Out fun the funk

Moving is hard.  

   Moving "home" to a city new to 4/5 of us is hard

      Moving with just 2 months left in the school year is hard

         And entering a K-5 school this late in the year - as a 5th grader - is harder still

Needless to say, things at our house have been a tad edgy.  

     Emotions high, tempers thin & a general air of 'being the new kid blows' discontent

What to do?  

While I'd argue, 99% of the world needs no PR to believe San Francisco is a fab city - to a kid without friends at school - sunshine, amazing views, colorful people & inclusiveness are not so persuasive

Time to roll in the fun....

Last weekend we got in the Easter spirit

Dyed eggs….

Went to a city park "eggstavaganza"…..

(Bouncy castles, rides, an egg hunt, etc)

Played in Golden Gate park with friends*

(*YES!  We DO have fantastic friends & family in the area - just most outside the city & none at schools)

Had family fun at aunt Mary's Easter dinner

This weekend was another buffet of entertainment

Kicked off with pizza with Aunt Amy & and Rio 2….

(capitalizing on it still being a thrill to see new a release in a theater AND in English)

We enjoyed the very cool Academy of Science…..

We dined & Wii'd at old friends (Uh-oh - same ones from the park last weekend.  Better pace it, or we'll wear them out)…. 

Joined EJAM for a perfect Giants game... 

(amazing weather and Giants won 4-1) 

Today after school, Quincy and I went on a 'mom date' to a trampoline place near the Golden Gate

So, everyone is exhausted….

(Zoe reports 'we' need a King size bed - she often joins after we're too asleep to protest)

And we're at risk of seeing all major sights by Labor Day….

But, the goal is we overshadow missing dear people, places & familiar with fun

Here's to aiming to outshine the clouds

Happy Monday.

At least it's an entertaining commute

The kids made it through their first full week of school here.   

Entering the system late in the year with 3 kids you definitely 'get what you get & don't get upset'.  All things considered we got pretty lucky - just 2 different schools, start / end 40 minutes apart & only a mile between them.

The slightly challenging parts are the 7:50 start (Who thought that was a good idea?!) and 4 miles from our house to the 1st school.  

No need to dwell on the negative - examples of the fab...

Door to door service

The J-church train stops literally 8 steps from our door.  

(photo taken from our stoop)

And while we do have to transfer to a bus too, there are apps to tell us exactly which bus is coming when.  Crazy easy!

Pets on Public Transportation

I have no idea what the rules are, but its fairly common to see furry friends on board

I'd totally expect this kind…..  

(service dog)

But not this kind….

(dog in a baby stroller - no baby - just the dog, with dyed fur)

(bird on a leash - why not?!)

While I can't say any of us are at our best leaving the house at 'the crack', meeting fellow passengers like this makes it all good

(looks like Zoe dressed this one)

Parading down Polk

After dropping Q & Z, I get rare 1:1 time walking Xavier to his school.  We've enjoyed the leisurely pace (one could probably crawl the mile in 40 minutes), fun window shopping, and time to chat without interruption (he typically has some serious 'conversation competition').  I've learned far more about Dungeon Defenders than I ever imagined.

In the afternoons, Q, Z & I walk to get X.  By then, the zillions of shops, restaurants, bakeries, ice cream stores along Polk are open. 

Being new to town & with only 40 days of this school combo, we decided the prudent thing to do is to stop at a different place each day

We've hit a broad range:

Bakery...

(Donuts are Q's 'happy place')

(X approves of what we got for him - he coached the 'procurement team' in the morning)

2 different pizza places...

Frozen yogurt….

That said, in my review, the BEST stop along Polk Street so far is (Shhh!!!) one we went to without the kids….

 (an Oyster bar that has been open over 100 years)

Here's to 35 more days of 'research' & enjoying the journey of a crazy commute

Our stuff is here - RUN, hide, stay away!

After 3 days of school, the kids were off for Spring break last week.  The week flew - and in hindsight I know why…

OH NO - our stuff is here
Monday morning a truck rolled up and started unloading boxes of what we had deemd critical enough to travel via air.  

With a furnished apartment + 3 weeks of enjoying the simplicity of minimal possessions, I wasn't so excited about the reunion.

After locating the essentials (bedding, computer, school lunch tupperware), the place looked like our boxes threw up.   

So we decided now was the time to listen to Lexy's sage advice "focus on having fun & exploring in the new city, getting everyone settled - don't worry about the unpacking at first".

Our anti-unpacking plans….


Happy 12!
We celebrated 12 years exploring our new city

We always enjoy the fun of Dim sum - but this one was dangerous (a lazy Susan with 3 kids?!)

A mere 2 minutes after arriving a full pot of hot tea was flung from our table

 (this is NOT how I remember life 12 years ago)

Sun, Snow & Sissy
Just a 3ish hour drive to Tahoe, we decided to literally run away from our stuff & head up again - enjoyed a few days of blue skies, late season snow & a visit from Sissy

Hikes 

Loads of games

And a stop to visit cousins / in-laws...

When we got home late Friday, I'd forgotten what sad shape our house was left in until I saw it.   

Soooo - time for more outside the home activities….

Train to Chipotle
The J line literally stops right outside our door & delivers us directly below a mall with a Chipotle

(Dangerous on so many levels)

FAB Exploratorium

A very hands on museum with a cool new waterfront location

Shopping
You know it's bad at home when the whole family chooses to go along for glasses shopping….

So many parks
By the waterfront….

By our house…

But my favorite - Dolores Park - where I am now convinced ANYTHING goes
Families of 5 come along…..

Come on in sporty people...

Welcome jugglers…

Big Band-ers & Swing Dancers…

We embrace you, random indiginous musicians…

And please join us hula hoopers

In order to keep this PG, I didn't photograph the examples of love - but clearly friendliness is also welcome in any combination

While the randomness and inclusiveness was enough to make me feel warm & fuzzy, the guy in the background made it feel like home… 

(yep - that's beer at the park)

So while there are still piles of unpacked, somewhat unwanted 'critical possessions' laying around our house, the exploring is fab & the cluttered house is because "Lexy told us to"

Here's to prioritizing 

(and if all else fails - blame a friend!)