Aquarium of the Bay

You can crawl underneath the starfish exhibit
and into a bubble that brings you close to the action

Jack has SoccerTots class each Saturday morning. The class is held on a field near Fisherman's Wharf, so we went to the Wharf's Aquarium of the Bay today for a little fieldtrip afterwards.

The aquarium is small but has just enough entertainment for a toddler without being overwhelming or crowded. It focusses on fish and sea creatures that inhabit the San Francisco Bay with some education around conservation thrown in.

Graceful jellyfish dance in the dark, you can touch bat rays and starfish, and there's a cool tunnel to walk through where sharks and fish swim all around you.

Yuck

I panicked when couldn't find Jack's lovey one night this week because I didn't think he would go to sleep without it. Turns out he went down OK without it -- but then woke up in the middle of the night and started to frantically look for it in the dark.

In lieu of it, he surrounded himself with Legos, cars, and books and finally fell back asleep. I woke up the next morning to discover that he had also taken the diaper cream, suncreen, and ear wax dissolver (a gross sticky liquid) with him to bed. The bottle of ear wax dissolver was emptied all over the bed. And he decided to paint himself, the bed, and two chairs with the diaper cream. Of course, diaper cream is meant to be paintlike so it protects the skin and it doesn't rub off -- I spent 10 minutes that morning trying to wash it off of Jack. It doesn't rub off furniture either, so if anyone has ideas on how to remove the stuff, please let me know!

First Baseball Game

We recently took Jack to this first baseball game at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

As a native Bostonian, Fenway is my frame of reference with its history and tradition. AT&T Park is stunning in its own way. Built in 2000, it is located right in the city next to all forms of public transit, and the back of the stadium borders the Bay which is always full of boaters and kayakers waiting for that homerun ball to traverse the back wall. A waterfront promenade in the back allows free views of the game at field level. The stadium is designed to have an intimate traditional feel.

There's a small tot field where the kids can pretend they are their favorite players and kids even get a certificate to document their first baseball game.

The Mindy

This weekend.
Walked into Kate's Kitchen to grab breakfast.
What to order?
"The Mindy" of course!

East Meets West

Our friends, Maggie and Scott, recently visited from Long Island with their nearly 2 year old, Lola.

We've been fortunate to see each other a time or two each year, but it's never enough as Maggie is one of Mindy's oldest and dearest friends, and those months between visits translate into big milestones for the kids.

Lola is now a walking and talking little girl and Jack is a rambunctious toddler -- much different than the last time when we met up last Christmas. They had fun having free reign of the house, playing bubbles, and having Stella at eye level. Stella loved the attention of our equally dog loving friends. And we always enjoy the company of Maggie and Scott and missed them all as they fly away back East after a too short trip.

CLICK HERE for a few pics of Lola.

CLICK the video below to see Scott sharing his chocolate icecream with Lola who is loving it.

Sleeping Bag

Jack just misses the age cutoff for preschool this year, but we wanted to build on his social skills and felt he was ready for a more structured learning environment. So, we decided to enroll him in a PRE-pre-school of sorts. In this transitionary school, he will be in a small class of 12. There are 2-3 teachers each day that lead the kids through circle time, daily science/art/music/cooking activities, outdoor time, and naptime. We've brought Jack over a couple of times for a half day at his new school and he's taken to it very easily. The kids each have a mat for naps in the afternoon -- we opted for this cute sleeping bag with built in pillow. Jack already loves his sleeping bag. Hopefully, the transition from Nanny to school will be just as easy.

Bromance

As many of you know, we have a wonderful nanny (Alessandra) that takes care of both Jack and another little boy during the day, Wyatt, who is the same age as Jack -- a "sharecare" arrangement. Wyatt and Jack are like two peas in a pod, running around all day, sharing and fighting over toys, and then starting the day excitedly to see each other again. Jack will be starting pre-pre-school in the Fall and it will be interesting to see the adjustment from being with Sassa and Wyatt each day to a more structured day with a dozen classmates.