Fourth of July!

In our search for a decent firework display, one that rivals one of the many San Diego has to offer, we decided to give Sausalito a try this year for the Fourth of July.  We’re looking for that ultimate experience, perhaps an annual gig for the entire family, a day of fun (and frenzy) and a decent display of fire in the sky in the evening to help celebrate our country and our Lindsay!

Sausalito is a small town on the bay just outside of San Francisco on the other side of the Golden Gate.  The weather. was. perfect!

We found some outdoor seating at a café where we had breakfast and great views of the parade and bay.  

Kinley thoroughly enjoyed the parade, waving to one and all!

Once the parade was done, we had planned on boppin’ over to San Francisco for a little bit.  Being that we were not going to drive into San Francisco on the Fourth of July (way too many cars and peeps) to pay outrageously inflated parking fees over and above what are already outrageous parking fees, we thought we’d try the “#2 best ferry ride in the world”.  BTW – still not sure what’s so special about this particular ferry ride but it beat having to drive into the city. 

The Golden Gate ferry took us from Sausalito to the San Francisco Ferry Building.  This building contained some very interesting and exciting places to eat.  We chose Gott’s Roadside for their burgers.  FYI - I would recommend trying one of the more exciting eateries the marketplace has to offer…

Pier 39 is only a 25 minute walk from the San Francisco Ferry Building.  Down we strolled, experiencing the variety of people on the streets that day.  The weather was fabulous which made it all the better.  The streets of San Francisco (between Pier 39 and Ghirardelli Square) were closed off due to the mob of peeps visiting that day.  It looked like something from Main Street, Disneyland…except NOT.

We stopped in at the Rainforest Café so Kinley could say hi to the animals. 

Some, she was fascinated by…

Others, not so much…

Off we strolled...

At this point it was time for a refreshing beverage and some tasty little treats from Ghirardelli.  Kinley was very curious, checking on the staff making sure our orders were accurate. 

After Kinley tried to clean the floor with Mommy’s shake, we thought we’d move on.  Hyde St. Pier was open and looked interesting and less crowded.  In case you didn’t know, Hyde St. Pier is part of the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park.  Who knew?! While you have the option of touring some historic maritime vessels, we chose to rest for a few minutes and hold a mini photo shoot.  Why?  Ummm, see for yourself!

Are you dying?!?!?!?  Is that not one of the cutest things ya ever did see? 

After spending a sufficient amount of time in San Francisco we headed back down to Pier 39.  We caught one of the last ferries of the Blue and Gold fleet to Sausalito.  We found a piece of grass near the water and set up camp in wait for the firework extravaganza.   It was there Kinley found some little pals to play with and traded shiny colored beads.  She gathered her new friends up for some pockets full of posies. 

PINECONE INSPECTION!

Here we are, the Turner family, after a long day in the big city and catching perhaps a few too many rays.

Finally, what we’d been waiting for.  Could this be the event worthy of an annual repeat?  Would it rival those of San Diego?  Well, the firework display put on by Sausalito was nothing to write home about.  It was okay.  Nowhere near the show at Disneyland or the display I’ve seen in Ramona.  What you DO get to see is what appeared to be an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G show across the bay in San Francisco!!  Unfortunately, there were some incredibly RUDE people who felt entitled somehow to stand in front of us and hundreds of others who had been sitting on their grassy knoll for hours and hours in preparation for the show.

Would we give it another try?  Absolutely, in hopes that the skies are again as clear as they were this particular evening.  Would we come armed with extra chairs for Casper to ensure our views would be free and clear from prickish people?  You better believe it.  Overall, it was a fun day.  We tried new things and enjoyed our little day rollin’ to da bay!

Happy Fourth of July and Happy Birthday to our Lindsay!

Kinley's Update

The latest on Kinley Mae...

She loves a good beat and clapping makes her quite happy.

She enjoys looking at books, turning the pages with her little fingers.

She likes how they taste as well.  Some "baby book" this little guy was...too bad it wasn't very baby proof!

Her caloric intake has expanded beyond the 'you-know-whatsies' to include carrots, zucchini, sweet potatoes and organic puffs!  (Auntie JenJen, do we see a little similarity here?  Is this not you as a baby???)

 

She's crawling faster than ever and has discovered the drawers in the kitchen. It was only a month ago that she wasn't able to open them.  That has changed and she wants to know what's inside every single one!!!

