Tilden Regional Park on a Foggy Day

Last Sunday we decided it would be fun to meet my parents and my Aunt and Uncle at Tilden Regional Park. Our neighbor takes her son there to ride the train, the carousel and visit the farm.

My parents are walking distance to a neighboring park, and no more than a ten minute drive to the entrance for the carousel and the farm. I don't know how we managed not to visit Tilden Regional Park, especially with my boys' proclivity for trains.

We decided to start the fun at the Tilden Park Steam Trains. The entrance to the steam trains is in Orinda. To get there you need to get the exact street entrance from the park... your GPS will send you somewhere else.

When we came out of the Caldecott tunnel and exited on Fish Ranch Road and Old Tunnel Road we were hit by a surprise bank of fog. It was thick, and made it difficult to see the road. Thankfully, it was a little clearer when we got to the railroad.

Tilden Park runs two miniature railways. One is larger, and longer than the other. We opted for the larger steam engine. It is the first stop across from the ticket booth. The ride through the redwoods was beautiful, and it is by far the longest $2 train ride we've taken in the Bay Area.

The second miniature railway runs through miniature towns, mines, and a miniature roundhouse. Next time we go, we'll definitely check that one out too.

My family never made it to the trains. Tilden Regional Park is huge, the signage is poor, and there is no common internal roads that connect the trains with the rest of the park.

After our train ride, we were able to work it out and meet the family at the carousel. The carousel is located in the main area of the park. It is enclosed, so you can even go on a rainy cold foggy day. The building is lovely, and the carousel is fantastic. On the day we visited they were already packing up a fabulous Holiday display. You would think that they would keep it going through News Years, but no such luck. We'll have to check it out next year, because it looked great.

We then concluded our whirlwind adventure at the little farm. The boys loved this part. They saw baby pigs, cows, sheep, goats and bunny rabbits. It was the end of the day, so the animals were put away for the night, but you could still see them. Signs said you are allowed to feed the animals lettuce. So we may just bring some next time we go.

The boys had such a wonderful time that Xander fell asleep in the car, was successfully moved to his bed and woke-up the next morning. Caleb napped in the car, woke up when we got home and went to bed early. All proof that the boys loved it, and want to go back again soon.

Kicking Off the Holiday Doldrums

A friend of my husband used to say "slower than Christmas."  Considering the cacophony of activities leading up to Christmas and the relative slow down between Christmas afternoon and New Years Eve this seems to be apropros, although not altogether accurate.

For children the Holidays can be stressful, boring, exciting and fun all wrapped up into one little package.

From the pressure of a day spent with loved ones, usually resulting in showing off, avoiding naps, and finally melting down around the dinner hour, to December 26th when the present giving and getting is over, and you just need to get outside to let off some steam. Add in inclimate weather, and your best friend visiting family in Austin and this time can be down right brutal for the average preschooler.

We generally have limited travel around the the Holidays. First off we aren't skiers, and second off my my sister's family often visits from Scotland and my Aunt and Uncle are usually here from Michigan.

For us the challenge of the Holidays is to get the boys out of the house, but avoid the crowds. We still want to incorporate some of the popular family Holiday activities like riding the train at Oak Meadow Park, but we also want to do somethings off the beaten path.


For example, on December 23rd we went to the San Francisco Zoo with my Aunt and Uncle. The highlight of the zoo trip was that the lion and lioness were right up against the glass of the enclosure, so you could see them up close and personal. The low lights were that a lot of animals were inside to escape the weather.

We also went back to the Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo on the 26th. It was good for two hours of play, and not very expensive (a suggested $3 donation). The boys were very comfortable there and had a good time.

We went to the Los Gatos Farmers Market for crepes. A favorite activity for the boys, however the market had only half the stalls (people took off for the Holidays).  We also tried new adventures like Tilden Regional Park on the 27th (I'll write about that on Thursday).

Later this week we are taking the boys sledding at Leland High Sierra Snowplay (I'll write about that trip next week) and maybe we'll go ice skating  at the rink a mile and half from our house. My friend offered to give the boys a skate lesson.

Hopefully we'll successfully keep our boys entertained without going overboard.

Fantasy of Lights at Oak Meadow Park

An annual Holiday tradition in our house is going to the Fantasy of Lights at Oak Meadow and Vasona parks.  Oak Meadow and Vasona are adjoining parks in Los Gatos. Each year Vasona is decked out in lights, and cars line-up for miles to drive through.

