California Day Ballpark Tour & San Fran

Today we tried to makes things a bit more relaxed.... but of course when you have a baby.... things are rarely relaxed. We rented a car today and picked up my dad and headed downtown to the AT&T Park -- Home of the San Francisco Giants and Barry Bonds and more importantly Willie Mays.

Unfortunately, Evan didn't have a fun time. He was again tired (sense a theme). Poor guy loves running around and such and yet we put him in the car and make him do sightseeing.
My dad did join us and it was nice not only to enjoy the vacation with him but to have him and Evan together.

We spent the rest of the day with family in Alameda. A beautiful suburb of Oakland and they happen to live in a quiet little area by the bay.

Since we slept over at my relatives place, my dad and aunty were nice enough to watch Evan as Dan and I took the ferry over to SF for the day. We were able to visit Alcatraz.... yep... it's a prison on a rock... creepy!!!
We then spent a little time at fisherman's wharf and even saw the infamous sea lions. Rumor has is that the sea lions began coming into the marina after the earthquake of 1984 and by the next summer there were 450 sea lions. No one is sure why but the city has tried to make them feel as welcome as they do tourists..... which means the sea lions will never want to leave.

Only a couple more days to go..... and then back to CT, work and reality!!

California -- Day Five -- Memorial Day

What a day?!!! What an interesting experience we had today. Today was a day that made you think.... there is a difference in life of the single/married but life without kids. What did we do? We took an hour drive up to Napa Valley. Unfortunately, we got a late start due to unexpected events... but we finally got on the road around lunch time (or a little afterwards). It was about 30 min into the ride that I discovered the camera's memory card did not make it back into the camera last night... therefore, we only had room to take about 9 photos... but I also found a couple great photos from Evan's first birthday. Now I just have to find the camera's PC cable to get them off. Of course that means you won't get to see the photos til later.

But once we made it to Napa we first visited Robert Mondavi Vineyards. I have to say it's huge and very commercialized and we have tasted this wine before. On my dad's last visit he was nice enough to give us a bottle of the cab and merlot. But we got to taste a few other Mondavi wines including a delicious dessert wine. But we opted not to purchase any.... after all, we'll be sure to have my dad over for dinner and he'll bring the wine :)

Evan enjoyed this vineyard because of the large courtyard. A lovely courtyard where we could sit and enjoy our wine at our leisure and in the sun and the energy of the vineyards. We sat on the wall with the wine grapes behind us. Hopefully, it wasn't the only grapes because Evan 'found' a giant leaf from the vine.... and he found it when he was playing in that area... humm???

On next and last stop was the V. Sattui vineyards. Unfortunately, Evan was terribly tired and over stimulated with the mass of people in the picnic area and the tasting room/store. So Dan was kind enough to take Evan out while I tasted new wines. It wasn't the same. It wasn't fun tasting wines by myself. My cousin Tony was there but he was the designated driver, so he doing his shopping. But Dan did come in a couple times and was able to taste a couple different wines. And I did purchase a nice wine that has a nice fruity strawberry flavor...hopefully it will survive the flight home!!

This was the day that Evan didn't take a nap. And he eventually decided to take a nap not on the ride to Napa or on the ride home from Napa but on the exit ramp from the highway... 3 minutes from home. Poor kid.

Napa would've been a totally different experience if you don't have kids.... yes they are kid and family friendly but definitely a different experience. I am glad that Evan had room and chances to run and enjoy the green of Napa.

California --- DAY Four--Sunday==Train

Today was a fun day.... AGAIN... well for most of us.... Dan and my dad went to the Red Sox game... they lost... AGAIN... they got SWEPT by the A's... NOT good... but Evan and I had a blast at my cousin's son's birthday party.

Dwayne celebrated his 10th birthday at the Sunol Train station. It was a fun ride on the Nile Railway from Historic Sunol, CA to Nile CA... a nice 1 hour trip. It was Evan's first train ride and he loved it. It was actually the first time I got to meet my cousin's children and what a blessing. I hear so many stories of the boys and now I can put a face and personalities with the names and stories. But the best part of the day wasn't the historic ride on the caboose but was the joy in Evan's eyes when the 13 boys began to play 2-hand touch football... and Evan wanted to play. He ran out on the field and he was ready. Unfortunately, he doesn't know how to really catch a football (or any ball for that matter) and he doesn't know how to throw a ball more than a foot in front of him. But he still had a blast just running around and watching the boys.And I have to say I am so glad that we came to CA. Evan has had so many new experiences that he's learning so much. Just the words he's began to say.... wawa (water); monkey; go and it's only day 4.....

