Mission Accomplished

Several years ago I started collecting menus from some of our favorite restaurants.  My collection includes menus from fancy places and hole in the wall kind of places.  Many times I have asked the chef to sign the menu.  So I started framing the menus and hanging them in our dining room.  When I look at the menus, I don't remember what I had that night but remember a fun time out with my hubby.  

One of our favorite places is in San Francisco.  It has the best Chinese food you will ever taste.  It is definitely a local place and people wait outside in the rain to get in.  The tables are very close together and you usually end up sitting with other people.  The owner (we will call him Mr. Nanking) runs a tight ship.  There is NOTHING fancy about it.

The first time we ate there was about 11 years ago.  We walked in and Mr. Nanking would not give us a menu and basically told us what we were going to eat.  We loved it so much that we ate there the next night.

Through out the years, we periodically would say "I would love to have some Chinese food from House of Nanking."  It is so yummy!  Last year we were in San Fran and House of Nanking was on the top of the list.  At this point, my menu collection was underway.  A menu from House of Nanking would be perfect on the wall!  So as we were ordering, I put on my southern charm and asked Mr. Nanking if I could have a menu.  I explained to him that I collect menus and hang them on my wall.  He simply looked at me and shook his head NO, took the menu and walked away.  I was speechless!  This menu us nothing fancy and was in a page protector.   I was heartbroken...well not really but you know what I mean.  So my little collection would not have a menu from one of our favorite restaurants.  

We recently took a trip to Napa Valley.  We drove back to San Fran the last day and ate at House of Nanking.  So what was I to do?  Do I ask for permission or forgiveness? I could not take the menu since Mr. Nanking had told me a year ago a big fat NO.   Let me remind you that this menu is nothing special....photo copied, prices are hand written in Chinese, stapled in a 5 cent page protector!  So I had to change my approach.  Instead of turning on my southern charm and giving too many details of why I wanted it, I simply looked at him and said, "Can I have this?"  He asked my why.  Instead of telling him about a collection, I said "To put on my wall."  He smiled and said yes.  I was grinning from ear to ear.  My hubby gave me the high five across the table.  I actually got Mr. Nanking to smile!  I thought I would be pushing it if I asked him to sign the menu.  One little bonus was a picture with Mr. Nanking.  He was standing outside as we were leaving.  I asked him since we were friends now could I have my picture taken with him.  He even suggested for us to get under the Nanking sign.

Like I said the collection is not about the menu itself or the food....it is about a fun time to remember.  What are some ways you remember your fun times?

Thanks for sticking with the long story.

Me and Mr. Nanking....pic taken with a phone camera!  Can you believe I did not have my camera with me!!!  

My collection.  As you can see I hung the pics.  My hubby would have hung them much better and would have measured everything out.  Me on the other hand....well let's just say I am not a perfectionist.  

My menu proudly displayed on the wall.  

We "Boo'ed" Our Neighbors

Our neighborhood has a tradition at Halloween.  It is called being "Boo'ed."  Jennifer from "The Sherman Special" blog does a great job explaining the details of the game.  Check out her cute pictures of their family outing of booing their neighbors.  

So the other night we got boo'ed.  Bailey was so excited to see candy on the front porch.  Now it was our turn.  Tonight we set out to boo our neighbors.  I painted this gourd white and wrote BOO on it.  The kids and I snuck over to our neighbors with our gourd and candy.  Bailey rang the bell and then we started running.

Jennifer, your cute blog post encouraged me to make it a fun event for the kids.  Thanks!

The kids getting ready for our little mission.  The rainboots were a must.

So It Was A Little Crisp

Ok, my BBQ ribs were a little crisp the other night for dinner.  Usually, we have to encourage Bailey to eat her dinner and try new things.  On the way to the table Bailey ask, "What did you make me?"  I told her BBQ thinking I was going to get the pouty look.  However, she looks at her plate as she is sitting down and says "Umm, chocolate is on it."  I laughed out loud.  She really thought it was chocolate!  Ok, so it was just a little crisp.  Leftovers anyone?  The funny thing is that the kids loved it.  Really....they weren't that bad.

Bon Appetite!

