Just back last Monday from a 10-day trip to California - me, Logan and Shay - to visit Baba. The trip was stressful but uneventful, as long as you don't count occasional whining (Shay) and complaints of being bored (Logan) and desperate pleas for patience (me). The flights were on time and I actually purchased a backpack with a harness for Shay so I could keep track of her at the very busy Minneapolis airport for our flight connection. Logan was a trooper, carrying his own backpack and lugging his suitcase when needed. He was impatient to reach our destination (every fifteen minutes: "Are we in California yet?") but thanks to the portable DVD player, at least 20 DVDs and a bunch of snacks, both kids held up quite well.
I'd planned a full itinerary, mostly because I knew we had to keep busy or else the kids would end up watching more videos than they should and I would still be cranky. Although happy to see us all, Baba, of course, was shell-shocked at the arrival of two highly active and energetic preschoolers who ran around the house in circles giggling and shouting, "No, little Dadu, no little Dadu" - for reasons that elude us still.
He'd procured all our favorite foods in advance - including cottage cheese, Ciabatta bread, a treat of Irish butter, tons of fruit and cheese, and Petit Ecolier dark chocolate cookies.
So we went to the San Jose Children's Museum the next day, where both kids went bonkers over the water play area which involved various streams and contraptions and floating balls and tornadoes. Shay refused to wear one of the provided water-proof smocks and ended up soaking wet, but since she didn't seem to mind, neither did I. Logan was especially thrilled with a machine that shot a line of balls into the air when you yank on a rope. Shay was captivated by a wheel that controlled the flow of a little fountain, and she refused to relinquish it even to kids who tried to nudge her out of the way.
The museum also has a big firetruck and fire-fighter costumes, which drew Logan like a bee to honey, and a bunch of other exhibits involving bubbles and spinning things and various things that were both fun and probably educational in some way, though things got too frenetic to figure out that part of it. But the kids had fun, and we left just as it was starting to get too crowded.
Then Friday night we went to hear Kedar play bass with the Blues Ambassadors at the Poorhouse Bistro in downtown San Jose. Fun, but wow, very loud. Thankfully they played at 6:00pm, so we could go and have dinner. Logan and Shay lasted over an hour before it got too much and we headed home.
The weather was great our entire trip - mid-70s and a slight breeze. Several days during the trip it got hot enough that in the late afternoon, after a much-needed "quiet time", the kids played in the sprinklers or tossed around water balloons (or just threw them on the ground to watch them burst).
Friday morning we headed off to Happy Hollow park and zoo, which I used to visit when I was a kid. A great, preschool-aged amusement park with rides, animals, and lots of play structures. We discovered (or remembered) the fact that Logan is a thrill-seeker as he wanted to go on the roller-coaster over and over. Shay went once before declaring that it was "really really fast" and "really really scary" and she would not be subjecting herself to such excitement again. She did enjoy the more sedate rides like the firetrucks and bugs that go around in calm circles.
Saturday June 26th we went hiking at Castle Rock state park because Logan asked to see some redwood trees. I remember hiking there with Mom, Baba and Kedar when I was a kid, taking picnic lunches and eating near a small lake or creek. Logan and Shay made it all the way to the actual "Castle Rock", a huge structure of stones overlooking a valley. Logan found a "walking stick" (just like I used to do) and was the leader of the expedition. Shay needed to be carried on the way down, but overall she was a worthy pre-Girl Scout. We went for ice cream in Saratoga Village after that, which was especially exciting because the lady at the counter first said she was out of cones, so she gave us our ice cream in bowls. Then as we were leaving, she had started to make fresh waffle cones and gave both Logan and Shay one WITH a scoop of ice cream. Ice cream in bowls AND cones - that was lunch!