We turned our backs for two seconds and found her in the midst of this little shenanigan...kudos to IKEA and their strong cabinetry!

Check Miss Thang out as she kicks it in her ride.  She always has her feet up on the dash!

"When do I jump in, Dad?"

Updates on our trip to San Diego coming soon.

Thanks for stopping by!

Window 2012

One of the great things about the Manor when we purchased it was that it has a ton of windows.  All of the windows, with the exception of one, had been replaced with newer dual-paned windows.  How wonderful was it that there was one less expense to be concerned about!  Prior residents had paid for Milgard windows to be installed throughout the house - quite an expense considering the number of windows!  However, one single-paned aluminum window remained...and it was one big @$$ window!

Having had the experience of replacing the windows of Paiute Place a bajillion years ago, I knew I could do this.  The Manor has a stucco exterior on the back side.  This threw me off a little bit but only until I learned that retrofit windows slip right into the existing aluminum frame!  A-W-E-S-O-M-E!!!  It was a fairly simple process.  

Here are pics of our new window!  You'll see that I painted the window sill as well.   

It looks SO MUCH BETTER!

One project down, many more to go!

These are the websites that provided great assistance to me:

http://diyhomeimprovement.blogsome.com/2009/04/23/diy-tips-to-replace-aluminium-frame-window/

http://www.doityourself.com/forum/house-home-doors-windows/316768-certainteed-retrofit-vinyl-windows.html#b

http://www.jeld-wen.com/product-support/documents/installation-instructions

Fried Green Tomatoes

I have been obsessed about fried green tomatoes since my first time consuming these little tasties at Archibald's Restaurant (Gardner Village) in Utah.

Since that visit, we discovered that our beloved Lucille's offers fried green tomatoes, granted they're pricey little boogers, but ya do what ya gotta do.

We busted out our deep fryer for the first time several weeks back to make our own corn dogs and fried zucchini.  Success!  It then occurred to us that we could try fried green tomatoes ourselves!  While we decided that we'd make some tweaks to the recipe for next time, they were still quite tasty.  Here are a few pictures from the first endeavor.  

Here is the beginnings of the dipping sauce.  Delicious!

Thanks to Bo's Bowl for the recipe.  We've found it will make for a great starting point!

Sparkly Pretty Princess Sandals

Kinley's first pair of footwear upon her feet were these sparkly pretty pretty princess sandals.  She was ENTHRALLED with them!  I couldn't help but snap about 52 photos of her cute little feetsies in these sparkly little gems!  In case 12 minutes of her first rice cereal expedition wasn't enough, here are 10 pictures of feet!  Isn't she the most adorable?!

She was captured by their beauty.

Are these not the cutest stinkin' little toesies you ever did see?!

Captured once again...

Her cute little FEETSIES!!!!!!!

Maybe not so little as far as height goes.
These sparkly little gems will be very short lived!

 

CUTEST. FEET. EVER.

  

She's a movin' and a shakin'!

As Kinley has discovered her voice in the last month or so, she's picked up a few new variations on it.  She can produce a pretty mean growl.  It's so funny to watch her growl because she thinks she's one funny little shiz when she does it.  I find it amusing when she's in the middle of a cry and turns it to a growl and then back to her cry.  What is that?!?!

She's gettin' up on all fours now.  Everyday she gets further and further along.  Pretty soon she's going to be ALL. OVER. THE MANOR.  We're off to get her a corral this weekend.  

Stay tuned because there'll be plenty more to share in the coming weeks.

Kinley's Nap

After a long day of signing autographs at both Costco and Sprouts, Kinley Mae came home to relax and play while watching The Little Mermaid.  Rolling around in circles and playing with her favorite "Zebraff" (thank you Aunt Jenny) can be very tiring - so tiring that she just gave up and fell asleep on the floor in this position.  Isn't she the cutest thing ya ever did see?!?!?!

Kinley eats rice cereal...

Today is the day Kinley was introduced to something other than mom...rice cereal!  As you'll see from the videos below, she wasn't quite sure about the process at first but she eventually got the hang of it.  Clearly, there's room for improvement but I think she'll catch on pretty quick.  She wanted to be in control of the situation (shocking, right?) by grabbing the spoon and doing it herself.  She is G.A.T.E. AND our child after all...

Deliciously adorable...