Week 52 - Sis

A weekly theme for 2011 seemed like a much simpler idea than daily postings in 2010, when we started this insanity. In actuality it turned out to be more difficult when we had weeks with a boatload of pictures to pick from and had to edited them down and hopefully keep the blog interesting. This last post of our final week of 2011 was one of those problematic editing of a very full and busy week while in California. So here's a large smattering of that time period. Hope you had a year that wasn't dependent on us filling your time but did get some enjoyment from visiting our contributions here. Get settled this is going to be a long post to finish the last long, week of the old year! Here we go: Christmas Day was different for Lisa and I as we spent the day preparing for the following day's tamale making. This included, boiling, shredding the pork meat and getting husks cleaned and separated by size. Monday, the 26th, had a long productive day filled with some really great laughs with my daughters and nieces. Tuesday I fixed a pasta dinner for my son-in-law and daughter who had to work. We ate bucatini all'amaticiana, with a substitution of shrimp, instead of guanciale. Fortunately it was a success, with Steve taking leftovers for lunch the next day. Wednesday joining Lisa and I were my niece, Monica and her son, he's also Lisa's Godson, as we headed to El Cerrito to a museum, Playland Not at the Beach, filled with objects, pictures and miniature collections of the history of amusement parks on the West Coast of California to Oregon. You could spend hours there, much to enjoy, you can play some boardwalk games along with huge assortment of pinball machines. Left there for Jack London Square for lunch. All four of us were very happy with our orders at Kinkaids, of course mine included some Dungeness crab. Then it was off to an Oakland park with some of the 25 Champions of Humanity statues, dedicated to famous heroes who made huge differences with their work for a better life and rights all over the world. Beautiful work of art. That evening a new group of nine joined us for dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant. Thursday, a day in SF, joining the party of four from Wednesday, my sister Judy, daughter Kellee and granddaughter Autumn. Two kids, one 11 and the other 6 years old, spent a long day with five adults and were absolutely fun to be with and well behaved. Started the day at AT&T park for a tour, next Union Square where we had lunch at Macy's Burger Bar. Good but really could have bought three burgers for the price of one there. Atmosphere was a bit stuffy for our group. Left there for a one hour bus tour as the evening was approaching. A fun way to end the the tourist outing, cable car ride. Finishing the day with "some" folks having and Irish coffee in a local establishment. Friday, packing and a visit to my cousins, closest to my age all week! The two who joined Lisa and I for this one was, my sister, Madeline and my daughter Yolanda. Are you still with me? It was a jam packed week which meant some relatives didn't get in a visit but we made the best we could to see and enjoy as many as possible.