A Day in the Life of Smoochy

Of course you love your family, but you know you really like them when six adults (or 4 adults and two nearly adults) and one infant can share a 1000 square foot, one bed room house in relative harmony for a week. As I mentioned in a previous post, we are hosting my in-laws. So far, their visit has been a blast. I was a little nervous that having everyone sleeping in our living room and sharing one bathroom might be taxing with the little baby… But honestly EVERYTHING has been a hoot. No one seems to be uncomfortable, and Sonny and I have had no infringements on our newly budding routine. The biggest struggle has been the battle for post-coffee morning bathroom time, he he he. Even that hasn’t been too bad, because no one has resorted to using the bushes or making a trip to the 7/11 yet!


The last couple days have been filled with endless laughter, great conversation, and tons of baby snuggling. Seriously, my hubby’s family knows how to have fun. The margaritas have been flowing, made with fresh squeezed orange juice from the orange trees in our land lady’s yard. The food has been great. Tracy (Smoochy’s step mom) made the most DIVINE Mississippi Mud Pie, which I had for breakfast today. And everything has been made 100% more comfortable (for a neat-freak like me) by every one pitching in with house work.


For any of you who have not met Smoochy; he LOVES movies. He has a collection of over 400 DVDs; there is no better way to lift his spirits than suggesting a trip to Blockbuster where he can purchase used DVDs for $10 or less. He can attribute this love for movies from his father. Smoochy spent summers with his Dad as a kid. Some of his favorite memories from that time are the nights they stayed up late watching flicks together. So of course, there has been a movie marathon here recently. I can’t count the number of movies we’ve packed into he last few days…but it has been a lot of fun.

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I wrote this three or four days in to my in-law’s visit; but then life got too busy for me to get back to it. Their trip to CA was wonderful for Smoochy and I. In addition to the endless movie marathons, we also packed in two trips to San Francisco, a BBQ, and a king crab feast. When they rolled on out of here Monday for their drive home to Kansas I was beat; Sonny and I had a very lazy day to recover. I definitely napped when he napped. I can only imagine how tired they must have been on the road: the drive to the Heartland is not a short one!


Our trips to San Francisco were action packed. Both times we made the journey into the city on the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit). That was an adventure in itself. Not because of any crazy incidents, but because riding the train was out of the ordinary for all of us small town folk. Smoochy’s younger siblings got quite a “rush” by standing close to the rail as the train approached and then getting the blast of wind in their faces as it whipped by. I must admit I got a little thrill as we cleared the turnstile and boarded the train. I’d been itching to explore San Francisco…and we were off!!!


I have two uncles that once lived in San Fran. (Now they live an hour or so north.) When Smoochy and I visited them last the four of us fell into conversation about the Bay Area and how surprisingly cool/down right cold it can be. They commented that you can always spot the tourists in San Francisco in the summer: They’re the ones in shorts and sandals freezing their asses off. Smoochy and I laughed along. Ha Ha Ha, stupid tourists.


Yea, that was us our first trip. It was a HOT and sunny day when we left Fremont (just on the other side of the Bay and south of Oakland) for our first adventure in San Fran. We were on our way to a Blues and Jazz festival. I’m not sure where I got the vision, but I pictured us jiving along to some hot licks, sunning ourselves on a grassy spot, or at least on a near by bench. Summer fun, right? We all dressed in shorts and tees, packed a bottle of water, and I lubed the baby with sunscreen. We stepped off the BART in to a blustery, grey, 60 degree day in San Francisco. Fuck, we were the stupid tourists.


Wisely the enterprising citizens of San Francisco have realized that tourists are bound to repeat this mistake over and over, and have capitalized on it by selling delightful sweatshirts and jackets displaying the attractions of their city. In Fisherman’s Warf Vendor after vendor sells warm inviting sweatshirts featuring images of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. Unfortunately that first day we were no where near Fisherman’s Warf…that was our second trip.


The Jazz festival was more in what I perceived as the trendy commercial district. Several blocks of this down town area were closed off from traffic. There were two main stages with different bands playing and between them block after block of streets packed with tents selling art, crafts, and food. It was amazing...but no grassy spots. And it seemed the entire population of San Francisco turned out to partake of the festivities. The streets were packed. Now add to the throng our little group; here we were hardly dressed, with a three week old infant, and a jogging stroller (kinda’.) Trying to maneuver that gigantic stroller through the masses of people was almost worse than dealing with the cold. Thank God the music was great, we were able (at last) to find sweat shirts to purchase (supporting the San Francisco Police Department), and we learned several valuable lessons for our next trip to the beautiful city on the bay.


I won’t go in to TOO much detail about our second and far more enjoyable trip to San Fran, because this is getting rather lengthy. I will say however that we dressed appropriately, used the sling not the stroller, and absolutely had a wonderful time. We hit a lot of the major touristy spots: China Town, Fisherman’s Warf, and we even rode a cable car. The baby was a doll; he slept almost the whole trip. We enjoyed a FANTASTIC meal at House of Nanking which I would highly recommend. Apparently so does Rachel Ray, although I don’t know first hand, as we don’t watch TV. Yes that’s right: no cable, no bunny-ears, NADDA… on purpose. ;-) Anyhow, after waiting in line for a bout a half hour for a table we were greeted by the owner & chef, Peter Fang who came for our order. He asked, “Is this your first time here?” Upon hearing the affirmative he said leave the ordering to him. I am SOOO glad we did. He sent out plate after plate of first appetizers then entrees that simply dazzled our tastes buds. Seriously, if you have the chance, check it out.


I hope Smoochy’s Dad and family enjoyed their visit with us as much as we did. If anyone else would like a little California adventure, please don’t hesitate! There are many places out this way worth the trip, and we would love the company. In closing, let me leave you with these photographs of our adventures with the W. family…enjoy.