A couple Saturdays ago we escaped the hot, crappy heat of our town and headed to the breezy, beautiful city by the bay for some wandering and Tony and Van's first Giants game!
We planted ourselves in the Haight for a few hours to walk among the hippie stores, make a stop at Amoeba Records and grab a snack.
Van and his homies
He recognized so much album art it was hilarious - "look, it's Tom Petty! I see Led Zeppelin! Look at all these Beatles ones!" Cracked me up.
After a yummy pizza lunch we headed to the park. Van was so excited because he could immediately recognize the signs and McCovey Cove from watching games on TV.
Tony bought him a foam finger at the entrance, and since we were among the first 20,000 people through the gate, we also scored a cool SF GIANTS black and orange license plate. Woop!
We treked up to our crappy seats (OMG we were sooooo high up), got V some popcorn and watched the Giants work the Phillies 5-8. It was a really great first game to attend.
Van hung in there for all nine innings! What a champ! We can't wait to go back. We're so lucky to root for such a badass team in the most beautiful park in the country in such an awesome city. Go Giants. We love you forever.
Little Vanny turned three last month, a few days before Christmas. As has been tradition, we threw him a little, no gifts tamale party with our immediate families and few closest friends. My family has always made tamales the weekend or so before Christmas, so it's worked out really well to just invite over a few more people, add a cake and make a little Van celebration out of it.
A few weeks before his birthday I asked Van if he wanted a themed party since he's getting up there in age and might be into something like that. He told me he just wanted a "guitar party." Ok, kid.
So I whipped up a Woodstock-esque invitation and printed them out to be mailed. I bought the few kids that would be in attendance bubbles in a guitar shaped container and little guitar Christmas ornaments, ordered a big Mylar guitar balloon from Amazon and cut out images of Jimi Hendrix and Jerry Garcia to use as cupcake toppers. Bam! Guitar party!
He had the best time. Tony and I got him a play kitchen that we revealed to him that morning, which he was completely stoked on. My sister bought him a chef's hat and oven glove, some little stainless steel looking pans with a whisk and wooden spoon. He spent his day running around, eating food, cooking in his new kitchen and being a little three year old animal.
Van is the best little kid in the world and I hope his third trip around the sun is his best yet. :)
I almost never do things with Van that will involve him getting dirty. It's pretty effed up of me. Things like that require outfit changes and set up, the possibility of me getting dirt/paint/water all over myself. Messy things are also usually outdoor things and it's pretty crappy and hot here too.
But last week when I went to get some frames at Michael's Van spotted this guitar frame and it was over. Of course I had to get it for him. He carried it around the store and strummed it like a real guitar. Then he saw himself in the security tv thing and strummed it even harder. We picked out some paints and brought it home.
Last night Tony was gone and I thought we could kill some time so I stripped him down, brought him to the backyard to paint his new cool frame. He told me he can't wait to put a picture of his guitar in it. :)
We couldn't find a picture of Van's guitar that would fit, so he picked out a cute one of him and hid buddy Leo playing drums together.
Tahoe City is cool enough to host some really fun concerts at Commons Beach on Sundays during the summer, and we are lucky enough to live close enough to drive up and enjoy them. Having a Dad in a band that plays there is pretty sweet too.
Lake Tahoe is really stunningly lovely. I don't visit as often as I should but still feel so lucky that it's just a day trip away. What do mid westerners do? Sacramentans can drive 90 minutes in any direction and pretty much wind up in a totally different environment/climate. I can't imagine having to travel hours upon hours for a change of scenery. Eek.
This past Sunday we took a nice little (almost 2 hour) drive to Lake Tahoe with a bunch of Whole Foods goodies and beers and blankets to lay around and enjoy the music and the lake.
Van loved wading around in the cool water, throwing rocks and looking at stuff.
And jacking his cousin's ice cream.
Some kids gave us this sticker. Strange on many levels. Like, what do mustaches have to do with wineries? What does being a dick have to do with wineries or mustaches? Why are children handing these out?
I hopped on stage to take some pics of the crowd. Holy shit. So many people!
My Dad said that if you have to work on a Sunday, this isn't too bad.
Fun times! Thanks Tahoe City for arranging these rad events. I always tell people how important it is to take advantage of these kinds of things. It's like a present from the city. A free, really fun show on a gorgeous, world-renowned lake. What's not to love?!
My little Van is a human jukebox. It's really incredible. You probably need to see it to believe it. He's got an insane ear for language and music. He can hardly throw a ball without it getting accidentally tossed behind him and he has a pretty non-existent attention span when it comes to cartoons or movies, but he can strum and sing along with whole albums when the mood strikes him. Which happens pretty often. And by pretty often I mean all freaking day long. Everyday.
Here are some of his favorites as of now (in no particular order):
Kodachrome, by Paul Simon
Van has been grooving to this one, and other Paul Simon hits, for months and months. He picked a greatest hits album from a stack of records last summer and we've been listening to that and his self titled record pretty regularly. Like, daily.
Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard, Paul Simon
Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover, Paul Simon
He calls this one "Bus Gus." As in, "hop on the bus, Gus." He's been singing this for a really long time now. My favorite part is hearing his little voice sing, "and get yo-self freeee." Too funny.
Duncan, Paul Simon
Van really turned me on to this one. I wasn't so familiar until Van had me listening to Paul Simon's Paul Simon record so frequently. Van doesn't sing this one as much as he requests it. He named this song "Girl in the Parking Lot" because of the "Young girl in the parking lot was preaching to a crowd/ singing sacred songs and reading from the Bible." He enjoys this one quite a bit and sings "do-do-do-do-do do do-do-do-do-do" along with the woodwinds between the verses.
I Do it for Your Love, Paul Simon
This is another I didn't hear much of pre-Van's obsession with it. He sings this BEAUTIFULLY but I haven't been able to capture it yet. When Van wants to hear this one he requests "Orange Juice" because of the line "All that winter we shared a cold/ drank all the orange juice that we could hold." Orange Juice - ha!
Sugaree, The Grateful Dead
This is one of the first tunes Van was really into and has been singing it since he was about 15 months or so. He calls it "Shake It." He asks to hear this one a lot and likes to look it up on YouTube and watch live performances of it. I have a 30 second video of my friends' band covering this one at the Torch Club that Van asks to watch every once in a while as well. He loves anything Jerry, but Sugaree was his first favorite Dead tune.
Bertha, The Grateful Dead
Bertha is a relatively new favorite of his. A few months ago he was singing something in the car that I didn't quite understand while we were waiting for Tony to deposit his check at an ATM machine. He was singing and singing and I still couldn't name that tune. I asked him what he was singing and he says, " Berssa! I singing Berssa!" He does it pretty clearly now. :)
Deal, The Grateful Dead
Tony's band covers this one, and it's a go-to for Van when he has his ukulele in hand. This is another one that he's been singing for almost a year.
The Wheel, Loser, Bird Song, I Know You Rider, Going Down the Road Feeling Bad and Mama Tried, all by the Dead
I can't wait until he's old enough to harmonize with me on I Know You Rider. :)
Honeydew, The Mother Hips
This is my favorite Hips song, which I passed down to Van. He called it "Bring You Down" ("this is the sound/ let us bring you down") but now he just calls it Honeydew.
Later Days, The Mother Hips
The Mother Hips are a local-ish band so most of our friends and family aren't familiar with their stuff. I guess if that's the case then you just need to take my word for it - Van fucking nails this song. He's been singing it in pieces since last year, but only recently has been able to put all the verses and choruses together as they should be. He's loved this tune for a long time - so much, in fact, that he would inadvertently say "bye mama! see you later days!" when I would leave for work each morning.
Last month our friends played with the Hips at the Fox in Oakland. We actually got to show this video to Tim Bluhm, the writer of this song, and he was pretty impressed.
Esmeralda, The Mother Hips
Now when I tell Van "see you later days", he responds with "see you Esmeralda days." Esmerelda is the track that follows Later Days on his iPod, and he sings the guitar intro before singing the words.
October Teen, The Mother Hips
...or as Van calls this one, "Good steps in the heart." It took me foreverrrrrr to realize that this was a song he was often requesting because "good steps in the heart" are never referred to in this song. "Footsteps in the hall" are, though. We got into many a fight over this one due to me not understanding what the hell he was asking for.
Whisker River, Willie Nelson
...but only the live version.
Kiko and the Lavendar Moon, Los Lobos
The most popular bed time song, probably. He doesn't sing it too accurately, but hums and "doo doo doo's" along with the accordion.
Saint Behind the Glass, Los Lobos
This one is a weird choice, but he loves it. When he hears it he runs to grab his lap harp so he can play along with the intro. He calls this song "Hammer and a nail".
The Bends, Radiohead
Baby literally has the bends.
Fake Plastic Trees, Radiohead
He listens to Radiohead with his Dad before naps.
Poisonheart, The Ramones
Van LOVES the Ramones, who he calls "Ree-mones." He has two Ramones shirts that he asks to wear pretty much every day and thinks any kind of logo or graphic presented in a circle with text is the Ramones. He found a Starbucks gift card in my purse and told me I had a Ramones card. Circular logos on top of bottle caps are also Ramones bottle caps. He sings the chorus to this song all the time.
Blitzkreig Bop, The Ramones
The Ramones tunes are all newer loves. He listens to them in the garage with Tony and they sing and play drums and guitars.
I Wanna Be Sedated, The Ramones
Hey Jude, The Beatles
This is another one he's been singing for almost a year. He just does the chorus and the na-na-na's at the end. I was so happy I was able to take Van to Outside Lands last year to hear this one live. Just so he can say he went, you know?
Yellow Submarine, The Beatles
This one is a new favorite. I think he learned it from my parents after my boss gifted him a Yellow Submarine lunch box. He only sings the "we all live in a yellow submarine, yellow submarine" part. Which is cool. This song isn't my favorite.
