After Lombard, we drove to Golden Gate Park and the Academy of Sciences Museum. Kenny and I had been here before too, when it was recently reopened after a complete redesign ten years ago. Nick and James were probably younger than Riley and Rory are now.
It's a really cool museum. Different than the Exploratorium, though; more like a normal museum, in that you look but you don't touch. But lots to see!
We went to the rainforest exhibit first, where we saw lots of reptiles, bugs, and butterflies. The ant colony display was especially impressive. Then it was on to the aquarium section before we went over to the atrium in the middle of the building for a special presentation. The boys got to touch a rainbow boa. Riley of course wanted to take her home.
Next we went up to the living roof, went back down through a special exhibit on skin, and passed through the African savannah section. The boys played on an outside playground for a bit while others went to check out a few last things, then we all gathered out front to figure out where to go next. Rory even had a new friend, thanks to his Aunt Debbie.
We hadn't seen the sea lions on Pier 39 yet, so Debbie drove us down there. We walked to where they live on floating docks and were instantly made aware of their presence by the smell. But I'm glad we saw them!
Half of the group stayed in the city for a nice dinner out, while the other half went back to the house. Rory was wiped and fell asleep in the car. We were supposed to make homemade pizzas, but we had plenty of leftovers to graze on. And Kenny and I even escaped to a nearby place called Beer Baron for a late night beer.
We also had a family meeting about how to spend our last full day. We were supposed to drive to Tomales Bay Resort, which is an hour or so away from Berkeley. But we scrapped those plans in favor of a more laidback day. We enjoyed a big breakfast out at Rick and Ann's just down the hill (we walked there and back), regrouped at the house, then drove to Redwood Regional Park for one last hike.
We hiked for a couple of hours then headed back to the house for the rest of the day. We picked up a few more things from Market Hall for lunch then hung out playing Nintendo, Legos, and other games. I think everyone enjoyed the break after going so hard for 4 days straight.
We ventured out again around 6pm for a before dinner ice cream treat. The place we went had really crazy flavors, so we had to go somewhere else for Riley. Then Kenny and I ended up going back out to pick up Thai food from Soi 4 for the adults' dinner. However, we discovered when we got there that one of the tires on the Prius was hissing air, so Kenny had to take care of that while I waited for the food. I decided to enjoy a beverage while doing so, and I was impressed with the bartender's level of commitment to his craft. He was fun to watch.
Dinner was great. We got the boys into bed and hung out for a little while longer. Then we had to go back to the BnB to pack. We gathered at the house early the next morning, took some pics, then said our goodbyes. We took the BART to the airport and started our journey home.
We ended up being delayed out of SFO for more than an hour, and we were worried we would miss our connection in Houston. Luckily, that flight was delayed as well. We were supposed to be home around 9pm but didn't get in until almost 11pm. One heck of a travel day, but we made it.
What an amazing trip this was. The boys have asked so many times when we can go back; Riley wants to make this an annual thing. He just loved being out there with his cousins. So thank you, Grandma and Grandpa, for taking us. And thank you, Deb, Paul, Nicholas, and James, for allowing us to invade your lives this summer. We had the best time!
1 comments:
Truly a great adventure! Did you think of me while listening to the seals??
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