A second helping of grandparents

Jack got treated to two sets of grandparents in two weeks. My parents were in town for the weekend, fresh from their Sierra backpacking trip, which we opted out of this year, with Danny not able to take yet more time off work and me to be honest still reeling from the horrible night's sleep that was last summer's Adventure With Jack In A Tent. It was a short visit, but we made the most of our time, visiting with my grandma and aunts in San Jose on Saturday, Children's Fairyland on Sunday, and the Cal Academy and Pt. Reyes on Monday.

How have we been parents for a year and a half and not been to Children's Fairyland until now?



There is an amusement park in the middle of downtown Oakland, right by Lake Merritt, that has been delighting children for over fifty years now, including my dad back at the tender age of 8.  Walt Disney was apparently inspired by a visit to this park to go on and build Disneyland, and Jim Henson learned all he knew about puppeteering from the fairlyand puppet shows (created by his parents).  Quite a legacy, and here it was just waiting quietly to be discovered by Jack. He was a little uncertain at first, clinging to me, not wanting to be put down, but he got more comfortable before too long and then we were chasing after him for the rest of the day. There were so many things to see and do. Trains and merry-go-rounds, donkeys and alpacas, puppet shows, slides, fountains and sand pits, birds to feed from the popcorn Grandpa bought him, creepy Jack-sized fairytale figures to check out... all that playing and exploring was exhausting! We all came home and collapsed, except for Jack, who continued to run circles around us, because his energy never runs out.

I took the day off on Monday, since I conveniently didn't have any babysitters lined up anyway, and met my parents in San Francisco for a tour of the Cal Academy. I have been dying to show them this crown jewel of science museums, and also for another excuse to go there on a weekday. It's just far enough of a drive for me to not motivate to do it on my own very often, especially if it means fighting bridge traffic. Jack almost seemed to know his way around, I guess he remembers it from his last visit, so he led us through the museum at the rapid pace of the attention span of a toddler. We did the rainforest, the aquarium, the living roof, and the exhibits all in the space of a few hours.



I tried to take him for a nap in the stroller through Golden Gate Park, but he wasn't having it, so we called it a day at the museum and went for a long drive instead. Where better to drive to from that part of the city than over the Golden Gate Bridge and into Marin? And once in Marin, what better destination than Pt. Reyes Station, to visit daddy at work? So we got to show my parents the ranch, and Jack got to point and moo at many cows, and we all enjoyed the beautiful scenery. But I don't have any pictures from that, sorry.

I do have some great ones of Jack playing dinosaurs with Grandma before bedtime, though.



Oh the way Grandma makes him giggle. I seem to remember giggling a lot with my mom when I was a little girl, too. She is very good at being silly.

Jack will be so disappointed next weekend when it's back to just boring old mom and dad. Poor Jack! I wish your grandparents lived closer and you could see them all the time! Thank you again for a wonderful visit, mom and dad.