Further Madventures: in the Fall, in the City

Ben has Fridays off. Every once in a while, we wake up feeling ready for an adventure. It was supposed to be a marvelous day, so we headed to the City. San Fran, baby!

Are you ready, Maddie?

Hmm, not so sure? What if we get some lunch first? Yeah!

After Vietnamese hoagies and fruit in da Square, she was feeling much more adventurous.

She explored all the square had to offer and made friends with

an extraordinarily fastidious homeless man.

"How did you get here?" "A bus." "We came in our car. It is black. Are you cleaning?" "Yes. I sprayed ammonia and now I'm cleaning up this space." "Okay. Bye!"

We hit a few stores and then...

...feeling especially adventurous, we took two kids and a behemoth of a jogger stroller to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in Golden Gate Park where we danced and sang...

...and danced and clapped, and made friends with all our neighbors.

"Do you want to share your snack with me?"

"Can I dance on your mat with you?"

"Your feet are brown? Look at mine!"

And then there was this guy, who managed to get by on a handful of

cat naps and still be the smiliest, easiest-going, loviest baby ever.

After three awesome sets, we decided it was time to catch some dinner. Other highlights of the festival included the roving braless woman, a lot of ganja smoke, crowds, a whole lotta f-bombs (Kelly or Melissa, if Maddie drops the phrase "Jump the *&$# up!" after circle time in Sunday School, blame it on hippie Tom Morello and the "secret" verses of "This Land was Made for You and Me.") Yikes.

Boppa met up with us for Lyle Lovett and his Large Band (awesome backup vocalist with a basso voice that sounds like there's distortion, but it's just his awesome gravelly deepness), then we headed to Japantown to Rassela's for some injera, lentils, beef, lamb, cabbage--yum-a-licious! We started dinner just before 8 (note: one hour past the kids' bedtime) and the restaurant was mostly empty. It was super late for us suburbanites, but the city operates on a different schedule. Maddie tried everything and liked most of it, even some of the spiciest dishes.

We took Boppa back to his car, changed the kiddos into jammies, and headed home just before 9. Add in an accident on the Bay Bridge...well, it was definitely an adventure! Hooray for our kids who did awesome and enjoyed themselves and even were enjoyable despite the busy day and lack of sleep.