A few weeks ago we were visiting Dave, Tracey, and Lucian in the city. We were going for lunch, but Holly was a little antsy, so Tracey suggested going to the park first.
She had heard of a little park in Golden Gate that they had just finished refurbishing, and thought it might be fun, so she plugged it into our GPS and we headed over to the "Koret Children's Quarter"
OMG it is the most amazing park we have ever been to. There was a tiny tot play structure, several large structures connected by bridges and walkways, a spider web's climbing structure, swings, and a concrete slide.
There were cool new styles of climbing ladder's made of ropes and bars that of course Holly is still too young to climb up, but had fun hanging onto and checking out.
There was a colorful wall in the tiny tot structure and two slides that she could totally do all by herself, which were a lot of fun.
This is the mouth of the tube slide, and it was shallow enough that she could go down it without any help. The base was shallow and close to the sand floor, so even if she was going fast, she would land safely on the ground without much of a bump.
It was even set up in such a way that she could climb back up the slide if she wanted, and there were little foot holds to help you out.
Our little pumpkin had fun walking around on the bouncy turf, and didn't stay in any one place for too long, there was so much to explore and see.
If she could climb up this structure she would, in fact she tried. She is a dare devil and takes every opportunity to climb that she can. But she had mom and dad to help her out and give her a lift or redirect so she could explore the upper section of the play structure.
It was pretty secure and well guarded with different kinds of fences and bars on the various sides of the different platforms. Even so, we were sure to stay a few steps behind her as she explored and walked around.
It is so neat have the various climbing structures, Holly was hanging off of them and trying to pull herself up. Since we were in San Francisco it was pretty chilly, so we had her in socks and a sweater.
These were three cool little toad stools that the bigger kids used to climb on, and Holly thought made a cool "bambam" table, she likes to pat and bang every surface she can.
And then she is off. She really liked walking around. The playground was huge, and besides the sandy area underneath the play structure, there was bouncy turn all over that she could toddle on.
She took a moment to look for Lucian who was having a snack in his stroller just along the playground, but she is easily distracted and went off to the next thing.
These were cool spinning "flower bud" chairs, I am not sure how much she liked the spinning, once she found herself inside the chair, but Daddy moved slow, and she wasn't too dizzy one she jumped out.
Of course it wouldn't be a day at the park with Holly if she wasn't making friends everywhere she turned. This was a cool double slide, and this little girl refused to go down until Holly was ready to slide with her.
There is no "Escape" for the little munchkin. This was another cavern for her to climb in. A tube to enter, and grates on either side.
It was cool to have so many different compartments to climb in, it was like her own secret club house.
This was a cool bridge for the kids to walk or crawl across in the middle of the platform. It was really cool, because Holly could crawl across it, even if her arms or feet might slip through the wholes, she wasn't going to be able to fall.
That walkway connected to the hills behind the park which lead to a pathway above to the top of the slide, which you will see in a moment.
We took a break to head to the swings, as that was something Lucian was able to do. They were set on the opposite side of the park, in between were some cool wave shaped climbing structures.
There were only a few baby swings, so Holly and Lucian swung a few times together back to back, which was a blast. Lucian had so much fun, Tracey said it was the highest he had swung ever.
After our bottle break we headed back over to the concrete slide, it was so much fun, Holly went down in Joel's lap, but amazingly there were little kids only 2-3 years old flying down all on there own.
Basically you just sit on a big piece of card board and then slide down, but in both Joel and David's case they lost there card board half way down... I tried to tell them to use a bigger piece.. But men never listen.
The slide was fast if you wanted it to be, but with a slump in the middle it was pretty easy to manage your speed, and both dads played it safe with the little ones.
On our way out of the park we stopped at the carousel. Holly had fun at first, she liked the animals and thought they were a lot of fun to sit on, but then once it started to go around and Mommy was gone, she wasn't too happy.
Lucian is such a big boy, I wish I had more pictures of him, but he wasn't feeling well because he just started day care so Tracey kept him pretty bundled and secluded.
Around and round they went, Holly was on the Big Rooster, daddy picked it out, because he though granny might really get a kick out of it.
Here we are deciding where to go for lunch, one good picture of Lucian, he is in a cute knitted sweater, and he has had his first haircut, so many of his highlights are gone.
Now donning her shoes Holly trots back towards to car on our way to lunch. She loves to walk, so we let her when we have the chance, it's safe, and we aren't in a rush.
Next to the park is a huge meadow, there were picnics, Frisbee, drumming, and guitar, juggling, and a lot of hanging out on blankets and reading, it looked like a wonderful place to spend the afternoon. There was also a visitor's center that had art classes, even ceramics, which was very cool.
Slides - 1 - There were so many slides, but on the tiny tot structure there were two she could do with no help.
Swings - 1 - yes, baby swing and big kid ones, even one with a cool "seat"
Surface - 1 - Both bouncy turf, sand, grass int he meadow. It was great.
Shade - 1 - There were trees, but not really a need for shade because it was in the city, so pretty cool and often foggy or overcast.
Climbing - 1 - So much fun stuff to climb on for Holly's size, but as she gets older, the stuff she will be able to get into is amazing!
Parking - 1 - Just around the corner from the park, there is a lot. It might be kinda busy, as it is Golden Gate Park, but we were able to find something close.
Bathrooms - 1/2 - There are bathrooms, but they are a pretty far walk away from the playground, on the other side of the park off near the meadow, so if one were "Potty training" it wouldn't be a quick run.
Distance - 1/2 - It is only about 10 miles away, so it is possible to get there in 20 minutes, but on a bad traffic day it could be longer. the upside, with friends in the city, we would often have an excuse to be there anyways.
