Ode to the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad

How do my boys love thee, let me count the ways…

Almost every Sunday after breakfast at the Los Gatos Town Plaza we head over to Oak Meadow Park and ride the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad.

It is a miniature railroad, with a 104-year-old steam engine and two diesel trains, which has been running since 1941. It was founded by Billy Jones, a retired railroad man, and originally ran in his orchard. In 1968 after Billy Jones death it was relocated to Oak Meadow Park and part of Vasona Park.

On the scenic 10-minute ride you cross Los Gatos Creek, and a trestle bridge, and occasionally see wildlife like squirrels and Canadian geese. The railroad runs year round, and it only costs $2 a person to ride the train, 2 and under are free.

Oak Meadow and the adjoining Vasona Park are beautiful. Parking is plentiful, except on Holidays and during festivals. You can park for free on University and Blossom Hill Road, or for $6 at Oak Meadow (Los Gatos residents are free, so it usually fills up after 10 am) or Vasona Park.

Vasona Park has a network of wonderful multi-use (pedestrian and bike) trails that connect to the Los Gatos Creek trail. Eventually Santa Clara County hopes to connect miles of trail, so you will be able to bike from downtown San Jose to Los Gatos. Currently you can pick up the trail on Meridian, and you don’t cross any streets until you get to Vasona Park. For older kids this could be fun… my boys can only manage about a mile on their bikes right now.

There are also several playgrounds. The largest is located in Oak Meadow Park. It includes an airplane, fire truck and choo choo train for the kids to play on, as well as some large jungle gyms and swings.

Not to be overlooked, there is also an antique Carousel originally constructed in 1915. It has a Wurlitzer organ, and although not as exciting as the railroad, on occasion my boys like to ride it. It also costs $2 a person, and children 2 and under ride for free.

The best time to visit the railroad is in the summer when the newly restored steam engine runs on weekends. During the weekdays and the winter months the Diesels run. It is also fun to take the kids to the Haunted Railroad in late October, and the Festival of Lights (bundle up it can be cold) in December.

Los Gatos Farmers Markets on Sundays

Since we moved to San Jose in 2007 every Sunday we head to Los Gatos Town Plaza for the Farmers market, and during the warm summer months for the boys to play in the water fountain.

Los Gatos is a charming little town about 10 minutes from San Jose. The Los Gatos Town Plaza on a Sunday is an infant, toddler and dog mecca.

The plaza has plenty of lawn for kicking around a soccer ball, playing catch or throwing a Frisbee. If you opt to bring toys to the plaza know that other kids will play with them… of course what fun is it to play ball alone.

The water fountain starts at 11 am. Usually without a warning … the water shoots up really high, and is a little scary for the more wary small children, like Caleb.

We get coffee at the Los Gatos Roasting Company and crepes from the Farmers market. Then we, along with hundreds of other families, enjoy our Sunday breakfast.

For the recently potty trained, there is a bathroom for customers at the Los Gatos Roasting Company on Main Street and one at La Boulangerie.

The farmers market runs year round from 8 am to 12 pm (although I’ve seen it stay open later than it says on its website). There is often music near the fountain, and a variety of vendors selling fruits, vegetables, ethnic food, plants and meats. There is plenty of parking in Los Gatos as well (hidden between University and Santa Cruz Avenue).

Los Gatos Town Plaza is our favorite place to spend a Sunday morning.

A San Joser in Santa Cruz

Last Saturday we took the boys to one of the beaches in Santa Cruz. From San Jose on a warm day the trip can be as little as 30 minutes, or as long as two hours. It really depends what time you start out.

Since our boys are notorious early risers, we were able to get on Highway 17 by 10 am. We left Santa Cruz at 2 pm, missing traffic on both ends of the trip.

The last time we went to the beach was April. At the time we didn’t have the right beach accoutrements. All we brought was a beach blanket, snacks, change of clothes, SPF 50 and some beach towels.

Our little Caleb is a pale little flower, and although he was lathered in SPF 50, and we did prevent him from getting sunburned, I really did worry about the sun.

So, we went right out and stocked up on beach things at Target. We now have an umbrella, and four beach chairs (two for kids). We are still learning, so next time we’ll bring our cooler.

We are new to going to Santa Cruz, although I can see us making the trip several times during the summer to beat the heat. For this trip we went to the beach by the Boardwalk. There is plenty of parking, either on the street (bring quarters) or in the parking lots (about $10 for the day).

In the future we will venture out to Natural Bridges or Capitola to avoid the Boardwalk crowd.

