Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline

Alex requested that we "go out for breakfast. walk outside." Sounded reasonable so we did. After a big breakfast of sausage and blueberry muffin, we went to a new-to-us nearby park. It is across the water from the Oakland Airport, so we thought it would be fun for the boys to watch the airplanes land and take off. At the top of a hill, there is a really cool sculpture called "Rising Wave". Here are the boys watching the planes with the sculpture behind them.


Zachary had fun collecting sticks to drag along beside the stroller and Alex collected and threw many many rocks. For a while he was asking me to hold the rocks, and one handful that was very carefully selected from the many little rocks on the ground turned out to be dried up rabbit pellets. Lovely. Phil thought Auntie Chole would appreciate that. The boys also had a lot of fun playing around the sculpture, trying to climb it and going around and around the posts. As we were getting ready to go, Alex started to run. Down the hill, up the hill, in a circle, back down the hill. And then, he climbed onto a rock and was too tired to continue! Just like that.

Early Apples

In addition to our fledgling lemon tree, there are 2 apple trees in our back yard. Both have been spliced and have multiple varieties of apples on them. Alex has been wanting to pick an apple since they were the size of large grapes, and we finally gave in. Based on the tags on the tree, we think our first apple was a golden delicious. It was still a bit tart, too early yet, but the boys shared it and enjoyed every last wedge!

I missed a first

Phil, Alex and Zachary went to the baseball game for backpack day. I didn't think about it at the time, but it was Zachary's first game! Fortunately, Phil took lots of pictures so it was almost like being there. And, Phil told me I could go to the first game that Zachary actually pays attention to!
It looked like they mostly played in Stomper's Fun Zone, which is full of toys to push and ride (imagine, my boys wanting to push things...so odd), and has a jungle gym too.

It would appear they also participated in some questionable activities:

Is that kid sneaking in? Daredevil Zachary.
What can a little chalk hurt?

But there is proof that a game was being played and they at least "sat" in the stands for brief moments of it. And I'm positive that they all had a really fun day!

Funny Guys

Alex and Zachary are both talking a lot. When I went to pick Alex up from the jumpy house at the gym, he bounced over to the side and said "I'm jumping" and bounced away. Then he jumped back over and yelled "Jumping!" He eventually came out.
Often times, we will take a back road through the airport. The other day Alex declared, "I want to ride blue airplane, see Auntie Chole."
When we pull the car into the garage after an outing, Zachary shouts "All done!" Then he crawls into the kitchen and demands a "cract-er".

I keep the extra batteries in the laundry room. Alex has decided to line up his vehicles that have "bat-ries worn out" outside the door. Subtle hint mom! (back in parking only)
And finally, not really so funny, but exciting. Zachary is starting to take one little shuffle step before deciding to bear crawl! Hopefully we'll have full and multiple steps soon!

Member's Night

The Zoo has a special night for members to come out and experience the zoo with smaller crowds, music, more keepers to talk to, and some normally closed off areas are opened up. We didn't make it last year, and we almost didn't make it this year. We got up to the ticket window to check in, and I only had my last year's card. Fortunately, Phil was carrying one of our new ones, but it was a frustrating moment or two. First on our list, was Siamang Island. The schedule said they would be having dinner and that sounded interesting. All they seemed to get was some bamboo, but they did fight over it a bit. Zachary was very excited to see all of the different apes. We spent time watching the siamangs, gibbons, and chimpanzees. The Gibbons even sang for us. The macaws are in the same courtyard as the apes (which I find odd, since that area is a quiet zone, and the macaws definitely aren't) and Alex enjoyed them. Alex then found a sneaky back trail that took us straight to the tiger. She was sleeping in the trees, so I don't know if either boy actually saw her. Ok, not up in the trees, hidden among the trees and bushes. The skyride is always a highlight of Alex's trip to the zoo. This was the first time that Zachary or I was eligible to ride it. Oh, yippee! I didn't think that Phil would be able to control both of them by himself, so I sucked it up and took Zachary in car #2. He loved it! He wanted to touch everything from the stantion poles to the buffalo to the tree tops.

Yes, there is a great view, and you get to see a few animals not on the foot route, not to mention getting to dangle directly over the lion enclosure, but a squirmy 1 year old and a mommy who doesn't like heights probably aren't the best combo!
One of the extra areas we were invited to explore was the tiger night house and the veterinary clinic. The boys played with some of the tiger's big balls and roamed around her bedroom.

Finally, we went to the midway and Alex rode the rides. The rides all seem to have a height requirement of 36". Alex is 36 1/2"! He is a lucky boy! Zachary had a chance to ride the carousel and was very happy, maybe next year he'll be tall enough for more.
Zachary and Alex changed into jammies before the ride home...wishful thinking it turned out. We blew bedtime out of the water for this adventure!

Lame!

