The Curious Georges

The Ultimate Family Vacation (for now)

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As anyone who knows me can attest, I'm not one for spouting grandiose ideas and not following through with them. Even big ideas have a way of happening when I set my mind to it.  However, when you're toting along three little ones, big ideas can often have disastrous results.   My husband, AKA "Mr. Practical" is the one who is always reigning me in, getting me to think realistically. So I surprised even myself when my vision for the ultimate family vacation was not only fun, but do-able.

Last summer we had one of those family vacations that left us drained and wanting to re-name our trip. "Vacation" would be a little optimistic. I guess we could call it "a trip where we hope our kids remember at least one nugget of the fun time when they're older and thus it was all worth it." This is what happens when you bring a barely swimming five-year-old and non-swimming four-year-old twins to a resort with a gazillion pools. This necessitated two adult parental supervisors at all times, especially since the barely swimming five-year-old over-estimated her swimming skills.  The resort had a kids club, but charged exorbitant rates so we only had four hours of freedom during the whole five day trip. The fact that I was too tired to even lay out by the adult pool during these four hours speaks volumes for how tiring the trip was. During these four hours, it was nap-time for mommy.  I was even to tired to go to the spa.  Yes, it's possible to be that tired.

So the ultimate family vacation would be the Mexican island of Cozumel. I had the pleasure of taking just my daughter to Cozumel with me this past summer. It is an easy flight from Austin via Dallas and only a twenty minute cab ride to the resort. We stayed at the Occidental Grand Cozumel, a wonderful all-inclusive resort. The real Shangri La was the Kids Club. Eight hours of kid-free time per day was included in the cost of the hotel! This was a definite win-win. My daughter was in heaven, enjoying eight hours of unadulterated kid's activities (no pun intended). And I was in heaven just lounging by the ocean, reading, taking dips in the aqua-marine ocean and occasionally snorkeling. In the mornings and evenings, I had quality time with my daughter. The enjoyment was heightened by the fact that we had a nice break from each other and thus appreciated each other's company all the more when we were together. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that ...

So going from zero to three kids in 19 months has forced me to reign in my big ideas a bit. In the future, an African safari will be our family's ultimate adventure, but in the meantime, give me a beach and a kids' club!

 

Don't forget to enter the “Do What You Love” Sweepstakes, for a chance to win your own ultimate family vacation. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

The Big Easy

My friend, Louise, and I went to New Orleans a couple weekends ago.  Originally, the raison d'etre for the trip was to attend the BlogHer Conference, but it ended up getting canceled.  Since it would have cost an arm and a leg to cancel the hotel and air, we ended up going anyway.  We were just devastated (ha ha).  All sarcasm aside, New Orleans ROCKS!  It is one of my top five favorite cities, along with Austin (of course), San Francisco, Paris and Florence. 

 
St. Louis Cathedral

art in Jackson Square

local musician

Garden District home

Seeing Stars

Anyone who knows me well knows that I am enthralled by anything and everything celebrity.  I know this is silly and I know that if I inspected this interest under a microscope, it would dissolve on its slide.  I've heard it all.  They're just people.  Acting, singing, etc. is just a profession.  Blah blah blah.  I don't care.  I just love it.  Maybe it was being born and bred in Southern California that did it.  Maybe it was having Thanksgiving dinner with Bonnie Raitt when I was nine that did it.  (Ms. Raitt dated my mom's cousin for a spell.)  My mom did fawn all over Bonnie during the entire dinner so I guess it's true that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Barton scoffs at my obsession with celebrities*.  He proclaimed my Brangelina blog "boring."  God forbid I blog about anything beyond our brood!  To quote Sheryl Crow, if it makes you happy, it can't be all that ba-a-a-ad.  I can practically hear Barton rolling his eyes right now (he's not a big Sheryl Crow fan).  I guess there's just something soothing about worrying about whether Brad will leave Angelina or Britney's latest goof.  Like I said in an earlier post, it takes my mind off the stresses of my own life. 

Last week I went to LA LA Land for family business and my friend Cheri and I went to a taping of the Tonight Show.  Growing up in So Cal, we just don't do these types of things.  I compare it to when we lived approximately fifty feet away from the Egyptian Museum in San Jose.  Although Nicole and I often roamed the grounds as it was a toddler wonderland, we never actually entered the museum.  Same goes for many of the landmarks in San Francisco.  Ask a native if he's been to Alcatraz and I'd wager that over 90% have not been there while they lived there.  It's as if we become immune to the allure of our own backyards.

Anyway, I felt like a bit of an impostor since I've never seen a complete episode of Jay Leno's version of The Tonight Show.  I'm more of a Letterman girl.  However, the whole experience was a blast.  Jay's guests were Bill Maher, Jim Norton (yawn) and James Taylor (be still my heart).  Bill Maher was on fire and he just eviscerated McCain/Palin (although doesn't it seem like Palin jokes are just too easy?)  He quipped "Competence is like pornography; you know it when you see it." Maher was so pumped up on politics that he almost forgot to talk about his new movie, Religulous, which looks Hilarious.

