a blog by Ian Kennedy
We took the kids out for a longish walk this morning. It was a bit nippy (but nothing like what they’re seeing back East) so we bundled everyone up to shield them from the morning fog. It was a real treat to be out in the early morning, before the town woke up. We crossed the bridge over to a neighboring Island and walked along the bay for a while before turning back and heading into town to pick up some breakfast at a local bagel shop.
I think we may make this a weekend routine.
How do you get a 3-year old girl to drink her cold medicine?
Slap a Hello Kitty sticker on it and call it “grape juice.”
For the last weekend of the year, we travelled two hours south to Monterey where we stayed for two nights to unwind a bit. We made no specific plans except to see the famous aquarium where the only captive white shark in the world continues to thrive in their big tank.
Things really clicked for us on this trip. We drove down without a lick of traffic and were greeted to a sun that parted the clouds that had been raining down on us for the past few days. Poking around for something to do that evening (it was New Year’s Eve after all) we found out that Monterey sponsors something called First Night in which the streets are blocked off to a host of roving bands, dancers, and other performers. For $15 you can drop into any number of events going on across town and in the space of a few hours we took the kids to see a world-class opera singer perform arias to us in California’s oldest playhouse, a local jazz band perform in a 1930’s era film house, an African drumming troupe, Greek line dancers, the local taiko dojo, flamenco dancing, belly-dancing, and a monkey with his organ-grinding master. We all picked up some elvish-looking hats with bells on them to keep things hopping. We stayed out as long as we could but the rain set in around 9 PM and after we took our showers and curled up in our bed we couldn’t keep our eyes open and ended up drifting off around 10:30.
New Year’s Day was perfect, the sun shone brightly and we awoke early and had a relaxed breakfast in our room and later somehow joined in member’s only early opening of the aquarium and were surrounded by lots of people that really knew their fish. The jellyfish exhibit was most impressive and ended up being the most represented in the photos I took of the weekend.
After lunch, just as it started to get crowded, we left the aquarium and, much to the delight of the kids, rented a four-wheeled cycle which we could power up and down the seaside path. They both enjoyed sitting up in a seat hitched up on the handlebars greeting everyone we passed. We later ended the day with a delicious seafood meal where Tyler & Julia had their first taste of lobster (Tyler was not impressed).
Today the rain started up again so we drove down 17-mile drive to Carmel and, after a brief look around, headed back home. A perfect weekend, especially for the discover that such beauty is only a short drive away.
Tonight I had the rare privilege of keeping the dream alive for some 70 kids who came to our street to visit with Santa. Our street gets totally decked out in lights for the month (we even got covered in the SF Chronicle) and to cap things off, we have a little Santa’s workshop thing going on the median right in front of my house.
Santa duty is on a volunteer basis and, wanting to make a good impression with my neighbors, I jumped in with both feet and signed myself up for an evening. Izumi told the kids I had to step out for a few hours to take care of something and I ducked into the garage to change into the suit which the fellow from the night before brought over for me earlier in the day. The beard was kind of funky smelling so I spritzed it with some cologne, threw on an extra sweater for warmth and then threw open the garage door for my 6:30 appearance.
I had some quick explaining to do to the startled kids that wondered why Santa was coming out of a garage to which I said that it’s the best place for the sled b/c parking is tough in this town. I settled into the chair that had been set out for me and then realized that, (a) the cologne smell was going to make me woozy, (b) I couldn’t see a thing b/c of the spotlight on me and the condensation on my glasses, and (c) I was going to sweat up a storm with all this gear on because the wig and hat were actually quite warm.
No matter, my elves, which were older kids from the neighborhood, moved things along nicely and whispered each child’s name into my ear before they approached. It was great to see their eyes when I would say to them, “Jose! How good to see you again! Now, tell me young man, you have been good haven’t you?” In one glance I could tell if they were good or bad because they were either happy to see me or looked at their toes in guilt. A few words of advice later (“be sure to make your bed each morning, pick up after yourself, and eat all your veggies”) and then I would get an education on the state of the toy market.
Most popular request? Bikes followed by Gameboys.
Then there was the handwritten note slipped to me by one boy when I asked him what he wanted for Christmas. It was a simple boy’s request for some things to make his life better:
Some things seem so mundane, like a shopping list, then there’s the Rescue Hero, an indulgence, and the “Green Long Hair for Daddy” – I would love to know the full story behind that one but alas I didn’t have that much time.
The other note slipped my way was from a father who had scrawled on the back of an envelope:
Santa,
Please mention to Jonathan to be sure to take the rubber snake off our garage roof so it doesn’t frighten Prancer.
When I discussed this with Jonathan, he almost lost his cap! He was just beside himself and solemnly promised to tell his father about Prancer’s ophiciophobia.
Good fun, it was totally worth it.
Izumi’s been feeling under the weather for the past few days with a stomach virus so I’ve been at home looking after the kids. I have a profound appreciation for what it takes to look after the little tykes full time – I’m absolutely knackered after only a few days of it and now, as we try and catch some shut eye, there’s a band playing Christmas music under our window.
One thing I tried to keep them occupied was to have both Julia and Tyler write their letters to Santa. The mailbox is literally across the street from our house with the neighborhood organizing to take the letters over to the local old folks homes where the seniors there take the time to respond to each letter. Some of the older kids have caught on as I read in the paper one kid’s letter from this year (they publish the best ones in the paper) said something to the effect,
“Last year you sent me a letter that had an Oakland postmark on it. I know that the North Pole is nowhere near Oakland. Please explain.”
This ought to keep those old folks on their toes.
Julia still wakes up pretty regularly at around 11pm wanting the quick reassurance of her mother. It’s now a routine. I go upstairs where she is crying in bed, scoop her out of the darkness of her bed, then I bring her down to the couch where Izumi and I are usually watching the evening news. Julia usually drifts off to sleep 10 or 15 minutes later but this evening there was something that was keeping her attention this evening but the picture was just too perfect.
This photo will only mean something to a select few people in world. I am honored to carry on the tradition.