Oak Meadow's Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad runs the Holiday Train, and it is fun to bundle up the kids, and take the train to see the Holiday lights. The lights are pretty elaborate. There is a dragon, a train, a soldier blasting a cannon over the road (it explodes on the other side), a tooth holding a toothbrush, it goes on and on.

In previous years the train option was pretty low key, hardly a line at all. This year however, the line was really long ...about forty five minutes long. This didn't discourage us. Jonathan bought tickets, while I took the boys to the bathroom. When we met back up the line had gotten longer -- now our wait was about fifty minutes. Ugh.

During Fantasy of Lights the W.E. "Bill" Mason Carousel is free. I took the boys on the carousel while Jonathan waited in line. Of course this was the time that Caleb decided to assert his authority. We were the last allowed to board that ride, and Caleb saw the red bench while we were heading to the last two available horses.  Of course we didn't have time to stop at the red bench, and so Caleb threw a temper tantrum.

Xander happily got on his horse, while Caleb cried. He and I ended up sitting in the blue bench. Once the ride started going, Caleb realized his mistake, and wanted to ride a horse, but then it was too late. Ah the drama of being three.

After the ride, I calmed Caleb down by taking the boys to watch the next train hitch. All was forgotten, and there now was only two train rides in front of us. I took over standing in line while Jonathan got popcorn. At $1 a pop it was a good deal, it was also quite tasty.

The boys ate popcorn while we waited ... and then it started raining. Jonathan thought they might cancel the train. A little guy at the front of the line was balling his eyes out, he thought the same thing. By this point there were only three train rides left.

They didn't cancel the train, they added sand to the railroad to make sure the train didn't have trouble. Then it was our turn.

Yes it was rainy, but our boys didn't notice. In fact Caleb wants to go back again. He wants a carousel do over.  The Holiday Train runs through December 27th. It is closed Christmas Eve and Christmas night.

Concerts & Preschoolers ... Too Soon?

Last summer when I planned my blog, I added a concerts for kids blog around the Holiday. I imagined taking the boys to the Nutcracker, or any of a number of Holiday concerts.

Thankfully, we opted to have a trial run. It didn't go so well.

Yes, my boys love music. They know all of the words to the Bare Naked Ladies album Snack Time, as well as They Might Be Giants, Here come the ABCs. There love of music goes deeper, they like opera and classical music as well. Xander had a fabulous time at Opera in the Park when he was a toddler. Of course he fell asleep after the second song ... The boys also like the show Little Einstein's and their favorite composer is Tchaikovsky.

But to ask them to sit still for 30 minutes and just listen is too much.  As I think of it, I don't even think we've successfully gotten them to hang around and listen to music (there was live kid's music at Pumpkins in the Park, and the boys just weren't interested).

We took the boys to our friend's Christmas concert. It was at a church in Woodside, Calif. We had gone before, and it was as low key as a Holiday concert can get. The boys don't get the point. We managed a total of ten minutes of listening time, only obtained through bribery. There was a nice spread afterward that included cookies.

I tried making up stories to go with the music. Everything I could think of, and it comes down to this ... our boys aren't ready to go to concerts. Am I giving up? No. But the Nutcracker, and other fun concerts are still one to two years away.

There is a zoo in Palo Alto?

Well actually we didn't get to see the zoo, it was closed, but we did have fun visiting the Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo. For the five and under set, the Junior Museum is a blast.

It is like the Exploratoreum, but on a less chaotic and more manageable scale. Don't get me wrong, if you are a school aged kid, or even an adult (we have gone as adults), the Exploratoreum rocks.  But preschoolers need a more low-key hands on experience, and this is what the Junior Museum had to offer.

We went for my company's family holiday party, so our first experience may be different. For one thing, the zoo is probably open. When you enter there is a donation robot. Xander could have spent the entire night standing there and lifting his arm. On the left there was an animal room, and to the right there were hands on science fun.

We went right first. The museum has an elaborate exhibit of levers, lifts, shoots and tennis balls. The boys could turn wheels, and drop balls in holes, and see where they went. The majority of our visit was focused there.

