Child disappointed by lack of tiny tubs of strawberry Haagen Dasz
Setting aside the great tragedy of a beautiful walk to no strawberry ice cream, she and Nicky did in fact enjoy their annual trip to the Giglio and its raft of humanity.
dad
to a growing 7-year-old on vacation, every blanket and dune is a home
Apropos of just about everything, I would like to rewind the clock by two weeks and have Kina setting up her fort in Alameda again. Simpler, calmer times. Go for a walk on the dunes today, if you can.
Sometimes it’s the youngest girl in the family who has to be Mommy
Goodbyes are easier than they used to be, but it’s not that easy. Kina has learned enough about this to be ready with a hug and a cautious smile. It has been a good trip, with lots of good family time. Nothing to be sad about. But it’s sad, even so, sometimes.
Uncles Chuckie, Eric and JL play tag on Ocean Beach with Kina, then join her for dinner and ice cream before coming home for hide and seek and taking robotaxis away
All of the SF honorary uncles came by for games and food and Kina reading about Pusheen. It was ambitious and fun.
“I actually prefer the fog, really,” claims visiting newspaper magnate, cutting the nose and relentless clear skies of her east coast birthplace
“It is happening,” Laura has taken to saying as we ramble slowly through the easygoing lanes of San Francisco and the greater Bay Area. By “happening”, she means that we are becoming enamored of the luxurious politesse and elevated bakery standards of this place. The organic produce is more organic than organic. The cars drive themselves, slowly. Nobody honks. Kina, too “is happening”, claiming that the ever-present and cooling fog of the Outer Sunset is preferable to the beating sun and frenetic energy of New York.
I have joked to Laurea that every trip we make to the Bay Area has three acts:
warms family’s San Francisco house by making parents chuckle
This may be my favorite game of hers yet. Turns out, the thing most likely to make me laugh is Kina laughing at herself, which means that I mostly end up waiting for Kina to crack herself up, which seems like a win-win scenario for all involved.
ungulates found nothing on grass by gate; Kina waves hi from distance
The deer usually come before Kina wakes up, but she needed to go to them today, instead, and found them grazing by the boulders outside the gate. It was magical, for her and me both.
Child and her deer buddy catch up on the mountain as fog lifts
In many ways, this entire trip is about Kina seeing her friend Bonnie the deer. She has been talking about Bonnie for weeks. The very first thing she did on the mountain after our drive from Alameda was call out to her friends until she came, young fawns in tow. Kina had apples, as promised, from the last time they met, and she will have apples again next year.
child makes it all the way to the west coast after only asking four times if we “are almost there”; the air is clear and kid is happy
I have gotten to the place with this project where I no longer feel compelled to bring five sheets of white construction paper in my suitcase for the Sunday Kina when I travel. This is much better.
