as promised, a million pictures (or maybe just 20)
Here are a bunch of pictures from the last week, along with a condensed trip diary.
We drove down on Sunday 8/26. Otto was great; he slept for most of the trip and was generally good-natured otherwise. We had smooth sailing until we hit Vallejo and the bay area traffic. Even so, we managed to do the trip in 9 hours (not bad!)
P365 for Sunday: Pegasus Books on Solano (picture taken while waiting for my mom to pick up our pizzas from Zachary's):
On Monday we went to Fairyland, where Otto had a great time (of course). We saw the whole park, including a great Aesop's Fables puppet show, and he rode the Jolly Trolly and the Wonder-go-Round (3 times in a row). After Fairyland, we went to Sean's mom's house for a birthday dinner for her and Daniel. Otto played the organ for about an hour! He loved it so much.
P365 for Monday: Otto driving the (stationary) train at Fairyland:
Also, the Wonder-go-Round:
Playing the organ with uncle Dan:
Tuesday we got lunch at Great Wall with Michael, and then randomly ran into my dad at a park, which was pretty crazy. In the evening, we went to Larkspur to have dinner with my Grandma and her sister.
P365 for Tuesday: awesome tag seen on Solano Ave. in Berkeley:
Wednesday we went to Tilden Park with Daniel (Sean's brother) and Danny (my brother). We rode the little steam train and the carousel, and Otto loved both. Then we went out for dinner with my aunt and uncle, mom and Danny at Pizzaiolo in Oakland. If you're going there, get the Avocado toast.
P365 for Wednesday: Otto on the steam train (blown out, but perfectly captures what riding the little train with a toddler is like):
The steam engine:
Action shot of the engineer driving:
Otto on the Tilden carousel:
Getting strapped in for another go-round:
Thursday we had a lovely brunch at Sean's mom's house, and then we went for a driving tour of what's changed in the last year in Oakland. Holy shit, there are a bazillion condo/loft/mixed-use developments. Way more than I could ever imagine there being a demand for. And they're just building more and more. It's kind of insane. After our tour, we took Otto down to the playground at my old junior high (King) in Berkeley, and discovered they'd replaced an awesome play structure with a lame swingset. So sad. Later on, we had dinner with my mom and godmother Lisa (who finally got to meet Otto).
Seen on MacArthur while driving around Oakland:
P365 for Thursday: a sign on the new toddler playstructure (apparently, Canadian toddlers are more advanced):
What used to be an awesome old wooden play structure:
Friday we went to the Oakland Zoo with Danny and Sean's mom, and met up with Leah and Max. The zoo was fun, but nothing like it used to be. They took out the goat-feeding (replaced with goat-brushing, which is not nearly as fun!). Also, Otto didn't get to ride the ride he wanted to (cars that go in a circle) because he was 1 inch too short. Poor guy! Next year will be his year for the kiddie rides. He did get to ride the Zoo Train and carousel, though. After the zoo, we went out for dinner at the best secret Thai restaurant ever (ooh, Barbarian Soup, how I missed you!).
Petting a goat:
P365 for Friday: goat-brushing:
Saturday we had a picnic at Codornices Park (which thankfully still has all the old play equipment, including the 40-foot concrete hill slide which goes unbelieveably fast if you sit on cardboard, which I did with Otto on my lap!), and we got to see Peatre, Ginger, Maceo, Clint, Anandamayi, Justin, Leah, Max, Gwen and Chad. It was a ton of fun. Then that night we went over to my dad's house for dinner and finally got to meet my new niece, Laila (and I completely forgot to take a picture of her!), and Otto got to play with his cousin, Leif. They were hilarious, wrestling and running around, and sharing a quesadilla for dinner.
Picnic people:
Playing in Codornices Creek:
P365 for Saturday: quesadilla cousins:
On Sunday we drove back home. We made better time on the way back (we left earlier so there was no traffic), and Otto did great again, until we were about 30 minutes from our door, when he started having the ultimate melt-down. All in all, though, he did great on both drives and was an absolute angel the entire trip. He slept well, was super-good about listening, and gave everyone lots of love. Yay!