Then we managed to pull them away long enough to  go to the animal room. Caleb loved it. He got to pet a rat, a ferret, a turtle, a snake and a hedgehog.  He made several rounds of the room, and kept coming back throughout the evening.

The center of the room has a purple climbing structure, with a cave filled with stuffed animals. Caleb climbed to the top of the structure and slid down. Xander liked diving in the cave.

There was also a wall with circular disks, that you could drop down a flat panel.  It seemed dull, but Caleb and Xander both enjoyed it.

The boys had two solid hours of fun. We will definitely go back sometime during the day when the zoo is open.

Here Come the Parades

We went to two parades this past weekend. Probably one to many.

The first parade of the weekend was Saturday's Los Gatos Holiday Parade. It started at 11 a.m., which is a little late. Everyone in town brings their lawn chairs, and starts setting them up on the sidewalk starting as early as 6:30 a.m. This makes sense when you realize how long the parade is ... over two hours.

We didn't realize this, so when we got to the parade at 9:30 a.m. all of the real estate was taken.  But honestly our boys are small, so we can squeeze them to the front of any crowd.

The highlights were the Stanford marching band, the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad, and of course Santa.  Los Gatos is also a charming town, and the backdrop for the parade was lovely. However, it seemed that every middle school and high school band in Santa Clara County marched in the parade, and the parade could have done with some editing.

The boys enjoyed themselves for the most part. We did have to exit early (two hours is awfully long for a parade).

Then we woke-up Sunday morning, and had our typical conversation. Where do we want to go for breakfast? Do we want to make pancakes at home or venture out? Then an ad came on for the 8:30 a.m. broadcast of the San Jose Holiday Parade with Kristi Yamaguchi. Then the conversation shifted to, how come we didn't know that San Jose had a parade?

The San Jose Parade looked interesting too. It had the giant balloons, ala Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. It looked like a legitimate parade that shouldn't be missed. Well, we had this conversation at 7:51 a.m., and the parade started at 8:30 a.m.

At 8:35 a.m. we were parking on Autumn Street, and walking from the staging area to the parade route.  The San Jose Parade is much more grand then the Los Gatos Parade, but also had commercial breaks. You heard it, commercial breaks.

When we arrived all of the bands, dance squads, cars, and large floats were staged and waiting their turn. We walked past them as if they were holding the parade for us. When we passed Stomper, the A's mascot. He got out of the car and came over to greet the boys. Xander would have nothing to do with him, but Caleb was beside himself with joy.

The fact the parade just stopped, for two to four minute intervals meant that our boys got to interact with the people in the parade. I have pictures of Caleb with the San Jose shark, a recycling mascot, Snoopy, you name it, Caleb managed to high five everyone.

The commercial breaks were annoying, and made it feel like the parade really wasn't for the bystanders. We were props. Couldn't the local station have set-up two camera crews, and kept the parade going? Jonathan tells me that the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is the same ... but honestly this wasn't a nationally televised parade. 

The highlights of the San Jose Holiday Parade were Star Wars complete with Darth Vader balloon, the Chinese New Year troops, the Peanuts float, all of the local mascots and the Billy Jones Wild Cat Railroad.

Two parades in one weekend was probably too much. We enjoyed both parades, but next year we'll plan a little better.

Go fly a kite

It is Fall, its getting cold and windy, and it is a perfect time to fly a kite. I bought kites for my boys last December, when they were three and two.  Considering what a challenge our first kite flying experience was a year later ... I think I was over optimistic.

The original plan was to fly some kites on Thanksgiving day, but the weather didn't cooperate. It was warm, and there was no wind in site.

Saturday on the other hand was downright blustery. Around 3 pm we headed out to our neighborhood grassy knoll. The boys were really excited. Kites are a centerpiece of preschool literature, and often featured in the plots of the kids shows.

They each wanted to fly the kite, and by themselves. But like so many things,  there is an art and science to flying a kite. Xander had bad luck, and landed the kite in a tree on his first solo mission. Caleb had better luck, and the kite flew higher, but soon the wind became too much for him, and ripped the kite out of his hands. Jonathan and I successfully chased it down, although there was a scary moment when the kite handle got caught in a palm tree about 30 feet high.

The boys eventually lost interest, and ran around the park playing tag, while I tried to undue an impossible knot (I think I need scissors).

Will we take the boys kite flying again? Absolutely. There are some fabulous fields in our area. I'm glad we had this trial run though.