It was an incredible day. Our beach gear was perfect, it enabled us to comfortably spend three hours there. There were also three seals hanging out close to beach as well.

I may be an overly concerned parent, but I insist that our boys hold our hands while playing in the waves. The California beaches have a really strong undertow, and it is possible for them to be swept out to sea. I don’t think I’ll loosen up on this rule until they can swim. Xander is in swimming lessons right now, and Caleb will start next summer.

We also were able to get Caleb to play in the waves for the first time. He is not yet three, and is scared of the “big water.” We didn’t force it, but allowed him time to get closer and closer to the water. I have a great photo of him with his foot in a bucket of water … he wanted to play in water, but was still too scared of the ocean. Once he finally splashed in the waves, he loved it …

He had a major meltdown when it was time to leave. My rule of thumb with two year olds and meltdowns is that the intensity of the meltdown is equal to how good a time my preschooler had… So Caleb had a fabulous time.

On the way home we stopped by the Falafel House on the way out of town and had a late and yummy lunch. The boys napped the whole way home.

We had a lovely day, and I’m certain that we will head back to the beach the next 90 degree day in San Jose.

California Dreamin' - A Tourist in My Home State

Since our major plane traveling for the summer is done, I thought I’d start a series on touring California with small children. We are lucky enough to live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and the region is rich with activities for the little ones. Whether going to one of the many beaches, playing at one of the Children’s Discovery Museums, visiting a zoo, or riding a train the Bay Area has it all, and some of it fairly cheap or free if you know what you’re doing.

The economy hit me close to home, and I now have the luxury of four-day weekends with my boys. My husband and I are not ones to sit around the house, so we have tons of day and weekend trips planned all summer… big and small.

Last weekend we took the boys for a beach day in Santa Cruz (I’ll write about that on Thursday), and if it is warm this weekend we’ll probably explore another beach in the area.

This summer I will also write about our home away from home… Los Gatos. At least once a weekend we ride the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad at Oak Meadow Park and we eat breakfast at the Farmers Market there on Sundays. Xander especially likes playing in the fountain in the Los Gatos Town Plaza.

We also have our tickets for a Day Out with Thomas at Roaring Camp Railroads in Felton at the end of the month. We haven’t been to Roaring Camp before, so I’ll be sure to write a review of our experience.

We have a family membership to the San Francisco Zoo (a very thoughtful gift from a good friend of ours) and we intend to take full advantage of it. A day in San Francisco also means a trip to the Farmer’s Market in the Ferry Building, and takeout from Out the Back Door, part of San Francisco’s amazing Vietnamese restaurant the Slanted Door.

I also want to take the boys camping. This will require shopping for a bigger tent, but it should be fun. We’ll either head North to Lassen Volcanic National Park, or South to El Capitan State Park in Santa Barbara – we are still figuring that out.

I may have also talked some of my mommy friends into writing about their summer and fall trips too.

So for me, staying close to home doesn't mean an end to our travel adventures.

Home Again… Time Change Recovery

East to West Coast travel is supposed to be the easiest from a recovery perspective. Our internal clocks do better with a longer day, then a shorter day. People get over jet lag quicker. Experts suggest that it takes one day per time zone to adjust traveling East, and 75 percent of a day per time zone to adjust traveling West.

However, add in the extra hour flight time due to head wins, and flying during wake time and traveling West is much harder than traveling East with small children.

The flight from DC to San Francisco was five and a half hours. According to Jonathan, who had the “easier” child (our four year old), it was one hour too long.

We had two rows on the flight. Jonathan and Xander took the back row because Xander is a notorious seat kicker. Every flight with our typically sweet and compliant little guy inevitably results in a seat-kicking incident so appalling that the stranger in front of us, turns and gives the look. You know the one, the “can’t you control your child” look. I recognize the look well, before I was a parent I used to dole it out in spades when I sat in front of a seat kicker… it is not so much fun now that the shoe is on the other foot.

Our 9 am flight started out easy enough, both boys slept for take-off, and a full hour into the flight. When they awoke it was breakfast time. We purchased yogurt parfaits (Caleb is a lover of yogurt). Both boys were happy, sticky and now needed to be kept entertained for three hours.

For two hours they were fairly happy to listen to radio, take down and put up their tray table, disconnect and reconnect the in air phone, play with trains, play with cars, flip through magazines, read books, and color.

Then with an hour left in the flight, Jonathan was out of ideas with Xander. I was okay because Caleb had discovered that a stinky diaper was the quickest way for him to be allowed out of his seat, and to be able to explore the bathroom (three stinky diapers in two-hours – I think he is ready to be potty trained).