Shasta Lake was the lowest I've ever seen:
P365 for Sunday: Mt. Shasta as seen from the Weed rest stop:
We drove down on Sunday 8/26. Otto was great; he slept for most of the trip and was generally good-natured otherwise. We had smooth sailing until we hit Vallejo and the bay area traffic. Even so, we managed to do the trip in 9 hours (not bad!)
P365 for Sunday: Pegasus Books on Solano (picture taken while waiting for my mom to pick up our pizzas from Zachary's):
On Monday we went to Fairyland, where Otto had a great time (of course). We saw the whole park, including a great Aesop's Fables puppet show, and he rode the Jolly Trolly and the Wonder-go-Round (3 times in a row). After Fairyland, we went to Sean's mom's house for a birthday dinner for her and Daniel. Otto played the organ for about an hour! He loved it so much.
P365 for Monday: Otto driving the (stationary) train at Fairyland:
Also, the Wonder-go-Round:
Playing the organ with uncle Dan:
Tuesday we got lunch at Great Wall with Michael, and then randomly ran into my dad at a park, which was pretty crazy. In the evening, we went to Larkspur to have dinner with my Grandma and her sister.
P365 for Tuesday: awesome tag seen on Solano Ave. in Berkeley:
Wednesday we went to Tilden Park with Daniel (Sean's brother) and Danny (my brother). We rode the little steam train and the carousel, and Otto loved both. Then we went out for dinner with my aunt and uncle, mom and Danny at Pizzaiolo in Oakland. If you're going there, get the Avocado toast.
P365 for Wednesday: Otto on the steam train (blown out, but perfectly captures what riding the little train with a toddler is like):
The steam engine:
Action shot of the engineer driving:
Otto on the Tilden carousel:
Getting strapped in for another go-round:
Thursday we had a lovely brunch at Sean's mom's house, and then we went for a driving tour of what's changed in the last year in Oakland. Holy shit, there are a bazillion condo/loft/mixed-use developments. Way more than I could ever imagine there being a demand for. And they're just building more and more. It's kind of insane. After our tour, we took Otto down to the playground at my old junior high (King) in Berkeley, and discovered they'd replaced an awesome play structure with a lame swingset. So sad. Later on, we had dinner with my mom and godmother Lisa (who finally got to meet Otto).
Seen on MacArthur while driving around Oakland:
P365 for Thursday: a sign on the new toddler playstructure (apparently, Canadian toddlers are more advanced):
What used to be an awesome old wooden play structure:
Friday we went to the Oakland Zoo with Danny and Sean's mom, and met up with Leah and Max. The zoo was fun, but nothing like it used to be. They took out the goat-feeding (replaced with goat-brushing, which is not nearly as fun!). Also, Otto didn't get to ride the ride he wanted to (cars that go in a circle) because he was 1 inch too short. Poor guy! Next year will be his year for the kiddie rides. He did get to ride the Zoo Train and carousel, though. After the zoo, we went out for dinner at the best secret Thai restaurant ever (ooh, Barbarian Soup, how I missed you!).
Petting a goat:
P365 for Friday: goat-brushing:
Saturday we had a picnic at Codornices Park (which thankfully still has all the old play equipment, including the 40-foot concrete hill slide which goes unbelieveably fast if you sit on cardboard, which I did with Otto on my lap!), and we got to see Peatre, Ginger, Maceo, Clint, Anandamayi, Justin, Leah, Max, Gwen and Chad. It was a ton of fun. Then that night we went over to my dad's house for dinner and finally got to meet my new niece, Laila (and I completely forgot to take a picture of her!), and Otto got to play with his cousin, Leif. They were hilarious, wrestling and running around, and sharing a quesadilla for dinner.
Picnic people:
Playing in Codornices Creek:
P365 for Saturday: quesadilla cousins:
On Sunday we drove back home. We made better time on the way back (we left earlier so there was no traffic), and Otto did great again, until we were about 30 minutes from our door, when he started having the ultimate melt-down. All in all, though, he did great on both drives and was an absolute angel the entire trip. He slept well, was super-good about listening, and gave everyone lots of love. Yay!
Shasta Lake was the lowest I've ever seen:
P365 for Sunday: Mt. Shasta as seen from the Weed rest stop: