Family Alien Day

August 30, 2010 By 2 Comments

David was out of town for his bachelor party this weekend, so Jack and I hung out together solo.  It struck me on Friday that this weekend was a fabulous opportunity for the two of us to have quality mom/son time before I go out of the country for 9 days.  I ignored all my other responsibilities and focused on Jack – it was fabulous!

I happily found out that Habitot in Berkeley was having a Family Alien Day (even better – we got half off the tickets because we are members of the Bay Area Discovery Museum).  I saved the news until Saturday morning because I knew Jack would freak out with excitement.  He nearly had a breakdown when he realized he didn’t have any green alien gear and tried to insist that we go to the store to get him a proper outfit. Instead I convinced him that his Superman (pajama) costume was perfect.  After all, Superman is like THE most famous alien ever!

Prior to Saturday we had never been to Habitot.  I had no idea what Jack was missing out on.  As soon as we walked in there was a big mock space shuttle complete with keyboards, buttons, joysticks for steering…Jack spent the majority of his time in that thing.  He had so much fun pretending to dodge asteroids and steer the ship out of craters.  (I spent much of the time imagining how I could get David to build a space shuttle bed for Jack.  Wouldn’t that be SO COOL?)  There was a control station with buttons that made shooting noises outside of the shuttle and Jack thought it was great.  I was amused watching the kids negotiate with one another and I could barely contain my laughter when a child dressed as Batman tried to start the good old Batman vs. Superman debate.  Jack just walked away from the kid.

We did some face painting, enjoyed crater cookies and space punch, and experimented with space goo.  Jack wore himself out running around.  We headed home and both took 3 hour naps.  It was a perfect day.

Enhanced by Zemanta
Filed Under: Adventures Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Jack is back (and toys, toys, toys)

June 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I had a pretty fabulous weekend with Jack.  I am *so* glad he is back from Texas.  The nightmares were really getting to me and I just don’t know what to do with myself when I don’t have someone to take care of!  I get bored.

Friday we went to our first company picnic with David’s employer.  The picnic was held at Coyote Point and it was certainly a beautiful day for it.  Jack was all over the jungle gym and completely wore himself out.  He and I left early (for naptime) while David stayed to participate in volleyball and other team sports.

Saturday Jack and I got out the door early and went to Ross to spend my store credit.  I found a good deal on an 8-pack of games (Go Fish, Bingo, Dominoes, etc. – it’s an inexpensive past time, after all) that are decked out with the Toy Story 3 characters.  Jack got totally excited when he spotted an Iron Man toy (how he knew what it was, I don’t know!) so I just had to get it for him (I get indulgent around birthdays…).  We also nabbed a Transformers blanket.

When we got home I was put to work assembling Iron Man; I nearly broke my fingers trying to assemble it!  No wonder it was so cheap…  Jack loves it, though, and it is now included in the group of toys he takes to bed.  We also played our first game of Go Fish.  Jack didn’t quite get it so…I won.  :P

Speaking of bed, he cleared the blankets off his bed to put the new Transformers blanket down for naptime.  The kid is serious about this blanket, folks.  I’ve had to go into his room numerous times to straighten it out after he tosses and turns and it gets “bunched.”  He simply *must* have the blanket flat and smooth so he can see all the details (even in the dark).  The upside is that if I tell him he has to lay really still so as not to mess it up, he falls asleep pretty quickly.  ;)

Sunday was our big adventure to the movie theater to see Toy Story 3 in 3D.  I had never seen a movie in 3D before and I was absolutely dazzled.  We all loved the movie (and there were definitely some tears near the end).  It was the perfect ending to the series and will definitely become part of our collection once it’s on DVD.  The theater sound system was a little loud for Jack and he got scared, but he was totally fine once he crawled into my lap.  It was nice to snuggle with him while watching the movie and afterward he would not acknowledge that the movie was scary at all.  He has not stopped talking about it since.

When I arrived to pick Jack up at daycare today, he was singing the ABCs to a newborn baby.  He proceeded to tell me he wants a little brother AND a little sister.  I told him to give me more weekends like this one and we’ll see what happens!

Related articles by Zemanta
Enhanced by Zemanta
Filed Under: 110 in 2010, Adventures Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Family Fun

September 28, 2009 By Leave a Comment

We were successful in getting out of the house this weekend!  Yay!  David made us french toast for breakfast Saturday and then we headed to Golden Gate Park to visit the Cal Academy of Sciences.  I was really hoping that there would be some sort of planetarium experience for Jack but the age requirement is over 7.  The academy had a mini planetarium but that scared the crap out of Jack – I coaxed him into the tent and then he immediately demanded to get out before the show even began.  Luckily he enjoyed looking at pictures of nebulas and galaxies on the walls.  Additionally we got to go up to the roof and look at telescopes and a 3D picture of the sun and Jack got a kick out of that.

The academy was crowded.  I found out after the fact that it was the one year anniversary of the building.  Jack was running all over the place because he had been to the academy before, so it was a tad difficult to keep track of him.  Right about when David and I were thinking we were done with the whole thing (and Jack was thinking he had just gotten started) the fire alarm went off and the whole place was evacuated!  Jack commenced melting down but was too tired from all the running around to really fight – instead he adorably curled up in David’s arms and whined.  At home, ice cream made it all better.

Yesterday Jack and I drove out to Richmond to see his aunt, uncle, and cousin.  We walked to the park and spent about 15 minutes there before a dirty diaper sent us home (of course the walk was longer than the actual visit!).  After cleaning that up, we had pizza and then the kids played together while the adults got to relax.  This was one of the first times I’ve been over there when Jack and Isha actually played together (Isha is not yet 2).  The two of them spent the majority of the time jumping on the bed.  I can’t tell you how happy it made me to see Jack playing with his cousin!  My cousins and I were close growing up and it’s something that I have wanted for Jack.  I’m absolutely delighted that he has this opportunity.

It was a fulfilling family weekend.  Even with the heat and the evacuation of the museum, I rather enjoyed myself!

Filed Under: Adventures, Family Tagged With: , , , , ,

Aquarium of the Bay

March 17, 2008 By Leave a Comment

We went to Aquarium of the Bay on Saturday.  This was our first trip into the touristy part of San Francisco since Jack was born and it was actually very fun.  Since we went fairly early and the forecast wasn’t great (although the weather turned out to be beautiful after all) the crowds were very manageable.  The only painful part was the high cost of lunch and parking, which were both expected anyway!

The aquarium itself was great, although on the smalls ide.  Jack was surprisingly shy in the touch pool area and refused to touch anything.  He loved looking at all of the fish, crabs, sea stars, rays, and sharks, though.  The best part was the “Under the Bay” tube, which is a giant tunnel that you walk through while fish, sharks, and rays swim over your head.  Jack thought it was fantastic when the sharks and rays would come directly at him, smooshing up against the glass while gliding by.

aquarium.jpg

This outing increased my anticipation of our trip to Maryland in May to see my sister.  There is an aquarium in Baltimore that we’ll attempt to visit while there, and we may go to the zoo, as well.  These are the things I live for as a parent!

Filed Under: Adventures, Photos Tagged With: , , ,