The California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento

The word "trains" is in the title of the blog, and I can't overstate how much my boys love trains.  Trains seem to be universally appealing to boys under five. For example my oldest had the Thomas Playbook (a book of all of the trains and accessories for Thomas the Tank Engine) at the park on Sunday, and a group of about six boys gathered in a circle to look at the book. The pack broke up before anyone got a good picture.

On the Friday after Thanksgiving we decided to reward our boys with a visit to the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento. The boys had a wonderful time, and we will definitely be going back before the new year. The California State Railroad Museum is set in the heart of old town Sacramento on the eastern bank of the Sacramento River.

For the Holidays, tables were set-up in the roundhouse with model train displays. For our youngest Caleb this was the highlight of the day. He spent most of his visit watching intently as the little trains circled the track. There was also a lego train display that was really special.

The big trains were beautiful, and the volunteers brought everything to life. Everyone who worked there loves trains as much as our little boys do, and will bend your ear about the mail car, the big engine that was flipped around so it could go through Donner Pass, and more.

There is also a children's play area with a train table and Thomas engines. The boys played there briefly, but the wonderful exhibits were far more interesting.

We were also able to take an hour ride on a classic train. The train was decked for the Holidays, and had caroling, and a surprise visit from Santa. We sat in the front car, to our dismay was the back car on the first half of the ride ... but then something wonderful happened. For the return ride the engine was hitched to our car, and our boys were up front to see it all happen. For the under five set this is like winning the jack pot.

Now, the California State Railroad Museum is no B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore. The B&O Museum is larger, and its collection is more comprehensive. But the California State Railroad Museum has a lot to offer, is in a much more appealing location, and is also less expensive to visit.

Happy Thanksgiving

As a kid, Thanksgiving was a day that I reached with much anticipation, but always felt a little let down. Yes, I loved the turkey dinner, and watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade... but as I remember between  all of the school crafts projects, and learning about the first Thanksgiving dinner there was a lot of build up.

Today, it feels like Thanksgiving is bypassed in favor of the more lucrative Christmas holiday. I even saw my first Christmas display and heard my first carol before Halloween. 

Next year we plan to travel to the East Coast, but this year we will be staying at home. My parents are coming for dinner.  The boys love their grandparents so this will be a special treat.

I think it is important to get kids outside if possible on Thanksgiving, and to keep them entertained (without over-engineering activities). I have several surprises and activities planned for the boys. They each are getting some new trains (the Thomas three-packs were on sale at Target), we are watching the movie Up (between football games) and we are going to the park to fly a kite (as I remember my dad is quite the accomplished kite flyer).

For my boys I hope to instill the joy of the Thanksgiving tradition, without over-hyping a simple and wonderful family Holiday.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. I hope you have a wonderful and fun day.

Lil' Putt Putt

I've reached the ripe old age of ... (I say the actual number under my breath), and last weekend was my first venture into Miniature Golf. It was a lot more fun than I could imagine. It also was a great activity for preschooler and adult alike. Who knew?

It was for our boys' best friend's fourth birthday. He is five months younger than our oldest, and nine months older than our youngest, and Caleb and Xander adore him. He also live two houses from ours, and the boys play together almost everyday during the summer, and on weekends during the winter. (My boys are in full-time daycare, and in the winter it gets dark too early to play outside after 6 pm.)

Having no lil' putt putt experience, I didn't know what to expect. One image was my youngest using a golf club to bash my oldest over the head ... but happily that didn't happen.

We arrived at Golfland around 12 pm. The facility had golf clubs for preschoolers and toddlers. I had no expectations that my kids would understand the game. Xander was also super tired and a bit scattered that day, so my only strategy was to make sure that he stayed out of the water feature ... but it turns out that four year olds get the game. Caleb on the other hand is a natural and could whack the ball like nobodies business, but didn't really get the point. He did like the castle, dragons, windmill, and other features.

Jonathan and our neighbor got a little competitive, and happily helped their four year olds accomplish holes-in-one among other feats of miniature golf grandeur. I can safely say that I would take the boys back to miniature golf, and at $6 a game it is an affordable afternoon family activity.

A Big Big Slide

My neighbor told us about a big slide in Burlingame and we were there. The Magic Mountain Playground and Picnic Area at Coyote Point Recreation Area was all that and so much more.

