Outing to Golden Gate Park

Look at those fish!


Goofy boy


Having fun at the Shakespeare Garden near the Cal Academy



Beautiful spring blossoms

Alex and I headed over to Golden Gate Park this morning to use our Cal Academy membership one last time before it expired tonight. Thanks again to Hoa & Sean for such a fun membership. We used it alot this year and will definitely renew it again sometime in the future.

Today we watched the penguin feeding, checked out all of the fish in the California Coast and tropical reef areas, had a nice little lunch at the cafeteria and spent some time up in the Education Center reading all kinds of nature books on their comfy beanbag chairs. On the way back to our car, we stoppped off at the Shakespeare Garden to enjoy the beautiful spring blossoms and burn up that last bit of energy before naptime. It turned out to be a very nice Spring day, with the rain taking a bit of a break.

Hangin' Out

Chillin' in the eagle's nest


The two little cowboys


Yee-haw! I love being a cowboy!


Johnny and Alex in Alex's garbage truck


The boys with all of the decorated eggs

Yesterday we had a great morning with Johnny and Carrie at our house. Alex and Johnny really enjoyed the garbage truck which David made from a big box this weekend. They both actually fit inside the truck and then they would take turns dumping a variety of toys inside to simulate trash/recycling. It occupied quite a bit of the morning, which is great, considering it was a free box. It has a flap up top to open and dump into, a window on the side, with velcro to help keep it open, and a door on the side to help gain easy access.

As you can see, they also found Alex's cowboy hat collection and had quite a fun time being silly with the hats on. At one point, they were singing into the drumsticks and dancing around, which was super cute.

Since it is Easter week, we also wanted to decorate some eggs, so that was the project we took on for the playdate. Let's be honest, decorating eggs was more of a Momma thing, but the boys did have some fun telling us how to decorate the eggs. We drew with crayon on some of them, before dipping them into dye and others we masked with tape shapes prior to dipping. They did enjoy looking at the finished product, but clearly the garbage truck was more of a draw. All in all, a great morning!

Our Funny, Funny Boy....

Mr. Goofster with a colander on his head


Vroom, vroom....driving at Guadalajara


Ah, toilet paper....a potty training child's best friend

We have been keeping busy here and enjoying the beautiful Spring weather. Yesterday we went on an eleven mile bike ride around Alameda and really had a wonderful time. We are gearing up for the Tour de Cure Diabetes ride in May. Alex was quite a trooper riding with me. We saw lots of birds, went over bridges, and saw some boats, so it was a successful ride.

Alex continues to keep us on our toes and laughing, much of the time. His wound is healing nicely and the glue will likely fall off this week. He is so good with his words and sentences these days, sometimes I am just amazed. The other day he received a new My Big Backyard magazine (good magazine for kids, by the way, published by the National Wildlife Federation). After reading it a few times, he "accidentally" ripped the cover off of it. I talked with him about how we want to make sure that we don't rip the magazine, so that we can read it many more times and enjoy it. He acknowledged that and then said "Mommy, need duct tape. Fix magazine." Duct tape? Is duct tape just inherently appealing to males? I cracked up because he was correct in saying that we should fix it, I just thought duct tape was a little much.

Another funny thing which Alex likes to say is "Need something from the cage." When he says this, he is referring to the snack cabinet, which happens to have a child-proof lock on it. It really is about the only cabinet in the kitchen which has a lock, so I guess to him, it does seem like the snacks are in a "cage", but it always sounds so funny when he says it.

Often times when we talk to him, we will refer to him as "baby", as in "I love you, baby". When we do this, he quickly corrects us and says, "Not baby, huge boy". We really need to record this at some point, because he is very adamant about it and corrects us quite often. It is just hard to quit calling him "baby".

He still loves his Sissy and now when we leave he'll say "Bye, bye Sissy. See you later, Sissy." It is so sweet!

Niles Canyon Railway

Momma and Alex


Carrie and Johnny on the train

Is this train going to start moving again soon?

Best buds looking out the window as the train goes through the canyon

We have had some issues with the computer this week so I'm a bit delayed in posting this outing from last weekend. We took a trip on the Niles Canyon Railway with the Lee Family last weekend and the boys had a great time on the full sized choo-choo. Despite a huge crowd of people and some issues with scheduling that made it into more of a "four hour tour", rather than a couple of hours, everyone had a good time.