I Am the Walrus, The Beatles
Van calls this one "Walrus Song"! It was one of his first favorites last year. We'd been listening to it on the iPod here and there when I received the Magical Mystery Tour vinyl in an old stack of records that was handed down to us. Van was MAYBE 16 months or so when he yelled out "Walrus Song!!" within literally 2 seconds of the song starting. Blew me away.
Down By The Bay, Raffi
Because I don't want him to be a total little weirdo genius with nothing in common with small children. And Raffi is a G, and writes and performs his own material. Sometimes Van sings "Down by the Bank" on accident. It's pretty funny.
Baby Beluga, Raffi
Apples and Bananas, Raffi
Refugee, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
"Don't have-a live like a refugee (don't have-a live like a rah-fu-jay hey)"...freaking hilarious. He sings along with the video which he makes me find for him on YouTube at least weekly.
The Weight, The Band
This one is...wait for it..."Take a load off, Vanny." Duh, right?!
Can't Hardly Wait, The Replacements
So good.
California Stars, Wilco
I feel thankful every day that I have a kid that's as stoked as I am to hear cool songs and sing and play along with records. I'd take my kid keeping us up late singing and practicing his drums to one wanting to watch SpongeBob or Caillou or some bullshit like that. You have good taste, Vanny. I'm one grateful mama.
i'm definitely not big on Halloween. I don't like painting my face or wearing slutty polyester costumes that come in plastic bags. I don't have a big sweet tooth, so a pillowcase full of random fun sized candies isn't necessary. i don't like to be scared and i don't like to look at gross things.
i do like this ryan adam's song:
and i do like the pumpkin patch tradition. this year we took van to bisphops in wheatland, just like we did last year. he had a blast. so crazy to think that last year when we went he was only 10 months old. he couldn't even walk! this year he's almost a full blown kid that could do big kid things - like eat French fries, go down slides unassisted, sit by himself on trains, pick pumpkins and attempt to smooch on goats.
we've had such a busy October that a Halloween costume for van was just not in the forefront of my mind. a day or two before Halloween, i decided he'd make a damn cute little greaser. we rolled his jeans and added some hair gel and bam! kenickie!
van thinks applesauce is a dessert treat, and i'd kinda like to keep it that way for as long as possible. we took him to my friend's parents house, to my parent's house and my aunt and uncle's house around the block. he shared a twix with tony and had a lollipop with my cousins. he scored handful of small bags of m&ms and some smarties which we will use for potty treats and as a special dessert on nights when he eats all his dinner.
hope you all had a great Halloween! if anyone has or has heard of any cool EASY costume ideas i'd love to see them. while we pulled it off this year, i'd like to maybe have some semblance of an idea for van more than two days before Halloween for next year. :)
This year I got to spend my birthday in lovely Santa Barbara celebrating my oldest friend's wedding. despite my kid puking in the car on the way up and crapping on the floor of our rental home (seriously...and it wasn't totally his fault. i can explain later...) it was a really fantastic weekend.
we took my sister and brother in law along with us so they could watch van while we were at the wedding. it was so nice to have them not only to babysit the night of, but just to offer help throughout the weekend. i feel so lucky to be surrounded my family and friend/family that are always around and willing to help out with van. i think that's the best way to grow up. i digress....
we got into Santa Barbara and checked in to the really great house we rented from a vacation rental site. it was awesome and quiet had an incredible view of the city. after settling in, we had a few beers and headed out to dinner.
we combed State Street and landed on this place. it was really good! the ambiance was nice, and they gave us a bomb dessert because they felt bad about accidentally adding tomatoes to my brother in law's salad. hah! van was exhausted and stayed asleep pretty much the whole time.
the next day aja and shea took van out shopping and to the beach while tony and i attended the wedding. my friend Kaitlin and her husband Matt both have ties in the wedding/event industry. needless to say, their celebration was off the chain. i didn't take too many photos, but did manage to snap these two of their stunning table décor and the area where the dinner was held. the ceremony took place at the Santa Barbara mission, and the reception was at the Bacara Resort and Spa. both venues were so pretty.
in addition to all the superficial aspects of the wedding, the toasts were great and the overall vibe was really loving and warm. it was one of the best weddings I've ever been a part of.
on sunday we packed up, went to lunch and took van to the ocean once more before we hit the road. this little bugger is so fearless, i tell you. he was all up in that water.
the drive home was LONG. we needed to stop and get something to eat, but the only place for miles and miles was Pea Soup Andersen's. if it wasn't in the middle of freaking nowhere, no one would ever go there. this place could not exist anywhere else. their specialty is pea soup, for christ sakes. the waitress was old and mean and they gave tony two bottom buns on his hamburger.
we left for Italy three days after returning from our long Santa Barbara weekend because we are crazy like that. it's been an eventful month. chaotic, but worth it. i'd do it again in a heartbeat!
