Family Visit

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

So before the family even came in this weekend, Lilie came into town with her family… and we met up for breakfast at Honey Honey Café & Crepery a few blocks from where she was staying. Great little place, fairly priced, and have a wide selection of crepes, eggs Benedict & I can personally attest to their great crab cakes Florentine with a side of breakfast potatoes. It was great catching up with her since she’s been living the dream the past few months with her fiancé, trips to France, moving back home to Utah from SoCal, few trips to Vegas, like I said… living the dream. I couldn’t be happier for her. But enough about her… this isn’t her blog… then again, I don’t think she’s updated hers in almost a year she’s been so busy actually having a life. Back to me & my family’s visit to the Bay Area.

Thursday night, my brother & C-Rock drove 13 hours straight to get to my house around 7 PM, so I took them on a hike around the neighborhood, ordered some Chinese food, cracked open a few beers & we watched “Your Highness” starring Danny McBride, James Franco & Natalie Portman. This movie is a hilarious, raunchy retelling of the usual medieval magical tales. Basically you have two princes, one who is the perfect heir to the throne Fabius (Franco) and the other who is a bit of a spoiled pompous ass who enjoys too much of the weed, Thaddeus (McBride)… so kind of like the Spin Doctors song. Anyway, Fabius is engaged to a beautiful maiden (Zooey Deschanel, rrrrrrr…) but she is kidnapped by an evil sorcerer. Now the brothers must join forces to rescue her. Along the way they meet a superhot warrior princess (Portman) and blah blah blah. I don’t do a good job of expressing how funny the story is… but it really is. Think of “Pineapple Express” meets “King Arthur” or something. Did I just blow your mind? I knew it.

Friday, I worked, but then met up with my mom, stepdad, niece & nephew in Chinatown for some dinner at R&G Lounge and some wandering through the shops. I’ve missed those kids… and they’ve missed me (even saying so repeatedly) so we had fun. They’re getting to be little chatterboxes too. After that, we met up at my apartment with my brother & C-Rock, and basically, I went with them to their hotel because we were going to go to Six Flags in the morning… and my brother apparently needs to be near me at all possible times… because he misses me too. Too bad that I can barely stand him. He’s just such a douche to my mom, and really anybody in general, and he’s a bigot, and a hypocrite, and really has to no money, job, life, reason for being, means of providing for his children, couth, etiquette, logical deduction abilities or personality… but hey, somebody has to give a damn about him, right? Don’t worry, he’s about to burn that bridge too, I’m sure of it. I had to tell him to stop talking to my mother in a berating tone or he was not welcome in my apartment… so we left so that my mom & the kids could have fun… and we had fun for a bit at the hotel. Yeah… couldn’t see my niece & nephew much that first night… because my brother is a giant worthless child. Great start, right?

Saturday, Kiel, C-Rock & I went to Six Flags… and we had fun, even though I play a little game sometimes with my brother. I count how many nice things he can say in an entire day… even when it’s going to a theme park for free like today… and he got to three… the entire day. The rest of the time, he was complaining about traffic, other people, other races, the state of California, how expensive everything is (that he’s not paying for), why he has to drive everywhere (because it’s his car & he insisted, by the way), the temperature (too hot AND too cold), my job (because he couldn’t talk about his), what other people are wearing, why everything’s in Spanish too (and occasionally Mandarin), just blah blah blah… and the three good things said were “That ride was pretty cool”, “These chicken tenders aren’t too bad” (followed by rant about how expensive they are), and “That line was pretty quick”. All of which were said once. Again, because I’m used to it though, I still had a great time… and just learned to zone him out most of the time.

Aside from all of that, Six Flags Vallejo is pretty nice. I highly recommend it and the thrill rides are great. Weird thing was the height limit on the adult rides… so I claimed that I was 6’3” a few times. “Could you stand up against the measuring wall please?” “Absolutely.” Just made it… and luckily they weren’t even paying attention to the bent knees and/or wide stance. “Okay, enjoy.” Sorry, didn't take my camera. After the park, we eventually made our way (through traffic that Kiel insisted on driving through despite my warnings, so that was fun to hear about) to my apartment, and then I got to have some fun with the kids. Apparently they got to go on a boat ride in the bay and under the bridges (so f**king jealous) and then the aquarium. Yeah… the day that I wanted to have with them, I spent listening to my brother b**ch about a theme park & how it’s full of people on a Saturday. Love my life sometimes. Anyway, that night, I slept downstairs with the kiddies like a little sleepover. Good times.

