Ethan's Room

It seems there is always something to do or finish or fix in my son's room.  I can't help but wonder if this feeling is related to my husband's request to not buy our son toys?  This has been very hard for me since it is the American Way to consume and supply.  In trying to support my husband's request, and fulfill my desire to give to my son, I opt to create active pursuits in his room and play area instead. 

Ethan's arts area already received a facelift so his room got a mini makeover next.  I have been very pleased with  how well his room is organized and I liked the majority of the pieces in the room, however some changes were in order.  First, I took out the Kidkraft storage bins that had were holding various small toys that were rarely used.  I replaced it with and Expedit shelf from Ikea.  Unbeknownst to Ethan I threw away many of the unused and broken toys and placed the rest in three different Drona boxes -- where they largely go hidden and unused.  Additionally, the expedit unit provides a great sitting and standing area for the magnetic chalkboard. 

The chalkboard was made with a three by four sheet of galvanized metal (I had read that magnetized paint does not work as well as purported) glued to a thin sheet of pressed wood ($7).  Once the glue was dry I painted it with chalkboard paint (as many coats as you like -- I did five because the metal was slick and the paint did not always adhere).  I used two sheets of four by three side by side to create one huge chalkboard space of three by eight.  Because I could not get the two sheets to marry together at the seams I placed a piece of trim on it to separate the board into sides.  I also trimmed the exterior edges of the board to create the look of a classic school room chalkboard.

I wanted to create a more custom look for Ethan's bed so I replaced the ailing curtains under the bed (create a fun space underneath the bed).  I purchased some good quality medium weight canvas from www.onlinefabricstore.net for a reasonable price and made new curtains in blue and yellow.  I also changed his bedding to include some orange throw pillows from Pottery Barn (quilt and euro pillow covers are also from Pottery Barn).  To add some color to the room I painted one wall green.

Overall the room has become exactly what I had envisioned.  Ethan may not have alot of toys but he has a very fun sleeping and playing place and I had fun creating this space.

San Francisco

I really wanted to like it, but I hated it. 

Our trip to San Francisco was a planned active vacation we were really looking forward to. We decided to do it without renting a car -- everything by people-power (bike and walk) or public transportation.  We would take the train from the airport to downtown, walk to the bike rental store and then ride to Mill Valley.  Oh, and I must not forget we were doing this with our five year old and each of us carrying a large backpack.  Seemed easy enough and we looked forward to the cooler weather San Francisco had to offer.

After reading many reviews about hotels in San Francisco (SF) proper we decided to stay in Mill Valley.  The reviews we read complained about everything from cost, to safety, to noise from outside, noise from other rooms, quality of the rooms and homeless people.  Mill Valley was, according to Google, not a very far bike ride from SF an hour at best (and we are strong bikers so I figured no more than 40 minutes -- more on that erroneous thought later).  Our room was decent enough -- definitely did not look like the photo on the website (another common complaint we read in the reviews) but at least it wasn't $230 a night. 

It seems when it comes to travel there are two things you can count on:  the room will not look like the picture and your plane will never be on time.  Our departure was delayed one hour.  For adult travelers it is a tolerable fact of life, but we were travelling with a very persnickety five year old and delays always complicate the ambiance.  Our arrival in SF was complicated by a starving and exhausted child.  Our goal was to get to the hotel as fast as possible for de-escalation maneuvers.  Once in SF and we found the train easy enough, made it to downtown and to the bike store.  Unfortunately, the bike store did not have bikes for us (even though I was promised a week in advance by the manager that I did not need to make reservations...."we always have enough bikes."), but we were in luck their bike store several blocks away did have bikes.  We attempted to take the public transportation bus, but after waiting thirty minutes and not being able to board any of the overcrowded buses we decided to walk to the store.   

What struck us most about walking around downtown SF was the smell of urine.  Everywhere.  Couldn't figure out why and then we spotted the many homeless people sleeping on the street...everywhere.  We spent about four hours in downtown SF, having lunch and walking to our various destinations.  As one could imagine eventually we had to use a bathroom.  So we went to Starbucks for coffee and to use the bathroom.  BUT they did not have a restroom for paying customers -- apparently public restrooms were on the other side of the building, locked, and only a special code given by the business owners to their customers would open them.  Unfortunately for us the public restroom closest was closed for cleaning and the next closest one was a few blocks away with a very long line (others told us this who trekked to this toilet only to find it closed).  A line was starting to form while waiting for it to be cleaned and a city worker came by to say it would be an hour "please find another toilet."  I was desperate since my five year old needed to pee (should have let him pee in a bush) so I ran over to a hotel a block away and begged to use the restroom -- it took a lot of begging to get them to open the door to their bathroom.  Sadly, I am sure this why much of the city smells like urine -- the streets are a never ending toilet.  The city's bathroom issues is the single reason why I would never go back.  This is America not Mexico  -- or France for that matter, but even there they won't make you beg to use the toilet.

After our toilet issues were resolved we headed off for our hotel.  And, wow, what a ride -- did you know SF is hilly?  Did I mention we were biking everywhere?  It took us over three hours to get through the city, across the bridge and to Mill Valley.  So much for Google's estimate of one hour.  One website I found said we had three hills between us and Mill Valley.  Really?  There were more than three and even if there were only three maybe the writer should have mentioned they were really BIG (long) hills.  I think we got to our hotel at seven p.m. -- we had started our travel day at 5 a.m.  To say we were tired would, although cliche, be a huge understatement.

The sixty degree weather was wonderful -- especially since we had grown tired of 115 degrees back in Arizona.  In the days that followed our arrival we spent time exploring Sausalito, Muir Woods and Mill Valley by bike and foot.  We spent four hours hiking in Muir Woods and the experience was ethereal.  I think our son enjoyed the hiking day the most. 

In retrospect, my husband and I enjoyed the daily bike riding and could have done it for hours each day, but our son needed more "walk about" time.  If we ever go back to that area, we would avoid San Francisco and stay in Mill Valley.  Moreover, we would spend more time sitting at Peet's Coffee, walking in and out of the flower shops and organic markets, hiking and going to parks.