Thing 1 & Thing 2 see Andy Z. Quick trip to San Fran.

We prepare to go to Andy Z's performance in Pottery Barn Kids in Walnut Creek this morning. Kai is wanting to give Lukas his toy.


We meet the twins Dylan and Sierra also.

And watch the show.

Andy Z is very talented, being able to sing in different voices and use stage props real well. He is also very good at not being distracted by the screaming, crying, and talking from the audience during his performance.

Lukas, is momma's boy here. He barely made a peep, let alone participate in the entertainment.
Maybe he was upset that I dressed him up in this t-shirt "Thing 2".

OH NO! The POOR THING!!!

I warned Kai this is what could happen if he played on the stairs...

Thing 1 Thing 2, each with a mini-me Thing 1 Thing 2!

We head out to Fresh Choice, one of the only restaurants left that tolerates mischievous toddlers.

~Video: Jump, jump mommy

Kai shows the proper way to eat mac-n-cheese!

That's right macaroni face!

Video: Thing 1 Thing 2 fight

So we bid farewell to our friends and took a trip to San Francisco on the Bart train.
Kai was so excited, he could barely contain himself. (like that would really happen anyway!)

We changed clothes and headed out to Hotel Adagio for a go-see for a Japanese company that advertise clothing 4 months out of the year in Kobe, Japan.

Afterwards we head out to Union Square and came upon sidewalk autographs on Geary Street. See the hand prints of Stevie Wonder?

At Union Square...

...Kai left his heart in San Francisco.

Then off to the Westfield mall to get some smoothies! It was so hot outside, we just had to!

Nice architectural view, ay?

And at home we met up with daddy and each had an ice cream. YUMMY!

Sundays a DRAG (a Drag Show that is!)...

Sunday, September 16, 2007
Alejandra and Martin gave me my birthday gift at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in San Francisco. Although my birthday was almost 3 months ago, we were finally able to hook up- they were back from Thailand and I wasn't traveling from Chicago. And we had a babysitter, my mother-in-law to watch our Kai.

So they took me out for a brunch on the 21st floor at the Starlight Lounge...and with great entertainment as advertised on Eye On The Bay t.v. show.

Can you guess what I saw???

I experienced my very first drag show!

There was Patty Labelle...

And an older version of Marilyn Monroe...

...and out from the closet came Whitney Houston...

Several times I looked over these images of blondie here trying to figure out where she/he put the "package". Surely those were breast implants, but what about below the waist? Then I started to think maybe she really was a woman, just there to make us believe she was a man, to confuse us.

What do you think?

The owner Harry Denton with his drag queen performers.

I approached blondie on the right and asked how could she have a better body than mine? but nevertheless would she mind taking a picture with my father-in-law...she demanded that he put his arms around them...ONLY in San Francisco, right dad?

Afterwards, Ale ran around looking for places in the hotel lobby for me to take pictures of her.

And Greg attempted to be romantic in a comical way and then almost pushed me over the rail with his forceful kiss....ha.

Yes, we left our heart in San Francisco...

The day wasn't over, we headed to the DaVinci exhibit at the Metreon.

And saw actual 3-D displays of DaVinci's illustrations come to life!

We also realized just how stupid we were next to this genius. This man excelled in everything he pursued- be it art, science, math, and technology. He was well ahead of his time- in fact, we

use his concepts today.

Back at home, I made Chinese blossom tea that Ale brought from Hong Kong. Great flavor and a beautiful presentation- the tea ball blossoms to expose the flower once in hot water. I had a great day as did the rest!

Thanks Ale and Martin!

~

Note: Greg gave Kai his first shave today. The fuzz on his cheek was bothering him, so he gave Kai a little shave during his bath.

Yerba Buena Gardens and Steinhart Aquarium

Monday August 13, 07
It took us 1.75 hours (double our usual time) to drive from home into San Francisco for Kai's model shoot. Here he is eating a bag of cheese-flavored goldfish in a big warehouse where the shoot was held.
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I am sorry to say that he did not have the tolerance for the session today and did not last even 5 minutes on the set. He clung to me when a man put blush on his cheeks and when 3 strangers appeared on the set making faces at him (to make him smile)- he did just the opposite and began to cry. Oh well! He still gets paid anyway.

So to make the most our time in the city- we stopped at Yerba Buena Gardens to try out the carousel next to the Metreon.


The Zeum carousel was hand-carved in 1906 and survived both an earthquake and fire. It was finally placed here under glass cover after being restored in 1998. What luck that Kai had the opportunity to ride another merry-go-round. (He's ridden 6 so far!)


It appears he is not enjoying it this time- as he begins to cry as I step back for this photo.

Yerba Buena attractions.

This structure leads to the playground.

Kai gives it a hand at playing the chimes.

We later head off to the Steinhart Aquarium Natural History Museum (http://www.calacademy.org/) and check out the marine life on the ground floor. You can even have your own personal tour guide by cell phone!

The coral reef tank.

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I discovered this is only a temporary set-up before the official opening of the new California Academy of Sciences Golden Gate Park in 2008. They boast that it will hold the largest "green" building in the world and be topped by a "living" roof of 1.7 million native California plants, a four-story rainforest, and a 212,000-gallon coral reef tank. This will definitely be on my must-see list!

Kai was just enthralled by all the fish, and weird looking marine creatures!

An elegant seahorse.

Tropical fish Greg and I had seen on our dives in the Carribean.

Ugh, a snake!

A Chinese Giant Salamander! This thing is as big as Kai. YUCK! And I always thought salamanders were tiny!

Fish as long and big as Kai!

Piranha! We saw this in the Amazon! I have a set of piranha teeth I brought back from there...razor sharp!

There's a playroom upstairs, where I kicked back and let Kai take apart everything there he could get his hands on. Then I had to put it back... I'm pooped!

Kai thought this gorilla was a doggie- and kept hugging it.

Some more interesting things seen on the second floor.

At 2pm, the Academy biologist feeds the fish in the big coral reef tank you saw Kai leaning against in the picture above. This biologist, as seen above, dives into the tank in full Scuba gear and cleans the tank walls.

What begins with a "B"? Butterflies and Beetles, b-b-b!

Video: Marine animals. Seahorse dance!