Out on the Town

The end of May brought some special visitors - Grambo and Grandpa Üwe!  "Grambo" is what Brennan likes to call his Grandma Lorna, a holdover from when it used to be his odd plural term for the pair of them.  ("Hooray We've Got Awesome Free Babysitters" is what Daddy and I sometimes like to call them.)


Since I went back to full time, I haven't had many opportunities for special, one-on-one, Mommy & Me time with either kid.  (Or special, one-on-one, Mommy & Nobody Else time, for that matter...)  It was really nice to have the chance to take both Brennan & Lucie out, just the two of us.  Also I imagine it feels a bit like when a ball player drops the extra bats he's been using in warm-up, and steps up to the plate with just one:  it's so light and easy!

I made good on my promise to Bren to take him on the submarine (the USS Pampanito) at Fisherman's Wharf.  He was pretty excited, until it became clear he was going to have to climb down into the thing.  It took a little coaxing (read:  offers of Starbucks cake-pops, threats to go home 'right now', trying to explain the concept of paying $12 to tour something you only have a mild interest in for your child's sake, physically placing said child's feet on the admittedly very steep stairs) to get him down, but he liked it a lot once we were in there.  Given his attention span, our tour lasted about 16 minutes, but that was fine with me, as I discovered I can add "submarines" to the list of modes of transport that make me motion-sick.

Back topside, both parties are a bit happier.  We've had a bit of a renaissance with Fisherman's Wharf, after years of sneering that it's for tourists.  Turns out, almost-4-year-old boys and out-of-towners share a lot of interests:  walking along the waterfront, waving at ferry boats, watching the cable car turnaround, stores full of junky little trinkets, Starbucks cake-pops.  If I'm feeling extra goofy, we drive down the twisty part of Lombard street to get there.  I think we are now featured in a number of family vacation videos.

Lucie's adventure with Mommy was a little tamer - a walk in the park with a stop at the carousel.  But she had a good time, too.


We even braved a family dinner at Zazie, since it was a nice night and we've had good luck at the big table on their patio.

This turned out to be a bit ambitious.  Exhibit A, above, shows Brennan watching "Cars" on top of Grambo's feet, since under the table was the only spot dark enough for viewing.  He did eventually rejoin the family for dinner:

Daddy's maxed out his vacation days, which is not that hard to do these days:  going to work is so much less effort than taking two little kids on a trip.  So he took a Thursday off and we made a trip across the bridge, so he could see what the Discovery Museum is like on a weekday.  

What is it like?  Well, not all that different than the weekend, just that the large birthday party groups are replaced with large school groups.

Brennan really enjoyed playing a sort of hybrid game of chase and hide-and-seek in the willow maze.  Unlike jockeying for dump trucks, this game involves a lot less whining and is lot more fun for everyone, Lucie included, although Mommy does have a few moments of panic when she temporarily loses a child in the maze.

One main difference for a Thursday visit is that you don't have to leave the museum at 11am if you want a decent shot at getting lunch in Sausalito without a wait.  We had a lovely meal at Le Garage, checked out the sailboats, and were only briefly had to remove one child from the table.  Overall, a successful day out for everyone!