San Francisco, CA -- Day Three

Now what a day we had. Of course, we had a late start but that's life with a toddler. We started this dreary day going to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was foggy and drizzle and windy... NOT the best day to go but we are limited in our time here.

It was still a nice site to see... along with the busload of tourists!!! But it's a landmark you can't miss out on seeing... right!! And it did bring humor on a blahh day... how?? Read the sign below:
Do not "drop or throw any object or MISSILE from any toll bridge is guilty of a misdemeanor". So throwing a missile is ONLY a misdemeanor... we didn't find it very reassuring to know that missile throwing is not a felony.

Afterwards, we tried to make it to Muir woods but the parking was full and we just didn't feel like taking the shuttle bus. So instead we went to Chinatown for lunch. What an interesting time that was. Not sure it was Evan's first time eating Chinese but definitely the first time in Chinatown and he did enjoy it. Nothing fancy or special but got the job done. Later on we just strolled around and walked several blocks until our parking meter was going to be up. But it was funny to see how Evan now knows restaurants from stores and he'll say "eat eat".

So our last stop in SF was walking up Lombard street. Lombard street is a very steep street and leads to a very crooked downside....and the funniest thing is that Evan wanted and did walk up the steep hill. Cars were screeching up the hill as they began to roll back and here is little Evan stomping up the hill. And yes, we used a monkey harness to keep a close eye on him. He's very fast and get very furious, so it was our best option.I got nervous as Tony drove up the hill and SO glad he wasn't going to be driving down!! But look at that winding down hill. Would you do the drive???

So after this exhausting day of walking and hiking we spent a nice mellow evening at home. Tomorrow is a train ride and Monday is Napa!!!

San Francisco, CA -- Day Two

What time did Evan wake up his first CA morning? 5:30!!! Guess he figured it must've been 8:30am... and it wasn't time for Dan and I to wake up but we certainly didn't have a choice. Yet it still turned out to be a nice and relaxing morning. We took our time waking up and getting out of bed.

Evan and I even took a nice stroll around the neighborhood and it gave us a nice idea of what is around us and gave us a sense of being home. I even found the place to get my nails done. I've been waiting to get my nails done and hated the fact that I couldn't get them done before the trip.

I have to say though, this being my first visit to CA, during my walk I kept thinking... what do I do in case of an earthquake? What would happen to the homes, the street and to Evan and I... so far CA is a nice place to visit but wouldn't want to live here....

After visiting the Ruby Hill winery, in Livermore/pleasanton, we made a lunch stop at IN n OUT burgers... your menu choices are simple Hamburger, Cheeseburger or Double Cheeseburger... it was easy to decide when you only have 3 choices :)

And then we finally got to visit with my Aunt Antoinette and Uncle Peter. Some of you may remember my aunt (Tony's cousin) ... as they used to live in CT several years ago. She is recovering from knee replacement surgery yet was able to spend time with us. And Evan just went to them instantly!!!

And Dan and I ended the evening with a couple's date night at the game. That's right... the game... the Red Sox followed us into town and we attended the game... we were in line to buy tickets and some corporate suits gave us tickets!! Nice!!! Unfortunately, even though the tickets were free and good seats, and we even got to move down later in the game, it wasn't that great that the Sox LOST... but it's a nice stadium and there were a lot of Sox fans who made it out to support them on this holiday weekend.

California --- DAY One

That's right.... we are in San Francisco, CA. Evan, Dan and myself opted for a little luxury at no extra costs... and we flew a direct flight out of JFK on Virgin America. It's a great airline... and not that expensive... it is actually the lowest priced fare from JFK... How did everyone survive the 6 hour flight. Well, Evan was on antibiotics for mild ear infection (he started his course a week ago) and Dan started his course of antibiotics for his ear infection several days ago!! So needless to say we knew it could end up being difficult.

