A chip off the old double-helix

We finally got to try out our Cal Academy membership today (thank you Oregon grandparents!), after many broken plans and revised intentions in weekends past. It turns out the best way to do something in this family is to plan to do something else! We were going to go see a movie today, the babysitter(s) we'd lined up fell through, it was a dreary gray day in Oakland, but looked beautiful across the bay, so after Jack got up from his morning nap we seized the day by the horns and went before we could think why we shouldn't. If we had thought about it, the reason we would've come up with is traffic. Of course everybody else had the same idea as us, not to go to the Cal Academy per se, but just to get out of the East Bay. So it was a little thick getting over there. But once in a while, even sitting in traffic is worth it.

Case in point:



Did he have fun or what? There was a lot of pointing going on. Lots to show us, apparently. I think he thought we weren't paying close enough attention. He would point, we'd say, "Yes, Jack. Fish. That's a fish!" and he'd point again, more emphatically, like, "No, you don't seem to realize how cool this is." He just couldn't keep his hands to himself. (Does that sound like anyone you remember, mom?) Danny said, "I think he might take after you a little bit." I asked why, still thinking of the busy-body fuss-budget, but Danny continued, "We might have a budding naturalist on our hands..." I told Danny not to worry, I'm sure he'd be equally excited by a visit to the Library of Congress. (tee hee)

We had a whirlwind of a couple hours and exhausted the poor boy, so decided to go for a little drive to put him to sleep. Originally we were just going to go back home, but the sunlight was golden and the coast was beckoning and we just couldn't resist. Jack did not cooperate with napping, as he seems to be insisting that he's on a one-nap-a-day schedule even if that nap is only an hour long and takes place before noon, but we did get some good views.



That photo would've been even better with Jack in it, but Jack was not in a picture-taking mood at that point. We drove around until it became clear that he wasn't going to fall asleep and decided to stop for dinner in Sausalito at our favorite sustainable (and I mean green-light green-light green-light) seafood restaurant, FISH. Jack likes fish, it turns out. He likes to point at them, and he likes to eat them. He especially likes to eat them when he has just gone on a week long fast of nothing but milk and yogurt and suddenly seems to have as big an appetite as his daddy. He enjoyed some clam chowder, some ceviche, and some oysters, and we applauded his refined palate.

It was a good day. A great day. The best days are always the ones you don't plan.