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.

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.

A Zoo at the Zoo?

 

On Labor Day we took the boys to the zoo. Crazy, I know, the zoo on Holidays is... well ... a zoo.

However, even when packed the San Francisco Zoo is civilized. It could be that the zoo is well planned, or it could be that the droves of people were somewhere else (we didn't make it to arachnids or reptiles).  Either way, we had an absolutely perfect day at the zoo on Monday.

The weather was gorgeous. Even when the rest of San Francisco is chilly, the zoo tends to be slightly warmer. The boys were in shorts and t-shirts, and everyone was comfortable. Xander and Caleb have also finally reached an age where they want to see the animals. Back in the day (earlier this year) they just wanted to ride the Little Puffer, and go to the petting zoo.

The animals were in rare form too. In our first few moments at the zoo, the giraffe came right up to the fence, bent down and began drinking water. The otters came right up to the window to greet the spectators too, and the leopard was sleeping against the glass.

We also lucked out with our timing. We saw the otters, penguins, and seal all get fed.

We arrived at the San Francisco Zoo just before noon. The paid parking lot was filled up, so we parked on Sloat. There is usually plenty of free parking on Sloat, but due to the Holiday we ended with a fairly long walk. At this point we were thinking that maybe the zoo was a mistake. We were wrong.

We brought the double stroller, and convinced the boys to ride in it until we got to the zoo. They happily complied which was good for everyone concerned.

Our friend got us a membership for Xander's 4th birthday, so we bypassed the line (about 15 people deep) and headed right to the entrance.

Xander and Caleb had already compiled their wish list ... giraffes and zebras, monkeys, lions and tigers, and bears, and then ride the choo choo train.  We managed to accomplish the wish list without a meltdown. Caleb did have a meltdown when we left the zoo at 4 pm, and then napped the whole way home.

The boys can't wait to go back to the zoo. I think we'll do Boo at the Zoo around Halloween.

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.

Here we are...

We took the red-eye to Dulles on Friday night. We arrived at SFO three hours early for our flight. I gave the boys their backpacks at dinner – pizza at the food court. The backpacks went over really well. They kept the boys entertained until our flight. We also visited the Kids Zone, which is a play area at the SFO airport. There were a lot of small children playing at 9 pm at night. The boys got to run around, and the time between arrival and our flight literally flew.

I had hoped that the boys would sleep on the flight, but they were too excited. They ended up falling asleep two hours into the flight and slept for two and half hours total. When they announced we were landing in a half an hour, I wished we had a couple more hours. They slept for a tiny bit on the car ride to their grand parents house… but clearly not enough.

Saturday we spent the afternoon with family. We were also able to get four-hour naps in, and then get the boys down at around 11 pm ET (which wasn’t too bad).

Now it is Monday and I feel like both of them are on a schedule, and aren’t overly tired.

Today we went to the zoo. We made the mistake in parking in Parking Lot C, which requires an uphill climb with stairs. We powered through it with the stroller, but for future visits to the National Zoo be warned when there is a sign that says no handicap access, that stroller access might also be difficult.

The weather was fabulous, and Caleb especially enjoyed seeing the animals. We were sad that the giraffe exhibit was closed, while the zoo is expanding the elephant exhibit. We were happy to see the elephants, lions, tigers, reptiles and the pandas.

The National Zoo is on a hill, so it was a good thing that we had a stroller with us. Two might have been better, but we made do. We also ran into another little boy in Caleb’s class at daycare. Small world.

Tomorrow it is off to Wheaton Regional Park which has a miniature train and carousel. Then dinner with some old friends in Frederick, MD.