Uncle's House

Edward and Jennifer now have their very own apartment in Mountain View.  They've been in it for a few weeks and we finally got to visit this past weekend.  Dave and Eddie drove down on Friday morning and I took Amtrak down later that evening, after my lab meeting.  Driving takes 1.5-2 hours, depending on traffic and the train takes 3 hours.  Doubling the commute time is fine by me when I don't have to drive and I get a few uninterrupted hours of knitting and reading.

I actually spent the fist half of the train ride talking to a nice old man about various things: his work as a non-JD lawyer for a title company (he showed me some 1800s letters he's having to read through for historical information on a particular property in Sacramento), compost, how he raised his girls alone back in the 1950s because their mother "was crazy." He was one of those guys who makes puns constantly and then laughs at all his jokes.  Except he didn't just laugh, he snorted when he laughed.  It was ridiculous.  Toward the end of the line, when there weren't many people left on the train, I realized that the lady across from me was deaf.  She startled me when she tapped loudly on the table between us to get my attention while I was reading and snarfing down my Chipotle burrito.  She tried to write "San Jose?" with her finger on the table, but I couldn't figure out what she meant.  Finally I found a pen in my backpack and asked her to write it again.  Since she can't hear the announcements and there's aren't clearly posted signs in the Amtrak stations (as on BART), she had no idea where we were.  Later, I'd show her my phone's Google Map image so she'd know. 

Eddie was asleep by the time I got to the apartment (thank goodness for 2 bedrooms!) so us adults got to have a quiet, yummy dinner.  Then we set up our blow up and pull-out sofa beds so we could go to sleep. 

The next morning we had breakfast and then Edward, Eddie, and I went to Dyani's to pick up Batiste.  They needed a sitter that day while they were at work.  How perfect that we were in the area and wanted to play with Batiste anyway!

He looks so small in the big boy seat!

We took the kiddos to Happy Hallow park and zoo in San Jose.  It was a bit cold and overcast, but so much fun.

Is it weird that I think Dave is super hot when pushing a stroller?

Batiste thought this car was pretty fun.

Us checking out the capybara...I want one badly.

Walking man is getting fast!

Sand is fun! Especially when there are dinosaur fossils in it!

The boys didn't care much for the animals but LOVED the play structure.  Batiste also spent a LOT of time playing in the landscaping mulch.

Batiste spent about 30 minutes picking up mulch and making little piles.

Forget the zoo! Let's make mulch piles (you can see three here).

Eddie went on his first roller coaster several times.  Oh man, I can't wait to take this kid to Disneyland.

There's a 2 story wood-and-rope play structure there and both boys seemed to love it.  Even though Batiste is just mastering walking, he climbed up the nets and stairs like a pro (going down required some help, however).  We had 4 adults and 2 kids and we were all playing tag-team and zone defense on that play structure...the boys can really move FAST!

My little tight rope walker!

Go Batiste! Go!

He lost a shoe, but it didn't slow him down!

Happy boys, happy Auntie

Having skipped naps, the boys were weary and a little cranky (at least mine was) by the time we left.  Batiste loathes being in a car seat so be screamed the whole way back to Mountain View but Eddie zonked right out.  Dave dropped us off at the grocery store, where I carried Batiste in the Ergo (he fell asleep immediately and I'd forget I was carrying him until he'd occasionally sigh).  We bought all kinds of delicious stuff for dinner: ham, asparagus, potatoes au gratin fixings (with mushrooms and jalapeno!)...and of course, strawberries and whipping cream for dessert.  Edward and I walked home so Batiste could keep sleeping a while longer. 

Sleepy tired!

Back in the kitchen, Jennifer, Edward, and I got to work cooking.  Alex and his friend came over, and later, Dyani and Brice.  Most of us changed into swimming suits for a quick hot tub dip while dinner cooked in the oven. 

Dinner buffet!

Once dinner was ready, we all squeezed around their kitchen table, sitting on a variety of chairs: office, beach, folding church chairs from the 1920s, and an overturned Rubbermaid tote.  (Jennifer's furniture is en-route to them from her parents' home in New York...by our next visit the house will be fully furnished.  Not that we minded one bit this way.)  Dinner was super good, the only thing missing was a pair of quiet toddlers...maybe next time.  =)

At some point that night Dyani and Brice (with an Ergo-ed Batiste) began teaching Edward and Jennifer how to salsa dance.  I'd thought that there wasn't enough wine in the world to force Edward into dancing, but apparently there is (plus Dyani can be very convincing).  This whole time Eddie was up and running around, like a small mad man.

 

After dessert was made, eaten, and the kitchen cleaned up, I looked at the clock--eek, it was nearly 11pm!--and decided to get Eddie to bed.  The good thing is that having him stay up late means he'll sleep in late, too.  We are VERY lucky to have a child who sleeps a given number of hours and not by the clock or sun. 

Sunday morning I rolled out of bed at 9:20am to take a shower.  I don't even think anyone else was up!  After I got dressed, I discovered that Dave and Eddie were snuggling in Eddie's bed.  Once Auntie and Uncle were up, we had some coffee and strawberries, just enough to tide us over until we got to the deliciousness of the farmers market.  What should have taken us about 15 minutes to walk there, turned into nearly 30 because Eddie kept changing his mode of transportation.  He oscillated between the stroller, Uncle's shoulders or arms, running, walking, and having Mama carry him.  It was ridiculous!

Shoulders...

Arms...

Walking...gotta fix his Spider Man sunglasses first!

Coming from Davis, home of a world famous farmers market, I was surprised and the size, variety, and business of this south bay market.  It was pretty big and had musicians at both ends of it.  Eddie loved it because it was right along the CalTrain tracks so he got to see a few choochoos go by.  Plus, he got a balloon (he chose the Spider Man option but pretended it was a leaf blower by scooting it along the ground making a "wrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" noise...he's lucky he didn't pop it!). 

Waiting impatiently for his balloon.

At about 2pm we decided to head back to the apartment because Eddie was tired and we needed to pack up and head out.  We were going to having Cousin Zennie over to play that evening so her parents could go on a date.  (Unfortunately, Mike's back was hurting so they didn't end up coming over.  Hopefully we get to play with her soon, though!)  Eddie slept the whole drive home and was a happy camper when we got home to the doggies (and all his toys).  Our babysitter took good care of the dogs, chickens, and fish for us while we were gone. 

After some intense mess-making (I mean, train and block playing...) Eddie had mac-n-cheese for dinner and then went to bed.  Dave and I waited to eat until he was down so we could enjoy the pork pate I bought at the farmers market that morning.  Mmmmmmm, it was good.  

My next culinary goal is to make some pate; I just watched the Julia Child episode so it can't be that hard.

While we were munching on the crusty olive bread and buttery pate with pickles on top and spicy mustard below, my phone chirped to remind me that I had to bring 16 Valentine's cards to Eddie's preschool the next morning for their party.  DANG IT.  Downton Abbey was starting in only 30 minutes so I didn't have much time.  I pulled out my hefty craft bin and, in record time, Dave and I churned out 16 individualized cards for the kids.  Whew. 

I settled back on the couch to watch my favorite show of all time.  It was so annoying that the HD antenna wasn't working.  For the first half of the show the signal was bad so the image and sound would freeze.  At least it'll be streaming for free on PBS.org soon and the second half of the 2-hour show was fine.