Giants FanFest - big smiles from Grandma & Grandpa

On Saturday, Jan 20th we met up with my Mom & Dad at AT&T Park for the Giant's FanFest event. As long as we've been Giants fans we have never attended this pre-season event. We now know that is because it's a total ZOO but it was fun nonetheless. We got to take a tour through the team Clubhouse and came out of the bowels of the stadium through the dug out. Duane and the girls and I had been down on the field during batting practice last season and been in the dug out then but Mom & Dad had never been in this area. Mom was quite excited and insisted on a photo. We did see a few Giants organization folks, including owner Peter McGowan in the Clubhouse with his grandkids. They were, of course, behind the ropes on a private tour. Several of the players and coaches were also at the event signing autographs but we decided to skip those long lines. Kali did enjoy her first Giants Dog of the season and Melia settled for a pretzel since the burgers weren't being served at this event. We're looking forward to a great season with lots of new Giants blood and one fan fav - the return of Rich Aurilia!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas...Oh Timber!!!

I feel compelled to tell the real story of our first Elk Grove Christmas.

You know the one about our 10 foot, biggest we've ever had, Christmas tree falling over, crashing to the floor and sending pieces of broken ornaments all over the place.

The one about how we spent the next half an hour vacuuming, cleaning, wiping, and eyeing the floor for little shards of "I'll stick in your foot until you cry" glass.

The one about how we had to totally redecorate and recreate our masterpiece once again. Yes, the holiday cheer did take an unfortunate, momentary vacation.

We did eventually get said tree erected again but only after convincing Mamma Claus (read Margaret) that it was possible to get the poor tree properly secured in the stand with the help of a well placed and hidden can of flat red paint. (For color comparison see the picture of our red wall).

Ah, who cares. As you can tell from the pictures we had a great time visiting family, loved ones and friends. But, just for a little fun, let's take an informal poll. How many say we should go with a fake, non-falling, tree next year? None? Ok Margaret, you still lose...

Oh, the picture is not of our tree but I thought it helped emphasize the point...

Duane

Roxy Restaurant & Bar -- Perfect

You knew it was going to eventually happen. It was only a matter of time. I would walk into a restaurant and discover the best that Sac town had to offer.

Margaret told me she had been to a spot that reminded her of some of the cooler/hip San Fran restaurants we'd been too. I didn't believe her. She was right, I was wrong...Wait did I really admit that??!

Roxy is excellent. The service, decor and mood is perfect. It's nice but not high brow. The presentation is great but not outlandish. We went for a late lunch and had calamari and onion rings as an appetizer. The only complaint here was it was more rings than calamari but both were great. (As were the tartar and cocktail sauces.)

I also had the pureed squash soup and it was fabulous. The girls, Margaret and I all loved our meals. The price was right; definitely on the reasonable side of expensive. I was looking for a Riesling that they didn't have and our waiter (Aaron) suggested an excellent alternative. His service was attentive but not in the way. The maitre de was cleaning finger prints off of the windows throughout the restaurant. Now she could of been bored but that's the kind of dedication a 6 forker pays!!

If all Sac restaurants were like this, I'd gain another 50 pounds. Maybe I should be happy I haven't found em yet.