David, Alex and I went last year about this time and it was not nearly as busy, but now that I think of it, we went on Easter Sunday, so maybe that was why. There was also a special event last weekend, with a couple of extra engines which were brought down from the California Railroad Museum, so perhaps that helped to account for the much larger crowd. It was a beautiful day and the wildflowers were out in the canyon, so we enjoyed the sights, did some coloring with crayons, had some snacks and just enjoyed the company.

Alex on Skis

Little Snowshoer

A First

Alex in the exam room after the wound was closed up. Note the variety of garbage receptacles in the background, and his faithful garbage truck beside him. He was quite happy to point these out to the doctor when he came in.

It's a first that you don't really look forward to, but all things considered, ours was not bad at all. Yesterday, we took our first trip to the ER, after Alex took a header onto the pebble laden cement walkway after music class. The boys always get very excited to go outside and run around after class and yesterday was no exception. Alex started running and proceeded to trip and take a big header, which resulted in a laceration to the forehead and an accompanying large bump.

I was concerned, because it looked more like a puncture wound than a clean cut, so I called the advice line and they suggested we go to the ER to check to see if it needed further attention. After some irrigation and Dermabond (glue for the body), Alex was good to go. I must say that the glue is quite slick. The doctor said it is the best thing, especially for little ones. Alex was a trooper and did a great job through the whole process, from vitals to irrigation to the actual gluing of the wound. He was quite excited and especially loved that Auntie Carrie and Johnny stopped by to bring some snacks while we waited. Thanks so much to them for doing that!

Luckily, we were in and out quite quickly and Alex was able to enjoy some cheese while waiting. Now we have one under our belt and I would be quite fine to never have one again, but I am remaining realistic, he is a boy, after all.

Happy Birthday Johnny!

Happy Birthday Johnny!


Happily swinging on the big tire swing at Aquatic Park


Singing and swinging. I started to take video of this, but then ran out of juice. They were both singing and really enjoying themselves.

I'm a bit behind in postings, so the birthday wishes for Johnny are belated, but we had a great time at his 2nd birthday party on Sunday! Beautiful weather, lots of friends, yummy tacos and delicious cupcakes, what more could you ask for? Yesterday, we had a playdate with the birthday boy and Alex and Johnny loved every minute at Aquatic Park. Between all of the great equipment, feeding the birds, and watching the many trains pass by, a great time was had by all! The tire swing seemed especially fun and at one point, they were both singing up a storm on it, which was super cute. We always enjoy our time together and yesterday was no exception.

Badger Pass Ski Area

The family snowshoeing at Badger Pass


The "big bear" tromping through the forest


Alex and Momma practicing

My cute snowshoer boys

Alex on the way up to Badger Pass at Tunnel View lookout

Last weekend, during our trip to Yosemite, we visited Badger Pass Ski Area and had a great time! We rented snowshoes for the family and Alex tried out his skis as well. It was fun to spend time tromping around in all of the beautiful snow. Alex really liked his "big bear feet" and was quite good at getting through the snow with his snowshoes. He liked being pulled around on his skis too. Looks like there will be lots of fun snow times ahead for us.

Yosemite

The family in the Meadow with beautiful waterfalls in the background


Alex and Daddy with Half Dome in the distance


Beautiful snow covered trees on Saturday morning


The view of Yosemite Falls from our balcony


Alex and David at Mirror Lake

Our trip to Yosemite was definitely a fun one, filled with some short hikes, beautiful scenery, a trip to Badger Pass Ski Area, lots of waterfalls and even snow in the valley by Saturday morning. We saw a coyote, a few deer, lots of crows and Stellar's Jays over the course of our time there and Alex enjoyed playing in nature, as usual. On Thursday, after arriving we took a little hike around the valley, Saturday we went to Badger Pass Ski Area and Bridalveil Fall, and then on Saturday we took a hike around Mirror Lake in the freshly fallen snow. Our room at the lodge had a great view of Yosemite Falls from the balcony, so it was quite a nice scene to relax to.

California State Railroad Museum

Alex enjoying the museum


One of the beautifully restored trains


Alex and I making our way through one of the passenger trains


Full kitchen on the dining car of one of the luxe passenger trains


Playing with the Thomas Trains upstairs at the museum

On Sunday, we ventured up to Sacramento to visit the California State Railroad Museum. What a fun place to visit, especially if you have a little one who enjoys trains. The museum is part of the California State Park system and has a host of fully restored trains which were very prominent in California's history. We learned a lot about railroading via the educational materials provided with each exhibit, as well as from the many enthusiastic docents who were stationed around the musuem.

