It is common enough to hear adults say they don’t understand teenagers.

But Kathryn Kenney does, because she sees throngs of them every day in her pizza restaurant across Jefferson Street from Napa High School.

In fact, Kenney says teens are her best lunchtime customers. On weekdays at 12:15 p.m., 80 or so teens walk en masse from Napa High to California Pizza, which Kenney runs with her husband, Tom. Students order fresh slices while blues, jazz and local radio tunes form a backdrop for their conversations. Occasionally, Kenney said, teachers drop in and ask her how the students are doing.

Recently, the Register visited the packed restaurant on a typical Wednesday to experience this noontime phenomenon and talk with Napa students about relating to parents and what the kids do for fun in a town with a reputation for having too little to do.

The crowd at California Pizza is an artsy one. Several students said they are in rock bands, and others are involved in theater.

Shane Cameron, 18, said he keeps busy playing with his hard rock and grunge band, UnderLight, acting in school plays and spending time with his girlfriend, Samantha Morrison. He is also a youth leader at Foothill Christian Fellowship and said he helps run its youth group on Thursdays. Shane said he has a really cool mom, and even though they don’t do any planned activities together, they enjoy each other’s company.

Seventeen-year-old Lindsay Stoltz, president of Napa High’s Thespian Society, said besides her acting endeavors, she enjoys spending time with her friends and boyfriend, David Ewing. She also plays “French Uno,” a variation of the card game she learned from a foreign exchange student. Lindsay said she gets along pretty well with her dad. “He tends to treat me more like an adult and knows that I will do things in my own time. ... He knows that I will and do make the right decisions and that I am not involved with some of the negative things, like drugs or alcohol, that many other teenagers do,” she said.

Senior Derek O’Reilly, 17, is the drummer in a band called Democracy in Dirt. He’s also a member of Napa High’s chamber choir and acts in school plays. Derek said his family enjoys occasional game nights together. “On game nights, my family and I usually play board games like Sorry! or Yahtzee. We sometimes play word thinking games like Scattergories or Boggle.”

Derek said he doesn’t always see eye to eye with his parents. “(But) my mom isn’t too strict. She has a set of family values and expectations of how our family should be run. She is open to communication and likes to talk things out, which I don’t always like to do. She’s pretty free in letting me do what I want and letting me make my mistakes and learn from them.”

Ben Puleo, who turned 16 on Feb. 23, said he takes guitar lessons, plays music with his friends, and enjoys regular trips to American Canyon’s Sherwood Forest for paintball. He likes video games and said that on Fridays he usually hits the movies or spends time with friends. Ben said he gets along with his parents, but they don’t do much hanging out together.

Sixteen-year-old Michelle Lowery likes cruising around Napa in her friend’s car, and like many of her peers, enjoys going to the movies. Michelle said that her mom respects her unsupervised time. “I’ve always felt that I can do what I want and she trusts that I’ll make the right decisions. On the other hand, when I do make a bad choice, she’s surprised because she expects better from me because I’ve always been pretty polite and respectful towards her friends and other adults. ... But sometimes it’s hard telling your parents about things you’ve done when you know you messed up and you’re afraid of what they’ll say or do,” she said.

Blanca Gonzalez, 17, takes trips to Scandia in Fairfield with her friends regularly; she is also big on bowling. Blanca said she has a good relationship with her parents. “I get along with my parents because we have a connection between us. I consider my mom as a best friend, and she puts a lot of trust in me when I’m with my friends or boyfriend. She listens to me and gives me advice — also, she makes me earn all my privileges. She makes me work very hard. ... I know that they want the best for me and I appreciate that,” she said.

Chelsea Schumann, 16, is in a Napa High drama class and prefers hanging out with friends. She said she gets along with her parents “very well,” adding that her family eats dinner together every night. She and her family also watch the TV show, “Survivor” together every Thursday. “I think what makes my relationship with my parents so good is that they’re really understanding. They give me boundaries, but within reason because they remember what it’s like to be my age and understand that I’m growing up and becoming my own person.”

The Register is seeking information about young people involved in interesting and unusual hobbies and pastimes. If you or someone you know is in a garage band, raises cattle, spins records as a deejay, is a paintball expert, spends time geocaching, prepares meals for the less fortunate, reads to seniors or has other interesting passions, please contact Community Reporter Natalie Hoffman at 256-2260 or nhoffman@napanews.com.