James Taylor has always been one of my favorite artists, but I've never seen him perform live.  His voice is clear and pure and he exudes such warmth and sincerity.  He has a new CD of covers called cleverly "Covers."  He sang Leonard Cohen's Suzanne, which is a beautiful and challenging song that sounds like a run-on sentence.  Apparently, back in the day, when James was just starting out, Mr. Leno used to go see James perform in Boston coffee-houses.

Stuttering John, formerly of the Howard Stern Show does the warm-up and basically strong-arms the audience into laughing at the monologue, just in case you're wondering why studio audiences always sound so manic.  Also, Jay unexpectedly strolled out in his Casual Friday clothes prior to the taping to pump the audience up.  Then there's the free swag.  Stuttering John was throwing out t-shirts, hats, etc. to the audience.  I was being a Grade-A Spaz, screaming like my life depended on getting this t-shirt and he threw the shirt right at me.  Score!  Can't you just see me pumping my fist in victory now?

After the show, Cheri and I went to The Smokehouse, which is one of those great old-school restaurants from 1946 with red vinyl booths and dim lighting, for a prime rib dinner.  We were gabbing away when she nudged me and whispered, "That's Billy Ray Cyrus."  Surprisingly, for being so enamored with celebrities, I'm not the best at spotting them.  Sure enough, Billy Ray and Mrs. Billy Ray were sitting only a few feet from us at the restaurant.  I guess it's a good thing that Miley wasn't there too or we would have been stampeded.  I, of course, was thrilled to be in the midst of a celebrity, albeit a washed-out one, who is pretty much riding on the coattails of his daughter now.  That's what I love about celebrity sighting.  It's so random.  It's not like you say, "Hey, I hope Billy Ray Cyrus is at the restaurant."  It just happens.  One of life's fun surprises.

I had a quick chat with Barton on my cell while dining.  I know that's so obnoxious, but with the time difference, I had to catch him before he went to bed.  I was trying to whisper that we were sitting right by Billy Ray, but Barton couldn't hear me.  At the end of the call, I whispered a cryptic "Achy Breaky Heart," but alas, this was completely lost on my hubby.

To further analyze this "interest" of mine, I guess a lot of the allure is that these people do not have normal lives.  Yes, they're just doing a job, but by the very nature of celebrity, they've become fish in a fishbowl.  Everything they do in public is subject to an audience.  I'm not saying this is fair, but I guess it's the price they pay for all the other perks.  I'd love to live in a celebrities' shoes for just one day and then go back to being ordinary old Lisa.  But probably not Britney's shoes because you never know where her feet have been.

As I was flying in to Austin, I noticed the glowing pink granite of the Capitol Building.  Because I just happened to look out the window as we were flying over the building, I was just awestruck by the building's beauty.  Another star sighting ... Texas style!  

 

*Why is it that Barton always steal my US Magazine before I have a chance to read it?  For someone so disdainful of celebrity, he gets sucked in just like the rest of us.

Images of San Antonio

Where we stayed:  the historic Emily Morgan Hotel

The Alamo

The Spirit of Sacrifice Cenotaph by Pompeo Coppini

Welcome to the market

 

my handsome husband, hangin' on The Riverwalk

Nicole loves her Red Hat armadillo.  Red is her favorite color.

Mommy & Daddy went to San Antonio and all I got was this stuffed armadillo. 

(Dane has since become completely attached to "Lello, the Yellow Armadillo."  Everywhere Danie goes, Lello goes too.)

Tossed Salad & Scrambled Eggs

Nicole and I just returned from visiting Grandpa Joe and Grandma O. in Seattle, the land of Frasier & Niles.  Apparently Frasier's theme song refers to the wacky folks in Seattle who call in to his radio help line.  Coming from San Francisco, I wouldn't say that  Seattleites are any more strange than your average urban dweller, but you do get your usual city crazies.  (By the way, you have to click on that Seattleite link.  Pretty funny definitions of what constitutes a true Seattleite.  I loved this one:

1: inhabitants of Seattle
2: one who rarely sees natural sunlights, esp. from September thru July.
3: <old Eng.> often refers to someone, who is computer savvy and possesses valuable stock options.
4: <new Eng.> often refers to someone, who is computer savvy and possesses worthless stock options.

"Bill Gates is a Seattleite.")


our happy girl


Nicole with Grandma & Grandpa


The Space Needle/not a cloud in the sky




apple tree in Kirkland -- Nicole found a couple of these on our walks and befriended them



veggies in Pike Place Market


Nicole samples the peaches


This guy probably qualifies as wacky


Snoqualmie Falls