It's such a perfect day, I'm glad I spent it with you

Today was such a perfect day!  With no real plan in mind, Chris decided that he did not want to head to our usual farmers market like we typically do.  Instead, he suggested we head up to the city and go to the farmers' market in SF.  We hopped into the car and were on the Embarcidao by 10!

We resurected our Boba carriers and they were the perfect way to get the boys around the city. I forgot how much I loved baby wearing.  Having a kid snuggled up against you is absolutely wonderful.    I felt foot loose and fancy free becuase I did not have a bag with me and was not wearing a bulky backpack like usual.  As an afterthought, I grabbed two diapers from the truck they were literally the only things I carried with me the whole day.  I had no real place to put these diapers mind you, so I kept tucking them into my sweat shirt and every time I sat down, I pulled them out.  Whenever someone would see me simply carrying two diapers I would get a laugh and a smile.  I told whoever laughed that we liked to travel light :)

 

We started the day at a park.  I think the boys have park radar.  They saw this one in the distance as we rolled into town and demanded we try it out. After the park, we walked around a bit and settled on Mexican food for lunch-complete with guacamole, tacos, margaritas and a view of the water.  Over lunch we mused about taking the ferry to Sausalito.  When I said "I wonder how often the ferry  leaves" Chris answered "If only we had a hand held device, something like a computer, that could answer these questions for us".  Smartass.  After consulting our handheld devices, we saw that the ferry left in 12 minutes so we finished lunch and hopped on!  The boys loved the boat ride.  Once across the bay, we walked around, drank coffee, shopped, Brady caught a quick nap on his mama, and then we hopped back on the ferry and headed home. On the way back to the truck we found a circular ramp that went up three flights.  I think circular ramps should be installed everywhere toddlers play; they are a huge hit!

 

After we got home, we put up the bouncy house in the back yard.  The boys played hard for a solid hour and then were completely wiped out.  It was a perfect day in every way!

Snowcation

(Public service announcement: If your winter has been particularly horrible and the thought of someone traveling specifically to frolic in the snow personally offends you, then please click through.  If this idea only evokes a large eye roll, then you may wish to read on).

On Valentines Day Chris surprised me with a text saying that we would be heading up to the Tahoe area for the weekend!  It has been awhile since we have road tripped and we were itching to see snow at least once this winter.  The boys have never seen snow and were keen on getting them familiar with the substance before they get much older.  Showing them snow is harder than you may think though because California is going through a major drought and many of the areas at elevation do not have any snow. We were lucky enough to find a house that had a last minute cancellation in an area that had two feet of snow on the ground.  This house came with a nice size yard and a little hill so the kids and the dogs could play as much as they wanted!

The boys did not know what to make of the snow.  They were really surprised it was so cold when they held onto it.  Brady especially did not like that you could "break through" and end up knee deep in the white cement (my knee measurement, not his.)  The boys were too light to break through but it still unnerved them that Chris and I kept sinking.  They liked when I stamped out a platform for them to stand on so they could through snow balls at the trees and at us.  They also liked standing in the driveway and playing in the snow banks. Chris and I took turns sledding with them down the wee hill in the yard.  It was a perfect winter respite.  Of course, no one loves snow more than Rocco.  I think laying in snow is the only time that dog is not panting.  He was in heaven in the mountains.

I know I am going to lose some of the street credit I banked by growing up back east after saying this, but I can't believe how much snow gear we ended up needing for the boys.  At first I though that we could get away using their rain boots as snow boot but that did not work at all.  The rain boots kept getting stuck in the snow and pulling right off their feet.  I also thought that we could get away with using wind pants as snow pants.  Wrong again.  I did not know that all kids wanted to do was sit in the snow.  Sitting in snow pants is much dryer!  And what is the deal with gloves/mittens?  The boy had no interest in wearing them at all no matter how cold their hands got.  I am feeling kind of lucky that I do not have to deal with the gear on a daily basis (and I am happy that I am not close enough for some of you to hit me after saying that statement). 

Sunday we decided to try a tubing hill tailored for little kids.  Brody immediately loved sledding.  He loved whizzing down the hill on his own miniature size tube and he looked like such a big kid pulling his tube uphill by himself.  Brady was reserved at first, not wanting to go too fast or too far away by himself.  But after several minutes watching Brody tube and then letting Brody tell Brady how fun it was, Brady was ready to try.  He liked it well enough, but not as much as the little tube ride they had set up next to the hill.  Both boys enjoyed lounging in their tubes, snow balls in their hands, watching the scenery go by as the ride yanked them in a circle.  After tubing, we headed into town for lunch.  Town is about 1000 feet lower than where we were staying and there was almost no snow to be seen.  We walked about town and it almost felt like the morning snow-fun never happened.  After lunch we drove to see lake Tahoe.  The lake itself is impressive and the snow covered mountains surrounding it make for breathtaking scenery.  As luck would have it, we stumbled onto a dog friendly beach with a playground right next to the lake.  It was surreal to be playing with the boys amongst such amazing natural surroundings. 

All in all, we had a wonderful trip.  The drive was easy, the boys had fun and rolled with everything we threw at them, and Chris and I really felt like we were on vacation.  I can't wait to do it again!