8/5/2012

We've been there and back again, and then there and back again again. And then Papa went back there, and he's back again. And Willie went there, and he's not back again, yet. What in the world are they talking about? You'll probably figure it out in the pictures.

It's official--summer is here. It hit 90+ outside and it's 80 in the house, at 9:30 PM. Papa is melting and has an ice pack in the back of his shorts in a feeble attempt to cool down. Mommy is happy, but she's looking for a screen porch to sleep on.

When papa went to shul yesterday, a funny ironic thing happened. A person was up on the bimah saying the prayer for peace which goes "may we see the day when war and bloodshed cease, and a great..." and at that very moment the scream of fighter jets practically drowned out the speaker. Papa nearly burst a stitch trying to suppress his laughter. You see, the blue angels were in town terrifying the locals this week, and it was just at that prayer for peace moment that the peace was shattered, but a fighter jet. Hmmm.

Blueberries were picked. Pie was made, and eaten, and made, and eaten. Grandma and grandpa came and went. It's been a busy month.

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Bet you can't guess where we are--give you a clue--there are hills and water. Give up? Need another clue?

How about now? This enough of a clue for you?

 Huzzah! On 7/11, 7-eleven was giving away free 7.11 oz. slurpees. mmm, slurpees. As you can see, I had two in the first round. MAL didn't want his so I was the lucky beneficiary.

BRAIN FREEZE!!!!!!! Here I thought the long straw would be sufficient to warm the slurpee fluid before it entered my brain, but oh how I was wrong. It hurts...

 Then it was off to Ft. Point where it was unbelievably cold considering the weather guy said it was going to be 80 degrees. Not in SF in the summer, it's not.

It was so cold papa had to put on his emergency jacket to keep from getting frost bit, or fog bit, or wind burned, or whatever.

 Then it was on to the toad fountain and free chocolate samples at the ghirardelli square tourist trap store. We had lunch at the fountain so that we could strategically observe the shift change in candy store, and GET MORE CHOCOLATE!!! We're smarter than the devil.

 Next day was hike out in Point Pinole park which was also super duper windy. We're sensing a pattern here.

 Speaking of patterns, Cousin Jonathan showed up at nana's and we had some good poker games, and this game of Egyptian Rat Screw. Pattern--SMACK!

 Then it was time for Jonathan to be off so we did the group photo thing.

 Duh, which way did he go George? Which way did he go?

Home again, home again, what can that mean?

 Well, like any condemned man, it can only mean a last cigarette and meal. Ramen please.

 And don't touch my junk.

 Do you like my hat? I DO! I like your hat. I like your party hat. And it's crunchable.

 Grandma showed up bearing gifts. Or at least a bag. Good thing since the city started charging money for bags at stores since we left the first time.

 Then we were off again. This time to Denman Island in British Columbia. There was lots of hidden and not so hidden stuff on this low tide beach. Bunches of star fish were hanging around the base of rocks, and there were shells to collect.

 And beaches to comb.

 And crabs to harass. It was super fun getting them to scoot around. They're really quick when they want to be.

 The reason we went to Denman was for our friends' Bruce and LeeAndra's 25th Cosmic Wedding Anniversary celebration. They prepared for the huge crowds by building a bunch of brand new outhouses. We celebrated the new outhouses by decorating them with clever and sometimes bawdy humor.

 Sometimes it was just interesting stuff for the users to look at.

 Lots of kids got in the act.

 We went from outhouse to outhouse decorating them all.

 Can you guess what's in this building?

 This is the Toot Suite.

 Home again, home again, home again. Comic books, sweet comic books.

 Speaking of comic, Cousin Avram came for dinner and we thought it would be a nice idea to model some of his old clothing.

 It still fits. Whaddaya know!

 A day later we got a box of cheese delivered to our doorstep, and inside was DRY ICE! Careful, you don't want to freeze your $#%&*^%#$% off.

 Or maybe you do. Hey willie, come over here and feel this foggy stuff.

OOOOOOWWWWW--my hand!!! IT BURNS US!

 Then Willie went off to camp and on a windy day I went kite flying with G and G.

 Up up and away!

 Then we went blueberry picking. Some of berries were fresher than others.

 Of course grandma is an expert berry picker.

This isn't break time grandpa. Get back to work!

 And the fruits of our labors--summer blueberry pie.

I even made the crust. How about that?

 Putting on the whipped cream is the most important part!

Hey hey hey--what do you think you're doing? Aren't pictures like this illegal in most states?

Copyright 1997-2012, The Berman Brothers, Willie and Teddy. All rights reserved.

7/7/2012

Much has happened in the past three weeks. Teddy had a birthday--number 12 for those of you keeping score. We finished school for the year and we got a few days off before heading south to Nana's house and many hikes, hamburgers, and hilarity.

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 Speaking of hilarity, I found this lovely outfit laying around and it's just my size. What do you think?

 It's you, Willie, truly.

 Birthday cakes for Teddy this year were one plain rice krispy treats and one chocolate covered rice krispy treats. Gelatinous writing was extra.

 Mmmm, gel writing...

This is good for me, but what are the rest of you going to have?

 First long march of the season--this one is 6 miles in Redwood park.

 Second long hike of the season: we're on the Dipsea trail (as opposed to the upchuck trail). Lunch was good, but we still had to smell Papa's kimchi. Pee-yew. Those live bacteria are not to our taste.

 When we came in on this trail we couldn't see the coastline because it was covered in fog, so we didn't think it was there. On the way back though there it was.

 And there was this snake slithering across the trail. Papa made us wait for it to cross so he could see that it did not have rattles, but it still makes a good story. We also saw lizards, a deer and a centipede.

Not really a hike, but a short climb to the top of Twin Peaks. Lovely Sutro tower in the background.

Uncle Michael brought over some Dr Pepper and this is what you do when some spills on the counter...

Slourrrrrppppppp. All clean.

Whoosh--I'm rocket boy. Nobody compares to me.

Geronimo! Not sure I've done this for 7 years, but I was told to work on my upper body strength.

We caught Nana watching Puss in Boots so of course we had to watch it with her, then some episodes of Shawn the Sheep just to make sure that our media needs were being met.

Mmmm, In-N-Out. This, my many friends, is a 4 by zero, plain, except for grilled onions and hot chilis. Yum. In cashier parlance it's a double meat, z patty patty with gr and chilis. Got it?

No you don't have it because it is mine, and nobody gets between me and my delicious burger. Don't even think it unless you want to lose an arm, or a leg, or some other limb or appendage.

Copyright 1997-2012, The Berman Brothers, Willie and Teddy. All rights reserved.