Don't get me wrong, the slide is big, very big. It is so big it is visible from the highway. We still managed to miss the playground, and had a lovely tour of the recreation area. The slide is at the top of an incline, and up a tall playscape tower.

Caleb and Xander squealed with joy when they saw it. The whines of "I have to go potty" were forgotten. By the way the restroom facilities are conveniently located next to the park, and both boys had a visit during the two hours at the park.

The slide has a sign that says six and over once you make the effort to get to the top of the tower (wouldn't it make more sense to put that sign at the bottom of the tower?).  I always evaluate the capabilities of my boys ... they were fine, so we decided to go for it. The slide itself is a long metal tube, and it is engineered in such away that you can't go too fast. For the preschoolers it was less scary, and for the bigger kids they figured out how to zoom down faster.

We hit traffic on Saturday late morning traveling to the park. There was an accident. We also got caught in raining fog, but when we hit Burlingame it was sunny and beautiful. Usually it is the other way round. The weather clears up as you head South.

The park had two giant sea serpents at the bottom of the incline. One in the small kid playground, and one in the big kid playground.

The swings in the big kid playground were refreshingly low. This meant that my wee lads (my oldest is about 42 inches, and my youngest is 40 inches tall) could put there feet down on the big kid swings. Usually you have to hoist them up. It also meant when Jonathan and I tested the weight capacity of the swing (by the way it is just fine) by holding the boys we had to swing with a steep body incline, otherwise our knees were too bent to get a good swing.

There were towers that looked like castles, and bridges and other wonderful play features so unique that I don't know their name. Like a circular wooden bouncy thing ... we simply called it the bouncy thing.

As I mentioned earlier the park is right on the inner Bay. We took the boys for a walk with our friends and their kids. It was low tide, and the kids liked playing along the rocks where the wind surfers enter. Afterward we grabbed lunch in downtown San Mateo about two miles away at one of our favorite taquerias, Pancho Villa.

Restaurants with Kids

In 1998 Jonathan and I traveled to Spain. On our last night in Madrid we went tapas bar hopping. In the first bar we saw a family with about ten people including grandparents, aunts and uncles and two little children. It wasn't the only family dining out that we saw that night, but that image was indelibly etched in my memory. At that point I thought how nice it would someday be to brave restaurants with our little ones, and travel the world.

Every couple of months I see an article titled "Restaurants with Kids." I read it with the hope that it will be a silver bullet, and aha I will finally have the secret to successful dining with a three-year old and a four-year old.

The articles generally cover three main areas, type of restaurants that are appropriate for preschoolers, time of day that you should take your preschooler, and finally activities to keep your preschooler engaged during the dining experience. They generally skip the essentials discipline and consistency.

Discipline for us is a two part strategy. First we role play at home. Every dinner is an attempt, with varying degrees of success, to teach good table manners. Of course these are table manners for a preschooler, no screaming, throwing food, fighting with your brother, whining ... not how to hold silverware.

Second we create a plan with the boys, and set consequences prior to entering a restaurant. "Tonight we are going to a restaurant This is a very special place. The wait staff will be carrying hot food, and it is very dangerous for you to be under toe. Our expectation is that you sit in your seat, and we eat dinner as a family. If you get out of your seat then dinner is over and mommy will sit with you in the car."

The proof is in the pudding with this method. We are currently helping our three-year old to become more restaurant ready. On our late Summer trip to Santa Barbara I spent a lot of time in the car with him waiting for my husband and four-year old to finish their meals. It worked though, he now knows that I mean business. But three-year olds are limit pushers by nature, so I don't think we'll be there overnight.

During the visit with our in laws we went to two cafes for breakfast and a restaurant with the boys. Other than an incident at the cafe where Caleb headed outside the cafe on his own to go to his favorite boutique (they have a kids table and chalk to write on the floor) our dining experiences were without incident.

We want to continue to travel with our kids. Restaurant dining is an essential, and hopefully if we stay consistent our little guys will be world-class diners.

The New Academy of Sciences in San Francisco

The new Academy of Sciences in San Francisco reopened a little more than a year ago. I hadn't been since I was in high school, but I was curious ... so this last weekend we took my in-laws and our boys to the museum.

First off, the space is absolutely beautiful, with great natural lighting, high ceilings, and even though it was crowded you wouldn't know it.  Preschoolers don't do well with crowds, or waiting in lines, so architecturally the Academy of Sciences is designed well for small children.

The Academy of Sciences is four museums wrapped into one.  It has a four-story rain forest, the small Kimball Natural History Museum, the Steinhart Aquarium and Morrison Planetarium.  The planetarium is only open to those four and older, and not recommended for children under six, so we didn't have the opportunity to explore it.

The natural history museum is small and low key, it isn't the focal point, but the boys appreciated seeing the dinosaur bones. The real gems are the four-story rain forest and the aquarium.

The rain forest is encased in glass. It winds it way up from a swamp with large fish to butterflies among the tree tops. The exhibit features a beautiful and colorful array of lizards, newts and dart frogs. Caleb who loves looking at little things had a blast. Xander was a bit bored, and I think Jonathan and my mother in law thought it was a bit warm (which it was).

Once you go through the rain forest you take the elevator to the basement. The attendants check you for butterflies (which love to sit on hats and shoulders). The elevator puts you under the swamp, and in the heart of the aquarium.

The best part of the aquarium was the white crocodile and the giant octopus. When we asked Caleb and Xander what their favorite part was these two were definitely the highlight of the afternoon.

We've noticed that it costs at least $50 for a family of four to go to a museum or an aquarium these days, even when children under five get in free.  The cost could be prohibitive for many families, and that is a bummer.

When Family Visits

This past weekend my husband's parents visited from Maryland. The boys loved seeing their grand parents. It gave us an opportunity to continue to explore new places like the Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, and revisit favorites like Pac Bell Park, and the Ferry Building.

With small children it is important to plan family visits like you would plan travel. You need to weigh the needs of the relatives with the tolerance of your children. It would be a mistake to take a three year old who can't sit still for dinner to a fancy restaurant, at the same time you wouldn't select a park that requires a lot of walking for a relative that might have difficulty getting around.

For everyone's piece of mind plan no more than one major activity a day. Otherwise you could easily stress everyone out. At the same time it is important to get out and about, no one wants to spend four days cooped up.

This visit had the right level of balance. The boys had a fabulous time, and although we had our shares of meltdowns and poor choices, the boys on the whole were really very good. I also think that my lovely inlaws had fun too.

Carmel City Beach

The boys love the beach as much as they love camping. So as part of our mini-vacation we took them to Carmel-by-the-Sea.

I always check the weather, and on that Friday reports put the temperature in the mid-60s. Jonathan wisely suggested bringing swim clothing anyway, even if it would be too cold to play in the water.

Turns out the temperature was 79 degrees, clear blue skies, and a mild breeze at the Carmel City Beach. Because it was early Fall, we had he beach pretty much to ourselves. The beach is also a mecca for dog owners. Our boys love dogs, and enjoyed watching the dogs playing in the waves.

The beach itself was easy to get to. It had plenty of free public parking, and restroom facilities. A short walk down a sand dune put you on a beautiful stretch of beach.

The boys spent the late morning and early afternoon building sand castles, and getting their feet wet. Then we headed back home for the weekend.

A Cabin in Big Sur

My husband and I are huge fans of the mini-vacation. One to two nights away to recharge, and then back to the grind. A couple of weeks ago he had to use two PTO days, and we wanted to get away without spending the whole time in the car.

We decided to rent a cabin two hours from our home in beautiful Big Sur. One of the advantages of living in Northern California, is that you are two to three hours away from places people fly around the world to visit.

We picked the boys up at 2 pm on a Thursday, and drove to Big Sur. We stayed at the Big Sur Campground. We considered tent camping, but we didn't really want to rough it, and a cabin was much easier to prepare for. The cabin also came with a stocked kitchen, bathroom, gas burning fireplace, plus a picnic table and fire pit outside.

The Big Sur Campground is a fantastic kid friendly spot. It features tent and RV camping, low end and high end cabins. It also has a wonderful playground with a firetruck playscape, a roller slide (if you haven't experienced one of these you really should seek it out) and swings and jungle gyms.

The boys loved playing in the park, and stretching their legs after the car trip. While Jonathan was heating up dinner (Trader Joe's ribs and corn on the cob), Xander, Caleb and I went exploring and walked to the river. Because of the rains a week earlier, there was evidence of flooding, and plenty of wonderful mud to sink your feet into. Boys do love mud puddles.