I Spy A Pumpkin

So today we played a little game in the car.  The kids and I had a little bit of the sniffles so we did not expose our germs to our church friends.  We were getting a little cabin fever.  The hubby is out of town and mommy was running out of ideas at home.  So I packed the kids in the car and headed to the mall.  (So we could expose our mall friends to our germs. Sorry!) We ate lunch at the food court and played on the rides.  On the way home, Bailey says that she wants to go on an adventure.  I had to think quick.  So what did we do?  We played "I Spy A Pumpkin" game.  I drove in several neighborhoods and we took turns yelling out "I spy a pumpkin."  It was lots of fun.  Even Keenan got into it.  He kept pointing his little finger and smiling from ear to ear.  Mommy had fun because she got to see all the cute fall decorations on porches.  It was a sweet time with the kids.  

Enjoy your day.

Cardboard testimony

Since I am not a You Tube expert I do not know how to link to this video.  My friend at New Every Morning has a link to a powerful video on You Tube.  It brought tears to my eyes.  Just thought I would share.

Have a wonderful day.

The Pumpkin Patch

What a fun family Saturday morning!  We ate breakfast at Brueggers and then headed to the Pumpkin Patch.  The kids had a great time exploring and I was out of control with the camera.  104 pictures to be exact!  Don't worry I did not put all the pictures on the blog.  Just a few.  My wonderful assistant named Daddy was a great help with the picture taking.  Don't you love how I write like I am a photographer?  Well every mommy is a photographer...right?  

Ok, back to the Pumpkin Patch.  I thought it was closed when we pulled up but it was on the honor system.  I just love that!  It is great to see that there are still people who have trust that people will be honest.  There was a note to drop your money in the box and write down what you took.  How great is that!  So the kids picked out some pumpkins and Daddy picked out a few small ones for me to decorate with.  What a guy!  He knows what makes me smile.  And while everyone was busy picking out pumpkins I was clicking the camera like a crazy woman.

Here are a few pics to enjoy.

My favorite!

He Is Walking

Keenan is taking steps and is loving it.  So happy for him.

Not a scenery kind of photographer

Here are the last of the pictures from our trip to Napa Valley.  I much rather take pictures of people, especially my kids.  I love looking at the expressions on people's faces.  Scott is great at taking scenery pictures.  So just one more area where we balance each other out!

Enjoy your day!

We stayed at a wonderful place called the Poetry Inn.  The inn had 3 inkeepers who were so nice.  They made you feel like you were special guest in their home.  The top picture was a view from our room.  We slept with the patio door open every night.  

It was harvest time so the vines were full of grapes.

The Landing

Ok, here is the landing story.  The pilot wanted to land in a grassy area that was in a neighborhood but missed it just a little.

This is the area that he wanted to land in.  I took a picture of the balloon that did land in the area right after we landed.

However, this is where we landed.  The balloon touched down right at the curb of the driveway and street.  We almost took out the mailbox.  The pilot had told us earlier to get on the balls of our feet and bend our knees when we land.  I thought he would give us a heads up but I think he was a little concern as we were landing.  He was yelling at the guys on the ground to run.  The pilot had to throw out an anchor and they had to pull us down.  We slammed right on the sidewalk.  

This is a picture of the guys pulling the other balloon.  It was exciting to watch.  The people in the car were not frazzled that a balloon was about to land on top of them.  It was obvious they had seen this before.

The guys pulled us in the basket a few yards down the street.  This is the street sign we passed as we went down the street.

Once we got to the grassy area we were able to get out of the balloon.  Here is a pic of us after the trip.  It was quite an adventure.

More Napa Valley pics to come.

Napa Valley

Scott and I spent the week in Napa Valley to celebrate our 10th anniversary a few months late.  It was a wonderful time of relaxation and adventure.  I will start with our adventure.  We took a ride in a hot air balloon.  It was lots of fun drifting over the valley.  The best part was the landing, which will be a separate post.

Here are a few pics.

The pilots getting the balloons ready for take off.  

Scott and I in the basket ready for lift off.  You should have seen Mrs. Grace (that would be me) getting in the basket.  The pilot started laughing!

The view of the vineyards.  You can smell the grapes in the air.

There were several balloons in the air with us.

See the highway below?  I asked the pilot if he ever had to land on the highway and he said no but had to land on the railroad beside it.  Glad I did not know that before we took off.

Ok, ready for the landing?  Check the blog tomorrow.  

Up, Up, and Away!

Can't wait to tell you all about the landing!  But for now we are packing our bags and headed home.