There were many trains which you could actually walk through, including a Great Northern Railway mailcar, a fabulous passenger train with full dining car and kitchen and a steam engine where Alex could sit and pretend that he was the engineer. The passenger trains looked like quite the luxe way to travel back in the day. After touring the downstairs, we headed upstairs to the Thomas the Train area, and then on to the model railway exhibit, which was very cool.

After lunch, we stopped at a kid's outdoor adventure store which was directly across from the musuem. I would highly recommend a stop there, if you visit the museum. Trail Mix.net had a fabulous variety of kids outdoor educational and adventure gear and toys, including items for birding, gardening, skiing, hiking and bug catching. They have an online store as well with all of the merchandise at trailmix.net.

What a great Sunday outing on a bright, sunshine-filled day.

Moss Beach: Weekend 2

Fun at the beach


Look Mom, a chiton!


Blue-green anemone


Checking out a tidepool

After being deterred by a closed beach last weekend, we ventured out to Moss Beach on Saturday to check out the tidepools. We were able to see some anemones, hermit crabs, chitons, mussels, barnacles, coralline algae and surfgrass in the tidepools, as well as harbor seals and some seabirds in the distance. It was like a big treasure hunt, trying to find the various marine life in the pools and Alex had a great time. Afterwards, we hit downtown Half Moon Bay for some lunch and rounded out an enjoyable morning.

Twinkle, Twinkle

I love this rendition of Twinkle, Twinkle.

Old MacDonald

Now I Know My ABCs....

Alex sings the ABCs

Cal Academy

I love visiting this place with my buddy Johnny!


This Philippine reef is awesome, Alex!


I see you!


Goggle buddies!

Alex and Johnny (and the Mamas too!) had a fun day at the Cal Academy today. The boys had an especially good time talking to one fish in particular, which seemed to keep coming up to the glass to talk to them at the tropical aquarium. As you can see, the goggles in the Explorer's Cove were also quite a hit!

Say Cheese!

The budding photographer at work.

Yesterday morning Alex was asking for his "huge camera" and we finally figured out that what he wanted was the tripod. He loves to pretend he is taking pictures.

Inspired by the Olympics!

Checking out the form of the Olympic skier


In action

The Olympics are pretty darn inspiring, even for a 2 year old! Alex requested to use his skis a few times during the Olympics. Last week he saw some ski jumping and then asked for his skis and I helped him put them on and then he proceeded to try to move the large beanbag that we have into position to "ski jump" as he put it. Oh, the things we have to look forward to.

Too funny!

The "digger man" and crew are here again today, working some more on the water pipes in front of the house. A bit ago, one of the crew came to the door to tell us that the water will be shut off for a few hours. He asked if there were any other residents he should inform and Alex, whom I was holding piped in. A summary of the conversation follows:

Digger Man: Are there any other residents downstairs that I should inform?

Alex: Raccoons live downstairs. (True statement. A family of raccoons have been seen ambling to the backyard on more than one occasion.)

Digger Man: Raccoons? How many?

Alex: One, two raccoons (Actually, one, two, three, four raccoons)

Digger Man: How big are they? Are they small raccoons?

Alex: Huge! (They were much larger than I anticipated raccoons would be)

Digger Man: (smiling) Okay, well I will keep that in mind.

How thoughtful of Alex to remember the raccoons. Who knows, maybe they were planning to take a shower during that time and this way, they can readjust their schedule. Or maybe, they are just happily sleeping down there in the backyard, just waiting for night time to arrive so they can take their stroll around the neighborhood.

Busy Alex, working on gathering sticks to build an "eagle's nest"


Climbing on a huge tree


Daddy and Alex


Look at this huge tree!


Banana slug!

On Saturday afternoon, after naptime, we headed over to Fitzgerald Marine Reserve near Half Moon Bay to check out the tidepools. Upon arriving, we found that Moss Beach and the tidepools were closed, due to potential large waves as a result of the earthquake in Chile earlier in the morning. No tidepool viewing for us, but we did walk around on some of the trails within the reserve and were able to take in some gorgeous views of the ocean and the waves. The tidepools did not look disturbed, but I think that they were just taking extra precautions, so we will take a trip back on another day.

While we were there, we did see a red-tailed hawk, an egret, some seals and a banana slug, which were all cool. Alex had fun picking up sticks, playing in the big puddles and climbing on a huge fallen tree. Afterwards, we went to Princeton by the Sea for a dinner at sunset, which was a nice treat.