But it wasn't the bad. Evan was relatively well... he had moments in which the surrounding passengers dreaded having Evan sit near them... But that was only moments. Evan had no problem with his ears on take off or landing. Unfortunately, Dan wasn't as lucky. His meds weren't kicking in and Evan's antics kept Dan up most of the flight.

We did come prepared to entertain Evan. He got his own set of 'noise cancelling headphones. And it was totally worth the money. He'd only keep it on for a minute or less but loved the idea of sound coming out of them and putting them on and taking them off his head.Evan did get over an hour of sleep as did Dan and myself. It wasn't enough to make up for the lack of sleep during the week and the night before, but at least we got some rest.

My cousin Tony meet us at the airport and we got our first taste of CALIFORNIA!!! He lives in Livermore, CA. Ever been? Probably not. It's a cute up and coming town east of Oakland and in wine country.

It turned out to be a hot day. So Tony opened up his hot tub and Evan had quite a frolic.
And he did love it... he loves slipping and sliding away!! He wasn't scared at all when he "dipped" into the seats of the tub. But Evan enjoyed splashing around and cooling off.

To finish settling in... we made a required trip to "Thar-jae"(aka Target). It was nice to have those things that didn't fit in the suitcase like diapers and wipes for the week!! And of course we had to buy a ball for Evan to play with while out here.

We also got to stroll down the revitalized area of Livermore. It's like the center of town with little quaint shops and restaurants/bars and a nice green and memorial to victims of Sept. 11, 2001.
As we retired for the night at 10:00, our bodies hadn't adjusted to Pacific Time zone... so what would the morning bring... what time would Evan wake up?

Mommy and Evan bonding time

Well, today is day 3. Day 3 of what? Day 3 of Evan being sick.... and Dan. We spent 2 hours in the ER on Wed waiting to hear that Evan's parotid gland is swollen and it's definitely NOT mumps.... but a virus that needs to "run its course". Evan's left side of his face was all swollen yet he wasn't in pain. In fact, you'd never guess he was even sick. Dan on the other end has a major cold.... but yet it can be similar to Evan's "cold"... let's hope there is no swelling of the gland.

It's actually been a pretty fun couple of days. Evan isn't eating much or drinking his milk, but per the doctor's orders, he's drinking his lemonade. He doesn't seem to like his sippy cup anymore... he doesn't like what used to be his favorite cup... then again, he also never threw tantrums. Yet today found Evan many times "falling to his knees and then flat on his belly as his slammed his hands forcefully on the floor"... why? Because ... I don't know... guess his 1 nap (instead of 2) just made him a bit cranky.

Welcome to the terrible 2's!!!!..................

Happy Mother's Day

What a nice weekend.... relaxing and nice weather too... so much so we had a nice BBQ to celebrate the day we celebrate mothers. And not just biological mothers but any woman who has that nurturing touch towards child or animal !!!

It was nice to actually use our deck again. No, we haven't improved it and the deck still needs a lot of TLC!! But it was nice to start the season with a wonderful spring day. With the flowers in bloom, my tulips had come back and provided a beautiful backdrop of purples.

With ribs and burgers on the menu, the lunch was a success!! And my favorite part (other than spending the day with my family) was seeing the joy in Evan has he got to spend his afternoon outdoors.

And for those looking for Evan news... my baby is turning 18 months this week. He runs, plays soccer, tee ball, loves his ball, panda, kitty, megablocks and books. He's mastered saying "Mommy" (not mama or monya)... can say Papa, Doul (aka Joel) and Doe (aka Joe) and of course Daddy!!! He learns new words everyday and too many to write down. But the amount of information he understands amazes me. Last week, he weighed in at 28 pounds and 34 inches. I think he's lost weight because he's not eating much. He's more interested in running around and I think he's teething (hence wanting to eat only crunchy things).

Well, that's my gushing for the day... to all those mothers... Happy mother's day.... and to all those woman who mother their pets, or siblings or parents or co-workers or step kids.... happy day to you.... after all it is the woman who is expecting to "do it all"..... I try and fail but I have a wonderful family and husband and friends that help me be "SuperMom"....