Welcome to Raider Nation Celebration! I'm not sure what we were expecting, but this was the lamest excuse for a celebration, EVER! Here is the highlight from the day.
The Raiderettes were on hand, and we saw their show. It was OK. But here's my question, how do boys just know to clap for cheerleaders? Last season when we went to the game, Alex perked up and clapped when the Raiderettes came on field, he was 1 1/2. Today, as soon as the girls started marching out, Zachary smiled and started to clap, for the record, he is 13 months. It's a strange phenomenon.

Phil did appreciate the 90 man roster. Our picture isn't the best, but here they all are.

Coast Guard Day #219

Yes, a mere 219 years ago, the Coast Guard was created, so of course there has to be a party! Zachary had a prior engagement, so we dropped Alex off with Phil with plans to meet up later. Little did Alex know, he was going to be put to work.

I'm sure Alex didn't consider vacuuming the floor work, after all, it involves pushing something. Paper shuffling on the other hand looks a little intense!
After a bit of work, they did scope out the activities and played some carnival games (and won some really cool bubbles!) and took a turn in the bouncy house.
When Zachary and I returned, we all met up for lunch and of course, birthday cake! We all explored the informational tents and then the boys had a chance to row a whale boat.
After all of the outdoor fun, we took our popcorn back to Phil's office to rest before heading home. Phil recently moved into a new building, so Zachary had a chance to crawl around and cause mischief in a new space (Alex had already explored and knew the lay of the land). Then, our new explorer, Zachary, climbed up onto the back of the stroller, prompting Alex to crawl into the front seat. Zachary is becoming quite a brave adventurer...and he isn't walking yet. Oh no!

Science!

Phil and the boys went to the Lawrence Hall of Science for a day of nerding. I think it will be best to let Phil guest blog on their adventure.

After raiding Natasha's car for change for parking, we proceeded to the plaza outside the science center where the boys enjoyed playing around the DNA model, tossing coins in the fountain and climbing the fluke of a whale. We moved inside and found many fun activities just inside the door including blowers holding balls of varying size and density in the air, a game with balls on sliding rails, and a pin-wall. Zachary enjoyed pushing in little areas of pins while Alex worked to push big areas including one with a little girl on the other side working to make a pattern. oops. She didn't seem bothered but instead looked confused.



Next was the KidsLab! The 'Lab is a no-shoe area with big soft blocks, fun mirrors, and two activities involving balls. Needless to say, we only briefly visited with the mirrors and didn't touch the blocks in favor of the activities with the table-tennis balls. The first is a wall with slots where envelop sized plastic rectangles can be positioned to form ramps for the ball to roll down. The other ball activity is a big (6 foot diameter) funnel. I put Zachary in a chair so he could reach the top of the funnel while I provided balls from the bottom. Alex could get his own but also used Zachary's excess. We played at the funnel for at least twenty-five minutes. The whole time I'm thinking of the elliptical paths the balls travel, the relationship to comets and other heavenly bodies, the forces on the ball (gravity, air and surface friction) as it continues around gradually precessing to the center, the force vectors and complex mathematics describing those forces and the path traveled. Meanwhile, the boys are alternating between trying to push balls out in an attempt to collide with other balls, and simply trying to maximize the number of balls in the funnel at one time. I spared them my thoughts allowing the boys to enjoy the ball funnel for what it is; they will learn the forces and the math soon enough.



Next was fun with optics. Again, my head is full of the psychology of visual perception but I just point out the moving pictures in side the can. They had several different strips to put in the can to animate. Here, Zachary is having fun spinning the cylinder and, maybe, briefly watching a walking figure inside.


A temporary exhibit called "Grossology" was next. A talking penguin instructed visitors on the characteristics of poop and how they related to their producers. A cut away cow model mechanically demonstrated bovine digestion including burps every minute or so. A submarine-like model had animated, life-size sea creatures. Nothing particularly gross about the sea creatures unless you count sea slugs, barnacles and starfish, but they captured the boys' interests for a while as did the parascope that could be used to look around the room from inside the sub. We did have fun learning about cat hairballs as Alex moved the hairball out of the cat tummy and on to the rug - a process we are, unfortunately, somewhat familiar with.




We then move outside to an enclosed area with exhibits on earthquakes and erosion. These include big moving rocks one can stand on while they demonstrate a shearing earthquake. Our area of focus was a giant sandbox in the shade where we took some time just to chill out and play. The view from this outdoor area is impressive enough to capture the boys' attention for a few minutes:



From here, we went in, played a few math-related games inside, went to the cafeteria for a snack and a drink, and then to the store. Alex wanted a little builder kit with plastic nuts and bolts, and Zachary got a book and small musical tube. We headed to the car and the boys were asleep before we were off campus.

Overall, I was impressed with how much the Lawrence Hall of Science had for young children. I knew of the KidsLab from the Website but found many of the exhibits throughout the hall were of interest to the boys. Next time, we'll let Natasha come and join in our nerdy fun!