I took a couple of days off from work to spend some time with the kidlets and, on both days, we ended up in Monterey. Dylan wanted to go to MY Museum (which he still thinks is my own, personal museum!), so I thought, yeah! We could visit Dennis the Menace Park, too, where they have a steam train that kids can climb.
Dylan is still totally enamored of trains, so it was a big hit! We stayed on that engine for over an hour before I was able persuade him to break for a snack and head to the museum…! While we were on it, he was chanting, “team GeoTrax! All aboard!” and singing the theme song (“all aboard! team geotrax, working together to make geotown better!”), inviting people to come along for the ride, chattin’ up the different controls with whatever grown-ups happened to hop on, and then, of course, doing the important work of shoveling more coal into the firebox and driving the train both backwards and forwards.
For the most part, Cameron hung out in the Ergo, whipping her head left and right to catch all of the kiddie action in view! But, when we did venture off the train, she tried a couple of slides. I guess her booties (made from the same material as booties for search and rescue dogs) really did a good job of keeping her from slipping, though!
The other slide we tried was this cool “conveyer belt” slide. Over the course of our two-day visit, Dylan went down this thing sideways, on his belly, lying down completely, and just regularly! Cameron also tried the slide, but I had to help her along, so no shots of the little gal…!
As it turned out, MY Museum was closed on Wednesdays (boo!! I even checked the hours online the night before, but I didn’t notice the “fine print,” just the “Mon-Sat 10-5pm” business!), so I was momentarily stuck without a plan. I pondered the options – head back home, stay at the park, eh, try the aquarium?? We’d seen a trolley pass by (and one was parked near the garage we parked in) with a sign saying “free!” Dylan had expressed an interest in riding it so I thought why not? It goes to the aquarium!
We hopped aboard–Dylan loved the ride — and shortly after, paid our admission to the aquarium.
Splash Zone was definitely the highlight of the trip. We saw tropical fish–clownfish and fish that looked like Dori from “Finding Nemo”–Dylan called it the Finding Nemo tank; we saw African penguins, lots of different coral, eels, and cardinal shrimp….Dylan liked the waves area and both kids liked being in the baby/toddler area. Technically, Dylan is not allowed in there, but what’s a solo parent to do? I couldn’t just let him wander off all by himself!
Anyway, he was very good about being calm when other wee ones came in; when it was just him and Cameron, though, he would bounce around on the squishy “waterbed” thing and crack her up! Cameron got a lot of good cruising and standing action in…and, at the end, I couldn’t resist letting her play with the water as well.
We stayed for a snack at the cafe and to see the Hot Pink “Flamangoes” (as Dylan said!), the jellyfish, and the sharks (of course) and giant blue fin tuna.
For sure, one of the best parts of the day was hearing Dylan tell me he had a good day!
The following day, I planned to take the kids to Happy Hollow in San Jose so we could meet up with Tom for either lunch or dinner, but Dylan requested MY Museum and the park again, so we made a return trip and hit up both places!
We started at the museum, then after lunch, we walked over to the park and spent a couple of hours there. Dylan was getting pretty daring on the engine and I was worried I wouldn’t be able to properly watch him what with the Doodle asleep in the Ergo and me lacking agility and full mobility! So, I bribed him away from the playground with a rainbow snow cone!
It just so happened we were passing the museum on our way to the car, though, so we stopped back in for a little more fun–golf, more time in the ambulance (where Dylan got on the phone asking if someone was hurt and letting that person know he was on his way!), surgery (a big-size Operation game in the “hospital” area), grape-stomping, food prep, etc….
What a full couple of days it’s been! Both days were pretty much 10am-5pm and the best and most fun job a parent could have…!
