As you can imagine, with all the fun that went on while we visited our family in California, napping for Thomas and Abby was NO problem. Exhaustion. Pure exhaustion. Marilyn, on the other hand, must be a creature of habit because she had a less-than-stellar napping and night sleeping performance. Oh well... such is life on a vacation, right?
As the vacation days past, they quickly dwindled down to one. On the day before we were to fly home (see this post for details), we got a few surprise visitors and got to enjoy the company of several special people.
My cousin Kerrin (sister to Kristen) and her son Jake drove down from Sacramento to spend a few hours with us thanks to Jake being on spring break and he had a short lull in his baseball training schedule (very awesome b-ball player... watch out MLB!) Almost immediately, Thomas & Abby were drawn to Jake. He played with them, he entertained them and I'm pretty sure they ended up wishing they could go home with him when it was time for them to go later that afternoon.
Jake (12) & Thomas (almost 5)
The first time these two 2nd cousins met - Aug 2007
Thomas (2 months) and Jake (7)
Aug 2007
Thomas, me, Kerrin & Jake
Even Marilyn (who is caught a bit of the "stranger anxiety" bug) couldn't resist Jake!
Speaking of Marilyn, she made do with whatever Aunt Jackie and Uncle Tom had laying around the house... including a new kind of push toy (ie: kitchen chair). She seemed pleased and quite proud that she could give this thing a whirl around the kitchen with no problem.
As our trip came to an end, we said our goodbyes to everyone.
We read a few last stories & cozied up on the world's most comfy & lazy couch.
And the next day, after getting up at 3am, driving north to Travis AFB and NOT getting a seat on the Space-A flight home... we decided to hit up one of the oldest children's parks in the national... The Children's Fairyland in downtown Oakland.
The year was 1948: pre-Disneyland, pre–Disney World, pre-Nickelodeon—a truly prehistoric era for children’s entertainment. Television—not to mention children’s TV—was in its infancy. There were small “kiddielands” in communities around the United States, each with its carousel, pony ride, and cotton-candy stand. There were boardwalks with thrill rides that appealed to teenagers. But there were no attractions dedicated solely to stimulating the imaginations of young children through well-known stories.
Just imagine: a ten-acre park on the shores of Oakland’s Lake Merritt where children’s literature comes to life and kids can be kids. Since 1950, Children’s Fairyland has been delighting children and their parents with whimsical storybook sets, gentle rides, friendly animals, wonder-filled puppet shows, and inspired live entertainment.
After a long morning & early afternoon of fun, Marilyn would not be the only one who would crash out... she was just the first.
As I said many posts ago, there is no doubt that the Hecks will travel back to California for another visit. Our visit was long overdue, but I certainly hope we made up for it while we were there. Next time though we will try to make sure Brian is able to join us.
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