Everyone was happy to be off the flight and home again.

We arranged for grocery delivery for when we got home so we would at least have the staples… By 3 pm that afternoon though we were all hungry (but no one was eating), and tired (but no one took a nap). We had skipped lunch and planned an early dinner – just not early enough. I think the boys were sick of goldfish and peanut butter crackers. In retrospect we should have planned our first meal a little better, but we were so dead tired that was not the time for practical inspiration.

The boys bounced back from the time change quickly. They went to sleep at 7:45 pm, and were up at their typical 6:30 am the next morning. It took everyone about two days to completely bounce back, so I guess the experts are right.

Baltimore and Annapolis

We have been home almost a week and everyone is still on a high from our wonderful trip. Near the end of our trip we went to Baltimore, and then met the grandparents in Annapolis for a crab feast.

It was an absolutely beautiful day, and one of the highlights of our trip. We started the day with lunch in Baltimore Harbor. We thought about going to the National Aquarium – but honestly, when did aquariums become so expensive? We live a little over an hour from the Monterey Bay Aquarium, so decided to skip it. The B&O Railroad Museum was our primary destination for the day anyway.

After lunch we headed to the B&O Railroad Museum. Our boys love trains, and the museum did not disappoint. After buying tickets in the gift shop, you enter into the Roundhouse, a giant building with steam engines from the Railroad’s long history. You can board one engine, and walk through the cars, otherwise all of the trains are viewable from outside.

One warning, the engine that you can board makes noise. This totally freaked Xander out. I have a picture of him with wide eyes standing inside the engine. If you’re child scares easily, I recommend waiting until the Iron Works to board the trains.

In the Roundhouse there was a kids toy train table (which of course was Caleb’s favorite part).

Once we dragged Caleb from the train table the Roundhouse opens onto a large courtyard. The courtyard has a large electric train set-up (the kids can push buttons to make it go). This would be Caleb’s second favorite part. It also has a wonderful wooden train for the kids to climb on, and pretend to steer.

We were there on a Monday (but Wednesday through Sunday they have train rides). We will definitely take them back next trip to DC to ride the trains.

There is also a refrigerated train car, with another electric train set. It was a hot day – so this was Jonathan and my favorite part. The Iron Works was also a highlight. Some of the wheels on the old trains stood about six feet tall … really awe inspiring.

After three blissful hours at the B&O Railroad Museum we headed to Annapolis for an early dinner at Cantler’s. I think small children do best at outdoor restaurants, eating at picnic tables. Jonathan and I were the only ones that had a crab feast. Caleb and Xander loved the very spicy Maryland crab soup.

The boys were well behaved for the most part, until Xander threw a mallet across the restaurant. It didn’t hit anyone (thank goodness), but forced grandma and me to take the boys downstairs to see the crab tanks, and the pier. Note to self, keep mallets away from small children.

Baltimore and Annapolis was our last major outing on the East Coast adventure. The next day was fairly mellow spent at a local park, and a brief visit to one of Jonathan’s high school friends.

Nationals Game

On Sunday we took our nephew Josh and our oldest Xander to the Nationals game… which turned out to be a great activity for our preschooler.

The ballpark reads more like a minor league park then a major. Since the team is in last place in National League East and 20 games behind, the attendance at the park is low. Less crowds equal happier preschooler.

We secured seats in the outfield near the kids’ playground. We were able to buy them from the box office minutes before the game, and they were actually pretty decent seats.

We had no expectations that Xander would be interested in the game – he is only four.

We figured a Major League baseball game lasts somewhere between two and half to three hours. The music, crowd cheering, salty peanuts and soda were enough to entertain Xander for the first few innings. I then took him for a walk and to the playground.

The playground at the ballpark is this neat structure with tunnels, slides, and netting. A child can get lost in there… in fact on our day one mother lost both her children. There is only one exit, so they were quickly found happily playing in the structure.

The playground kept Xander entertained for an hour and a half total (I came back after an hour, Xander rehydrated, then my husband took him back for a half an hour).

My only issue is that the park should invest in a big screen near the kids’ area to broadcast the game so parents running their toddlers and preschoolers can keep track of the score.

We were able to stay until the end of the game (a feet my husband couldn’t accomplish for our beloved San Francisco Giants – he and Xander had to leave after the seventh inning), and the Nationals won.