After dinner we built a fire in the fireplace and enjoyed being one with nature until bedtime. Because I didn't need to worry about camping equipment, I did bring plenty of toys to keep the boys entertained.

The next morning we got pastries at the Big Sur Bakery (really wonderful), and ate breakfast in our cabin before heading to Carmel City Beach and home. 

Our Big Sur mini-vacation had the right effect, we were very relaxed when we got home Friday evening.

Trick or Treat

Halloween is finally here this weekend, but after a pumpkin patch, two festivals, a haunted train ride and trick or treating at the zoo, I think I got my fill. The boys want more ... so we have some additional fun activities planned this weekend.

On Friday, my neighbor and I are taking our preschoolers to the preschool trick or treat in downtown Willow Glen from 10 am to 12 pm. There is also a school-age trick or treat from 2 pm to 4 pm.  Local businesses will be handing out candy and other treats to neighborhood kids.

On Saturday afternoon we are going to Gigante's Halloween Party at the San Jose Municipal Stadium from 2 pm to 5 pm. The event is free and Sprout characters Zaboo, the Berenstein Bears and others are purported to be there.

And our festivities will conclude with trick or treating on Saturday night. I think I need a nap just thinking about it.

Boo at the Zoo

Last Saturday afternoon we took Caleb and Xander to San Francisco for Boo at the Zoo. It is an annual Saturday and Sunday event where the kids come dressed in their costumes and can trick or treat throughout the zoo grounds. The only caveat is that the zoo asks that you don't wear masks, you wouldn't want to scare the animals (or preschoolers).

The boys donned their skeleton costumes. I didn't purposely dress them identically. Caleb is a three year old with an opinion, and he decided he wanted to dress like Xander. Xander has wanted to be a skeleton for Halloween for a year ... so when I bought the Gap glow in the dark skeleton PJs, I bought a second pair just in case. Hopefully I'll get Caleb into his very cool dragon costume this weekend.

It was a cool foggy day in the city. This meant that animals used to warm climates were huddled together, and those from cool climates were frolicking. I have never seen the polar bears or penguins so happy and active.

We did a lot of walking, and we road the Little Puffer steam engine as well. The boys had a wonderful time. We even got up close and personal with a bald eagle. The zoo keeper was bringing him to the penguin exhibit for feeding (the bald eagle keeps the galls away). We ran into him, and got to take some nice posed shots with the eagle.

Trains, Carousels and Trick or Treating at Goblyn's Glen

This summer I wrote my ode to the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad at Oak Meadow Park in Los Gatos. The boys love riding the train on weekends. Over the last two months we have taken a break from the park, mainly because my husband and I were getting a little tired of it.

However, now that it is Fall we decided to take the boys to the Goblyn's Glen at Oak Meadow Park. The festivities kick off at 7 pm on Friday's and Saturdays, and 6 pm on Sunday's. We started off with the moonlit train ride through Oak Meadow and Vasona Park. Afterward we road the Bill Mason Carousel, and then went trick or treating in the Goblyn's Glen haunted house.

We have finally reached an age where the boys enjoyed it, and weren't too scared. By giving the kids trick or treat bags, it made the witches, vampires and monsters far less scary. Xander said "I wasn't scared at all mommy." Caleb got scared a couple of times when someone would jump out at him, but he handled it by asking, "What's your name?"

They were also great about the amount of candy and kept it to a minimum. The kids also got stickers, spider rings, a pumpkin, and balloon. This is a good thing, since Caleb managed to eat all his candy by the time we got home. 

It costs $2 to ride the train, and $8 for the Carousel and haunted house. Well worth it. If you want to take your kids it runs through October 31.

Pumpkin Pancakes and the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival

Two years ago we took Xander to the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin & Art Festival. We gave ourselves plenty of time, since the Festival attracts about 250,000 visitors, and were able to watch the parade, which was fabulous. The only draw back was that we took 92 into Half Moon Bay and it was a parking lot. Friends who left 30 minutes after us turned around, life is too short to spend your weekend in traffic.

This year we decided to try it again. However, we skipped 92 and opted to come by way of windy Woodside Road. The original plan was to go to the parade at 12 pm on Saturday, but Xander spiked a fever on Friday night, and Saturday was a sick day.