Sunday, we went out to Fairyland in Oakland & the kids LOVED it… that is, until my brother came in & caused a huge fuss because… not sure, I think because he had to wait five minutes to get into the park because we arrived early & rather than sit in the car, went in without him & he’s a worthless b**ch without a dime to his name & couldn’t get into the park. Yeah, I think that was why… but he caused a little scene, until I stepped in again, told him to unbunch the panties, because I didn’t pay $8 for him to come into the park & ruin everybody’s time. He calmed down, then we had fun. The park was pretty sweet actually. Here are pictures…

"Don't do it, Humpty!!!"

Snow White looks like she just got back

from a sorority party...

Why this picture?

Read the sign...

Simply majestic...

After Fairyland, we drove over to the U.S.S. Hornet, an WWII aircraft carrier that is now a museum in the port of Alameda (also featured on “Ghost Adventurers”) and that was a lot of fun too. Here are pictures of that… sorry, no ghosts... but very similar to my trip to San Diego & the USS Midway...

Downtown Oakland

After that, we went into Oakland’s Chinatown and had dinner at the Silver Dragon Restaurant… and again, my brother caused a bit of a scene. Why? Because he snapped at one of the kids for pointing with a chopstick or something, my mom said something like calm down, and he proceeded to tell her in very profane language that he has no idea how to be a parent, she should remain quiet at all times & his children are not to listen to her (only be watched & provided for by her apparently), he’s in control of everything (sun, moon, sky, whatever?), blah blah blah… so I polite told him to close his mouth, enjoy this wonderful vacation of which he hasn’t spent a dime on, including the meal he was about to receive, keep his criticisms to himself as he is the only person who wishes to hear about them, & allow his children, who are not his pets, to have fun as well. He then tried to stare me down & tell me what was what… but that b**ch apparently has no idea how little I care about him personally. I’m not even phased by his comments anymore… because I consider the source. Anyway, food was great. He calmed down. Maybe he just needs more naps like his kids or a change of his diaper or something. Or maybe just checked by his brother. I don’t know. The important thing is the kids had fun once he learned to shut up & enjoy himself.

Sunday night, he & C-Rock stayed at the hotel, the rest of us were at my apartment watching “Toy Story 3” and other movies. I’d tell you what they were about… but I really don’t know because the kids were too busy showing me what they could do & were just too excited to watch the movie. They just wanted to play with Uncle $teve… and then my brother showed up again… because he wanted to do the same… no joke… and so I tried to split time with them before he left & we went to bed.

Monday, I spent the day working but afterwards met up with the whole family at the Thirsty Bear Brewery. Great little place with some pretty good beer (I recommend the Golden Vanilla), games upstairs like pool, darts, etc, great service… but just be warned that it’s Spanish Tapas menu. Which if you’re chilling with friends with exotic & explorative taste buds, then it’s absolutely perfect. However, if you’re having the first real meal of the day for a family of rednecks, expect to hear a few comments. Luckily there were a few items like meatballs & mini hamburgers for the kids… and once they tried some of the food that I recommended, they enjoyed it. I didn’t know about the Spanish cuisine… but luckily it worked out pretty well. Definitely a great place for hanging out though.

After dinner, we went to the hotel for a dip in the pool & hot tub. Kairi & Vinny loved showing off their swimming abilities (and their floaties) and we just had a great time. After the dip, it was bedtime, so I gave them my hugs & kisses goodbye because they were leaving in the morning… and I wouldn’t see them until Christmas (but given the way work has been lately, even that’s in question). Then I dropped Kiel & C-Rock off on my way back to my apartment. First night in my bed in a few so it was pretty good. Apartment still looks like a mess, but hey, Kiel & C-Rock will be staying until Friday morning, so I’ll take care of it over the weekend.

Tuesday morning, I went to work… and about an hour into my shift, I hear my boss talking to someone behind me… and it’s a familiar voice… my mom’s. Apparently Kairi & Vinny wanted to give me more hugs & kisses before they drove back home… so my mom stopped by my work, walked in the door, asked the first person she saw about me, and it so happened to be my boss who escorted her to my closet office. So I said bye to the kids again, shook off a few tears while doing it, gave em all hugs, and they drove off while I went back to work. I’m gonna miss those little scamps… but I’ll see them again soon hopefully. You never know how things work out.

Anyway, that should do it for the weekend portion. There’ll be more updates to come with my brother’s continued visit… but apparently not a trip to the Rock because I couldn't get time off approved through work. Lame I know... but honestly, I'm not too broken hearted about it. I've been there. Just would nice for my bro & C-Rock to go... and apparently they won't go without me. Oh well. Have a great day everybody!!! To be continued...