The other cool thing about National Ballpark is that Sunday’s are kids days, so if Xander was interested (and a little older), he could have run the bases after the game.

New York, NY

On Wednesday we drove to New Jersey to visit Jonathan’s Aunt and Uncle and his cousins. Then on Thursday morning we headed into New York City.

We opted to drive. Jonathan and I had our hearts set on taking the train, but the parking situation at Princeton Junction is a bit of zoo, and it wasn’t advised. When Jonathan’s father did the math, the train roundtrip for four people was about the same as driving.

Of course there was no way that he could have included the ticket we got for getting stuck in the crosswalk when the light turned red. I guess the Big Apple needs to generate revenue somewhere.

After we checked into the hotel, we headed to Pronto Pizza for lunch. The pizza was amazing. Caleb doesn’t like pizza (did I mention he is two), and Xander ate his whole slice crust and all.

We then ventured to Central Park. Our plan was to spend the entire day in Central Park, but Jonathan and I had to quickly devise a Plan B since the weather called for scattered thunderstorms. The most specific weathercast predicted rain every other hour. Luck was on our side and we got two full, wonderful hours in the park before rain.

We had our rain gear with us, and we bought umbrellas before heading out on our adventure. Our hotel was located in midtown, four blocks from Central Park.

I could imagine a future trip to New York where we spend three solid days exploring Central Park. For this trip we only made it about a third of the way into the park. The boys rode the carousel, and we watched a baseball game between the cast and crew of Wicked, and West Side Story.

Xander usually freaks out on the carousel, but this time around I selected horses that don’t go up and down. He told me, “Mommy, I’m not scared this time.”

When it started raining we thought it would be a quick scattered shower, but we were woefully wrong. It lasted for more than two hours. We hid in a tunnel with a group of people, and when the tunnel began to flood, we finally made our way back to our hotel. Caleb and Xander enjoyed jumping in mud puddles, so even with raincoats, they were soaked.

We got cocoas and lattes at Starbucks, and waited out the storm in the comfort of our hotel. We then walked toward the Central Park zoo. We saw a crane at the duck pond, and Xander napped in the stroller.

In researching our trip, Jonathan found a company called American Childcare Inc., which provides babysitters to visitors of Chicago, New York and San Francisco.

Our babysitter Michelle arrived at 7 pm. She was 34 years old, the mother of two boys, and had worked as a nanny. She was great with the boys. This gave us a much needed date night. We met up with friends, and went to a lovely Italian restaurant.

When we got back the hotel, both boys were sound asleep.

The next morning we headed to Barney Greengrass for breakfast. It is one of Anthony Bordain’s favorite places, and a wonderful old school deli – know for their sturgeon. The boys and I had blintzes and Jonathan had a sturgeon omelet. We bought some bagels and black and white cookies for the road.

We then headed to the American Natural History Museum to see dinosaur bones. There is a whole lot more to the museum then bones, but considering our preschooler crowd, we opted to simplify the experience.

The boys loved the dinosaurs. We even let them pick one of their own from the gift shop. Xander and Caleb are now sleeping with them. It was then back to New Jersey and a family barbeque.

Although it was a whirlwind. A day and a half in New York gave us a nice break, and everyone had a wonderful time.

Wheaton Regional and Frederick

Happy Independence Day! The last several days have been hectic, but good. On Tuesday we took the boys to Wheaton Regional Park. It is one of those local gems that every community should have. It has a miniature railroad that runs through a forest. It has lots of little parks with expansive climbing structures, slides, swings and cars made out of wood. To say the boys had a fabulous time would be an understatement.

The train runs every half an hour during the week. We arrived seconds after the train had left the station, so after buying tickets we had to wait 25 minutes to ride the train. The park charges everyone who rides $2, even children 2 and under. The ride itself was about 10 minutes. We saw a deer and the ride concludes by going through a tunnel.

The weather held for our entire visit. Although we started getting some raindrops as we were leaving. All in all, the park entertained the boys for two and half hours.

At 3 pm we headed to downtown Frederick to have dinner with some old friends who we hadn’t seen in a decade. How can a decade pass without seeing friends … I really can’t be that old.

Our friends have a nearly six-year old girl, and we went to The Green Turtle, which runs a special on Tuesday’s where kids eat for free. It was the first dinner that Caleb ate on the whole trip – chicken tenders, chips, and apple slices.

We then walked along the creek. The area has been built up significantly since we lived in Frederick in the 90s with cafes and boutiques. The boys liked the visit to Frederick, and it was our first night of the trip where Caleb easily went to sleep without a fuss.