On Sunday we took advantage of having two preschool early birds, and left the house at 8:00 am. We headed to Woodside and had breakfast at Buck's. This is a new annual tradition. Buck's is a kitsch restaurant with tons of things for the kids to see from airplanes to cowboy hat lights, butterflies and model trains. The kid's menu even includes a scavenger hunt.  The special was pumpkin pancakes and bacon -- which was marvelous.

Taking Woodside Road into Half Moon Bay was definitely a good choice. We didn't hit any traffic. However Caleb gets car sick, and got car sick on this trip ... so maybe next year he'll wear a garbage bag on the trip to make for easier clean-up.

Once we arrived at the Festival, our perfect day came abruptly to an end. Turns out our family isn't art festival people. Between the crowds, and the booths showing lovely blown glass (Caleb was enamored, I wasn't in the mood to buy a shelf of broken glass) it was too much for us.

We did enjoy seeing the giant pumpkins, weighing more than a 1,000 pounds, and the cool pumpkin carving display... but you get all of this at the parade. So, next year, we are going on Saturday, eating breakfast at Buck's, preparing ourselves for a car sick preschooler, attending the parade, and skipping the art fair.

Pumpkins in the Park - San Jose

Last Saturday we took the boys to San Jose's 15th annual Pumpkins in the Park festivities at Discovery Meadow. It is a free event, and only five minutes from our house, so it was a no brainer.

The boys had fun. It reminded me of Festival on the Hill in Bernal Heights (neighborhood in San Francisco), but there were far more free activities and the overall festival was geared to children. No wonder US News & World Report listed San Jose third on its 10 Best Places to Grow Up.

There were tons of exhibits which gave the boys the opportunity to make crafts, taste apples and cider, listen to music, and participate in lot's of other activities. Most of the activities, and almost all of the food (apples and cider included) were free.

Xander's favorite part was planting a bean (crossing my fingers that it will grow), and Caleb's favorite part was a firetruck wearing a San Jose Sharks costume. As the kids get a little older, I think they will appreciate this event even more.

Fleet Week

Last week was Fleet Week in San Francisco. Definitely the coolest time to visit. You get clear, beautiful weather (except Saturday ... they apparently canceled the air show due to cloud cover) and the Blue Angels flying over the Bay Bridge.

On Friday we took the boys to see the Blue Angels. We opted to view the show from the Ferry Building, versus heading to Pier 39 or the Marina. This way we avoided the crowds, but still got to see plenty of air show action.

Our preschoolers appreciated the air show, but after about thirty minutes they got bored and started playing with their trains. The adults on the other hand sipped our Blue Bottle coffee, ate steamed chicken buns from Out the Door, and were in awe of the contrast between the City by the Bay, and six FA-18 Hornet aircraft flying overhead.

Pumpkin Patches - Uesugi Farms

Halloween is still several weeks away, but with small children it makes sense to beat the crowds and do your pumpkin patch visits early.

Last weekend we took the boys to Uesugi Farms in Morgan Hill. It is a large pumpkin patch surrounded by corn fields.

Last year we took them in late October, and it was crowded. This year's visit was much more fun. We didn't have to wait in long lines, or endure the crowds, and it was much easier to spot our boys if one managed to wander away.

The pumpkin patch offers all of the obligatory Fall events. It has train rides through the pumpkins, hayrides through the corn, and if you children are especially persuasive, pony rides.

Cost wise it wasn't too bad, about the cost of going to a movie theater for a family of four. Parking was $3, the train and hayrides were $4 a person, and the pony ride was $5 a person.  Walking through the pumpkin patch was free, as well as the live music. Pumpkins were also fairly priced.

We had been to the pumpkin patch before, so we bought tickets for the train, and the hayride. We took the boys on the train first (a red miniature train that looks identical to the one at Wheaton Regional Park). We then took the hayride, which was bumpy and fun.

After that we explored the pumpkin patch, took pictures of the boys below the pyramid of pumpkins and picked out our pumpkins. We were ready to go when the boys spotted the pony ride. I broke down, and bought them tickets...

They loved the whole experience, and we were able to do everything in about two hours. Over the next couple of weeks I have some other Halloween activities planned ... Boo at the Zoo, Pumpkins in the Park, the Haunted Train Ride. This is really my favorite time of year.