Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving was very small this year. My Mom suggested we have Thanksgiving at my apartment in San Francisco. Yikes... I had begged off on the same idea last year and knew it was probably my turn to host. That said, I didn't have to cook much! Not that I cannot cook, but people, my stove is a mini-stove! It can't be more than 18 inches wide. No turkey is going in there! My Mom cooked a majority of the meal in Lafayette, then transported it into the city. I made a salad and provided appetizers and drinks. Some "crudites" too.

We took a long walk down on Crissy Field, much longer than expected. I started us out at the Marina Green when I should have driven to the first Crissy Field parking lot. Oops!

We had a yummy dinner then a fun Skype with everyone in Spokane! It was our first Skype with the girls. They recognized us, but were much more fascinated with the small screen where they could see themselves.

Gram and Grampa watching Morgan and Piper.

Sweet Piper crawling right up to the camera.

Snow and Prohibition

Ah, Minneapolis... One my work travel locations. I hadn't been there in a while, but I really enjoy the reps from the printing company I send work to there. They are just really down to earth, nice people. Not the shifty, sales-y people you run into most of the time. This trip was a little cold and snowy, but I missed the worst of the snow that hit a few days before I arrived. I was able to stay at the W Foshay, in downtown Minneapolis. I had only stayed there once before, but like it a lot since the hotel has some history. It was at one time the tallest skyscraper in Minneapolis. It wasn't a "W hotel" then, obviously, but when W took it over and renovated it, they did a great job in capturing the history. If you ride the elevator to the top, there is a viewing deck similar to the Empire State Building, but on a smaller scale. This time, I decided to pop into their bar called Prohibition for a martini before I called it a night.

Sorry it's a little small, I pulled this from the hotel website.

A downtown view from Prohibition. The lights inside were low and looked kinda purple in the photos!

I was trying to catch the snow outside on the ledge. Can you see it?

A Cosmo. I know, I know... but I really like them! This one actually wasn't very good, but it was pretty.

Fun Photos of my Nieces Morgan & Piper

Recently, I was on my computer, clicking through a bunch of photos and landed on some favorites of Morgan and Piper. You may have seen a couple of these photos on my sisters web blog, but I want to post them anyway. Some of them are just sweet, quick photos Meg sent me on her camera phone. They simply make me smile! : )

I took this one during one of my Spokane visits. It was SO hard to get them to sit still, it was amazing a caught this shot. Piper was maybe 6 months old and Morgan around 2. Meg, am I right? Can you believe Piper is blond now?

Meg texted me this one. The caption was, "Aunt Ali, I just had a blowout!"

Another text from Meg. Just, "Hi Aunt Ali!" I think I had requested a photo, it had been one of those days I needed a smile. : )

Morgan's first day of preschool. The girl next to her is named Morgan too! Out of 12 kids in the class, what are the odds?

A text from Meg. This one said, "Niner girls. Too bad their team stinks!" Hee. I bought them the 49er t's at Old Navy.

Text: "Sweet butterfly" I originally bought these butterfly wings for Morgan, but she didn't like them much. Looks like Piper got a little use out of them.

Text: "Sleepy butterfly." Aw...

I bought Morgan a Dora the Explorer backpack. This is a photo Meg texted me from Oakland Airport on their way home from Yosemite. So cute!

A Beautiful Bike Ride

One highlight of my trip to Yosemite was a bike ride. Rather than dealing with a bike rental I took my poor, neglected road bike with intentions of getting back on for a spin. I didn't know if the tires were any good and I'm sure it was in major need of a tune-up, but I thought, why not?

I purchased new pedals a while back (Speedplay, better for the knees they say). I actually had not been outside on them, only riding on my trainer, so the first mile of my ride was actually pedaling around a parking lot making sure I knew how to clip in and out of them! Once I hit the road, I ended up riding for just over an hour. Yosemite has wonderful bike paths and roads, the scenery is just spectacular! I even took on some minor hills and wasn't worse for the wear later that night or the next day. It just plain made me happy.

Ah, Half Dome. This was the start of my ride.

A lovely creek.

My bike. : )

On the way back through Yosemite Village I noticed a crowd staring at something...

A buck! Yes, it's real. I texted my Mom to tell her. She said, "Don't go near it!" Thanks Mom. : ) It didn't seem to care about any of us. I also ran into my cousins just afterwards. They looked at me in my riding gear and said, "Ali?" Yeah, I'm not usually wearing a helmet and bike shorts around them.

