After navigating the world of Space-A flying down and securing a rental car with the kiddos and all of our gear, we made it safely down to Oakland to my Aunt Trisha (my mom's little sis), Uncle Eric and cousins Erin & Emily's house for the first part of our stay. They were armed and ready for the chaos and craziness that the Hecks brought with them (ie: my 3 little munchkins).
It had been almost 2 years since the kids last saw our CA cousins, but this visit would certainly prove to be just as fun, loving and filled with wonderful memories. Erin (18) and Emily (15) seemed to be on "go" mode the entire time with the kids... they ran & played, read books, were silly together and just really enjoyed spending time with their older cousins. Needless to say, at the end of everyday... Thomas, Abby and Marilyn were just plain tuckered out!
The kids were treated to special breakfasts by Uncle Eric in the mornings...
On the first day after arriving, the weather was a little gray & rainy so we decided to head over to UC Berkley to the kids science center. Amazing and fun certainly do not full describe it. The kids had a blast! One of Thomas' favorite parts was right at the main entrance... the paper airplane flying wind tunnel (sorry, I don't know how to describe this any other way). If there was a way for him to stay here all afternoon, he would have done it. There is something about a boy & his planes.
Abby, on the other hand, really enjoyed this high tech, interactive computer program with Aunt Trisha. The computer captures a picture of you on the screen...
... then it displays a selection of different moving eyes, noses, & mouths for the child to touch & drag over to their face. It was kind of like using a big iPhone or iPad.
Abby was so proud of herself when she was done and just kept cracking up at how she looked! It doesn't surprise me at all that she enjoyed this because she takes my iPhone all the time and plays games on it. Heck (no pun intended), if she could have her own... that would make her happy as a clam.
Another thing that didn't surprise me at all is Abby's willingness to touch this big snake (eeekk!) down in the reptile room of the Science center. Along with snakes, there were all kinds of animals that the handlers shared with the kids.
By the second day the sun had come out and the temperatures were in the mid-60s so we decided to head to the Oakland Zoo. Amazing. And on top of that, Erin spent 3 years in high school as a volunteer on the weekends as part of a teen learning & education program. Needless to say, she knows the Zoo inside and out. We felt like we had our own personal guide with us the entire day.
We couldn't have picked a better spot for a picnic lunch - two benches right in front of the big elephants.
And this is only the first few days of our trip. Lots more pictures and stories to share in the coming days!
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