I'm not running around using the ipod video)

Those of us at the beach house just ask those of you who go next year please don’t let your kids run screaming around at 10:30, 11 PM. And please leave the damn wagon at your tent. No little child needs to go for a midnight wagon run. Maybe save it for college? Wake up time is at 6:30 and some growing children and adults do like to get some rest.

Also it seemed that everyone was having a wonderful time. So why don’t we save that discussion for the next day, maybe the ride home? Little Johnny may like to wake up at 4:30, but he can probably remember the night before without you rehashing it loudly at that hour. If I wanted to hear how much you and your child enjoyed the evening before, I would have invited you into my tent at 9am. Whispering before 7 am is always appreciated. Especially by those who are a bit grumpy from trying to fall asleep with children circling their tent the night before. Thanks.

Hope to see you there next summer!!

Day 1 - Done

So I have a crazy Crazy4 days. Actually it started today. I am proud to report that I survived and enjoyed the circus. The coolest part were the crazy costume people jumping on the bouncy things at the end. It's hard to explain. 7-8 trampolines in two rows on two levels with lots people jumping and flipping on them in time with the music and each other. Add some hula hoops and two large groups of rings, and crazy costumes with lots of bright red, orange and yellow tags attached to body suits and hats for kicks and giggles. I can only describe it as a bizarre mating of trapeze (without the trapeze) and syncornized swimming (without the water) that takes place on a skate ramp (without the skateboards or the ramps, just lots of guys on platforms waiting for their turn to jump in). Confused? Good. Just a nice elongated kip and I'll be ready to tackle day two. Friday the 13th and the fair.

Where in the hell is Summer?

I know you all have missed me. I've been hibernating. This lack of Summer is starting to drive the wee one and I a bit crazy. The mornings have been overcast and the afternoons, well let's just say it doesn't even feel like Spring. I've been wearing long sleeved shirts and sweaters for goodness sakes. I'm going to zip up my parka now and go for another Kip. Thank heaven for heated mattress covers.

Hula Day

IT's HuLa DaY !!!!

Tacos at Oma's

Every few weeks/months, okay every so often, the Beach House gang cruises over to Oma’s (grandma’s) house for some homemade tacos. Well, everything but the taco shells are homemade. But even those are home fried. Salsa, guacamole, cheese, beef, beans, lettuce, onions and some cilantro to top it off. Washed down with some cold ice tea. Oh and who can forget the lemon meringue pie for dessert?

So last Wednesday was one of these occasions. The wee one and I grabbed a couple of her friends whose parents were off to celebrate a birthday and go to a concert and sauntered over to Oma’s. It was a warm summer evening and the sun was beginning to set.

Oma did not disappoint. She had a beautiful set up in the courtyard with two tables. One for the little kids and one for the big kids. Not a bad setting for the evening.

Here's the cottage next to the courtyard. Aren’t these French doors beautiful? Okay I’m a bit biased because I built them. That’s right kiddies I built them. These beauties started off as 5 pieces of redwood and 2 big planes of glass.

Let the feasting begin. Here it’s serve yourself. You make it as you like it. A little or a lot. Don’t forget the music. Tonight it was Johnny Cash.

Isn't this the cutest table? $12 Thrift store find. I've also seen one at Alameda. Perfect indoors or out. So lightweight yet stable. Great for extra plates or silverware. Napkins. It would even be cute in a bathroom or as a nightstand. Put some books on the bottom shelf and some dolls on top and it could go in any little girls room. With a little spray paint it can be any color you like. Of course I highly recommed Spa Blue or Lime Green.

As you can see not much remains on the plates at these get togethers. But there's still some left in the bowls for leftovers. Yummy!!

Time to head to the porch for a bit of recovery before dessert.

So you think you're a rock star? Really?

Guess what greeted me this morning as I dragged my weary non-morning loving body to the kitchen this morning? This!! Just because you get a few pictures on the world wide web does not give you table privileges. Even more amazing is these 2 so close. They don’t get this close unless it’s cold and raining outside. Friendemies?? Do I want to even ponder what they were planning to do with the car keys? Nope.

This one obviously has a short attention span. Here he was back this evening. That’s right. His legs are even crossed as he’s lounging. No shame here.