Yosemite 2010

I joined my Dad's side of the family for a wonderful reunion in Yosemite National Park at the end of October. We all have fond memories of another reunion many years ago for my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary so it was time to go back!

We were extra excited because this was the first big reunion with little kids! Meg and David brought Morgan and Piper. : ) Several family members had not met them yet so it was a really special time. My parents took one car, Meg, David and their brood took another. I drove separately since I needed to go directly to a work obligation at the end of the trip. Morgan had her first carsick incident on the way up! Gee, I was glad I wasn't riding with them... Poor Meg spend a good part of the first day cleaning the car and Morgan's car seat. But, Morgan felt much better! Here are a bunch of photos from the visit.

Post car sick incident. Morgan, Piper and Gram playing in a park on the way to Yosemite.

Yosemite Falls on the day we arrived.

Morgan with her Daddy David and Grandpa B.

On our way to Yosemite Falls on Day 2.

Meg and me

Morgan and Piper looking at their first waterfall.

Our part of the family.

An evening barbeque, Morgan passing out Halloween candy.

Getting ready for a picnic on Sunday afternoon.

Skipping rocks in the river... sort of. ; )

Piper and her Daddy joining in. I pulled a rock out of her mouth at one point, tasty!

A sweet little girl, all smiles!

The gorgeous Fall leaves.

Morgan is a flower for Halloween!

Bumblebee Piper and her Mommy.

Out whole family. : )

Everyone Loves a Parade!

To quote my Mom, "It couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch of boys." This SF Giants baseball team were called the "misfits" and they were quite the motley crew. They had a phenomenal pitching staff, a few incredible rookies, a clutch hitter, and many other talented members of the team to make up a great team. That was the thing, they were a TEAM! The Giants last visit to the World Series in 2003, it was all about Barry Bonds. I was lucky enough to attend Game 3 of that series and had a great time. It was heartbreaking that the Giants lost steam and lost to the Anaheim Angels in Game 7. In hindsight though, it was good that they didn't win that year. It would have always had an asterisk by it due to Barry's alleged steroid use.

Back to the 2010 SF Giants! The parade through the city was two days ofter the team captured the World Series championship in Arlington, Texas against the Texas Rangers, was maybe the biggest celebration in San Francisco history. Over a million fans descended on the city as the players, manager, and coaches were hailed as heroes. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend the parade since I was on press for work across the Bay in Point Richmond. I watched it all on TV and tried my best to feel like I was there. I pulled some images of the day from the web for you to get a feel for the energy in the city. It was amazing!

This was the parade route. The team took the same parade route from the Financial District through downtown to City Hall that the team did in 1958 when they moved from New York to San Francisco.

Two players per motor cable car. I loved the orange confetti!

The team's manager of 4 years, Bruce Bochy with the championship trophy.

The crowd at City Hall

Three of the renowned pitchers. Brian Wilson, Tim Lincecum, and Matt Cain. A good number of the players got up and spoke at the podium. It was great to hear their excitement as well. Catcher Buster Posey said, " Let's celebrate now, rest, then take another run at it next year!" I love it!

THE SF GIANTS ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!

My Mom said she didn't think it would happen in her lifetime and no one predicted it would happen this year, but the San Francisco Giants are World Series Champions! I've never seen San Francisco so pumped and excited rallying behind this team. Here is a little of my experience leading up to the World Series.

A workday walk around the ballpark. My office is close to the ballpark so we couldn't help but get swept up in the excitement of the playoffs.

I wasn't able to get playoff tickets, but during one game against the Philadelphia Phillies I met some friends across the street from the ballpark at Pete's Tavern. It was odd but fun to hear the roar of the crowd from the ballpark, then see the big play a few seconds later in delay on the big screen TV's. This is a photo during my walk back to my car near the end of the game.

Another ballpark photo.

A photo from the drawbridge over McCovey Cove.

Even Morgan got into the playoffs wearing a Panda hat from her Gram and Grampa B. They say Giants player Pablo Sandoval looks like a Panda which inspired the panda hat.

Being a fan of Giants baseball is not easy! There was not one game leading up to or during the Post-Season that we weren't on edge. The Giants rarely get far enough ahead in runs to be able to relax. We call it "Torture."

This photo is of the SF City Hall swathed in orange lights after the Giants won the National League Championships.

Another shot.

And the San Francisco Giants are World Champions! It's still surreal to see this logo.