Elliott sings Itsy Bitsy Spider

July happenings

I'm back, at least for a little while. I feel like I abandoned this blog for most of July and that's because after being gone for almost two weeks, I'm just now starting to feel caught up with life. I have a plethora of photos and videos to post and will try to get to many of them this week. For now, here's a rare selfie of Nick, Penny and I.

Oakland Zoo

We had just one day during our trip to California where both boys were healthy (though Elliott was still pretty worn out) so we took a quick trip to the Oakland Zoo. I haven't been since I was little so it was fun to see what has stayed the same/changed since then. And of course, the main reason for going was for a ride on the zoo train. Uncle accompanied us and we finished the day off with a stop at his apartment where the boys got to sit on his motorcycle.

brushing a goat! Elliott was so brave and would walk up to just about any goat

Oliver kept his hands jammed in his pockets :)

taking a rest by the alligator tank

found a very slow moving slide

and Oliver had great fun pushing his brother down it!

train!

the second hit of the day, Uncle's motorcycle

Binny & Grampy's house

Well, my trip with the boys to California didn't quite turn out as planned. The night we arrived, both boys woke me up vomiting. I then spent the next seven days cleaning up vomit, not exactly how I had hoped to spend our short trip. We did manage to see Great Binny and Great Grampy at the end of our trip, and even though Elliott was still a bit under the weather, both boys had a great time!

the sliding door is always fun to play with

this car has been around since I was a kid, but the tape holding the horn together was very bothersome to E

Lego time!

Winston pic!

I just love this photo of E playing with the newly built Lego forklift.

Apparently Legos are just more fun to play with while lying on the ground.

Oliver was thrilled to see the assortment of strawberries and grapes on the table. He has been waiting for these fruits to come back into season and helped himself frequently to them.

mouthful of strawberries, wearing Grampy's Boeing hat, a gift from Nick!

quick group shot

the best (great) grandparents anyone could ask for!

And this little guys mustered up the energy to try riding a tricycle, and succeeded at pedaling for the first time!

trains!

If there is one thing by boys love to do in the Bay Area, it's by far riding trains! They love the steam trains in Tilden Park and BART. I think we topped out at 6 rides on the steam trains and two on BART. I love how Oliver always wears his engineer outfit, no matter what kind of train he is on.

REDWOOD RAILWAY:

sitting on the engine after the ride

enjoying the view

engineers!

mommy and e

admiring the scenery

engineer in training

three cute kiddos

Gramma and her friends

BART:

in his engineer clothes again!

 

a smack for Uncle?

two peas in a pod

Uncle and his nephews!

exploratorium

On Wednesday we drove across the old Bay Bridge for the last time before it closed in preparation of opening the new east span. Gramma took us to the new Exploratorium and we had a blast! I used to love the old one as a kid and the new one was much larger with many new exhibits. I don't even think we got through a quarter of it while we were there. Can't wait to go back with Nick sometime. He would love it!

Running around through the exhibits. You definitely need one adult per child here, at least when the children are 1 and 3.

they loved this basketball game

no need to wear the distortion goggles, they had enough trouble making a basket without them :)

the sound area was a hit!

and so was the marble wall

they even had an outdoor area, and the boys loved the golden gate bridge model

I'm not sure it was meant for climbing

but it was the perfect size for Elliott