The weather outside was a bit cold for him after 6. Did I mention this guy suffers from SAD? That's right. He spent most of the morning complaining about the overcast sky. Honey if I had any say in the matter it would rain for a few hours in the morning to water the plants and be a cool breezy 90 for the rest of the day.

Maybe I should hide the car keys.

Fabulous. Now this one wants in on the action. Posing with a parrot for goodness sakes. Do any of you creatures have any shame?

Oops we did it again.

Yeah, 2 of our big boys, Fuzzy and New Guy can be seen on the fabulous design blog Desire to Inspire. Thanks Kim! The little one is so excited. Imagine "That's Fuzzy on pets on furniture" at a very high pitched squeal about 7 inches from my ears. What did you say? Sorry I can't hear on the left side right now.

To see more sweet sweet pictures of pets every Monday check out http://www.dersiretoinspire.net/. Or check it out to see beautiful design every day.

Another Alameda???? At Candlestick???

So it's been brought to my attention (Thanks Mom) that there is a NEW antique fair that will be taking place the 3rd Sunday of the month at Candlestick park in San Francisco. On initial viewing of its web site it looks suspiciously like the same folks that run Alameda. I don't know if I can handle all the excitement and pressure on the checkbook of 2 big fairs a month. But, I'll be there in August to check it out and report back. May the force be with me.

Table Cloth Upholstery

Once vibrant and colorful, the material on the bamboo dining chairs has become dull and dingy. It’s time has come and passed. It’s done!

After a few months of scouring fabric stores for something that can handle high traffic and little munchkins, without breaking the bank, I figured out that I would need some type of oilcloth. Something bright, something tropical. And BOOM it hit me. An outdoor tablecloth. And with it being summer time, my pickings were bountiful.

I hit the local discount stores and found this beautiful hibiscus patterned table cloth that would fit in perfectly in the dining room. At $5.95 each, I bought 2. According to my rough calculations I can get 6 chairs covered with 1 tablecloth. And an extra if I need it down the road. Fabulous

So with my tablecloth. a pair of scissors, a staple gun, and a very talkative assistant, I was off and running. Maybe not running. Remember kids, safety first. DO NOT run with scissors.

Not too shabby!!! The material just compliments the color of the dining room perfectly and can take lots of abuse. I couldn't have picked a better material.

Did I mention that this works great with metal chairs?

Here‘s a sweet little kids chair that I picked up at Alameda for $10. I love little metal chairs. Well okay most metal chairs. I love metal. But enough about me.

Here's what I did with this cutie.

First I laid out the table cloth against the cushion to see which part of the pattern I liked. The little one liked the big hibiscus flower in the top right corner. Good eye little one.

I pulled the tablecloth over the edge of the cushion and marked an inch or so border from the edge.

I cut out the piece that I wanted and unscrewed the cushion from the metal frame.

Then I placed the material how I wanted it on the cushion and gently turned it over.

I cut away a bit of excess material and using a staple gun, stapled the material to the bottom of the cushion.

Then I screwed the cushion back onto the base.

And now I have a cute cushion on a cute chair that is easy to clean up if the kids make a mess.

And I’ve got lots of extra material to make a matching apron or placemat if I feel crafty. And if I need to replace the cushion cover again I’ve got material for that too.

*note: if you feel the tablecloth material is too thin, try using some fusible material to make it sturdier.

Some nice and some not so nice words

First off. THANK YOU to all of those for the wonderful fabulous comments about our balcony on Apartment Therapy. The little one and I are so thrilled as we are huge fans of the site. It was so exciting to scroll down and pop see it. I hit the refresh button twice. Actually I was a bit more excited. I showed it to the wee one and she said “Nice, Can I go back to playing with my village now?" She’ll understand when she’s older.

Now for you those of you assholes that took a beautiful pink hibiscus and a planter off our front steps about a week and a half ago and then came back a few days ago and DUG up and took the remaining hibiscus. You are sad and pathetic. I hope that the next time you steal a plant it is covered in cow fertilizer and the stench attaches itself to your hands for two full moons. Just remember karma is a bitch and you’re lucky I don’t live in the South, because that click click sound you hear would be the double barrel pointed at you from the balcony. Ah I feel much better now.

Yes, isn't it sad and lonely? Poor little planter all alone and naked.