Friends - 1 - So many kids, tons to play with of all ages, and it was a windy day. We met a little of little ones, that we could have chatted with, were we spending more time on the playground.
Fun - 1- So much fun! We didn't even really have a chance to explore everything, Holly had a blast, and there is a lot to do.
http://www.sfgov.org/site/recpark_page.asp?id=26880
So Isabel really likes this place called Clarks Auction House. it is in Oakland and once a month they have viewings and then a weekend Auction. She usually checks out the items online and then sometimes goes in person to see them if there is something she likes. One time she convinced Holly and I into joining them. One this day there was a lot of stuff listed by one woman who had about 300 pairs of Shoes 100 purses and a ton of vintage designer clothing. The stuff was amazing. They were not pleased with these little girls trying on 500$ pairs of shoes, but hey, what are you going to do. There was a lot of really neat furniture, rugs, paintings. One cool thing was a bunch of skateboards done by some famous artist. We ended up having a really good time.
I figured I should write about my trip to NY before it was too far in the past. I am back home now, and it was a great trip. Things started out with our flight to NY. I booked a red eye on jet blue, direct flight, left at 9:30. I assumed Holly would drink a bottle and be off to sleep for the next 5 hours. HA ha. An hour in she was done playing in the empty seat next two us. Two hours in she was screaming, wiggling, and crying, refusing to sleep, refusing a second bottle. Three hours in we were walking the isles, and then I saw a stewardess get ice for someone and it perked Holly's interest. I got her a glass and we sat back down. She began to suck on the ice and play with it. Mouth to glass to mouth and within twenty minutes she was asleep. Sensory thing? Teething? One will never know, but by then I was so afraid to move and wake her that I was never able to fall asleep myself. 
We arrive, its 6am I had no sleep, Holly had 2 hours and my mom phones to tell me that the airline won't give her a gate pass, so sadly Holly gets woken up and we make the long hard trek to baggage. Luckily at Baggage mom and dad were waiting with a stroller so we could put Holly down, I hoped she would fall asleep, but she was so excited to see what was going on she stayed awake at the airport, the ride home, for breakfast, until around 10:00 in the morning. I was able to get her to fall asleep in the single bed of our guest room and then transfer her to the crib so I could take a nap. We had about four hours. 
When we woke up we had a few minutes to have a snack and then my mom, Holly, and I went to run errands with Elise, the bride's mom (Stephanie). Holly was such a good girl. She was happy to be in the car seat, she enjoyed looking around. She enjoyed the stroller, was happy to be out and about, but not too eager to run around as she had an overwhelming day. We picked up the wedding dress at Macy's, Holly explored the bridal store, she enjoyed all of the mirrors and looking at the pretty dresses.
When we got back home Elise showed Holly a bunch of toys she had around the house left over from when she did evaluations of special needs kids, and Holly had a blast. Beads to string, blocks to stack, books to read, dolls to put shoes on, it was wonderful. She played in the living room a bit, but there were three near by stair cases and it wasn't easy to keep her contained. Jim had some old baby gates left over from when Jason lived with them (Scot's son) and they used them to contain her in the living room, but they didn't work so well. They weren't affixed to the wall so it was easy for Holly to push them over. 
We ordered Chinese for dinner and put Holly in the highchair. She snacked on the food and then played. We gave her blocks and she was happy to sit in and enjoy the conversation while we talked at the dinner table for a few hours. She had a Thomas the Train plate and bowl from my dad, and the blocks she was playing with were a train set with several spokes for the various shaped blocks to stack onto. Then Elise received a call from Stephanie who was checking the dress and veil and found out the store gave us the wrong veil. Chaos! In the end it worked out, but included a plan where we needed to get the wrong veil from Stephanie's place and then be at Macy's at 11:00 to pick up the right one, and then by 2:00 my mom had to head back to Stephanie's to help her get ready for the big event. 
The next morning we headed out early to go and pick up dress shoes for Holly. This was a big debate, as my parents think she should be wearing shoes more often, and with more support, harder soles, ankle support. I told my dad I would take a look, keep an open mind, and talk to the sales clerk. I had to laugh when the clerk told my mom that for little kids it is best to keep them out of shoes for as long as possible, and then go to the soft soles, like Robbies, or the next step up Pedipeds. For my dad's sake I did try a pair of Sneaker's on Holly she was a size 5 wide, she looked very cute, but was very off balance, and did not like them one bit. We ended up getting two pairs of the Pedipeds, one in 12 month size that were black and shiny and for the wedding, and another brown Maryjane style in 18 month size for her to grow into. I have several Robbies that holly got from granny, in lots of larger sizes, so I think Holly will be good for shoes for a long time.
Right across the street was Franks Pizza. It had been maybe 8 years since I had NY Style Pizza, and probably 20 since I was at Franks last. It was only 10:30 AM, But I had to stop for a slice. My mom ran in to get one to go while I strapped Holly into the car, as we were on our way to Macy's. When I bit into that slice of pizza, it was like heaven. I had been dreaming, craving NY Pizza for years, you can;t get it anywhere else, and I had come to believe that I must have built it up so much in my head that there was no way it was actually as good as I had been imagining and remembering, but when I took that first bit, I swear it was even better.
Words just do not describe. Once we got back with the Veil my dad found out that we had Pizza for breakfast. He was not a happy camper that we had some without him, it was about 12:30 and my mom needed to go and start getting ready herself. We needed gas int he car so Holly and I decided to join my dad for Lunch. We headed back to Franks and had another slice. This time we ate inside and Holly had her first taste of NY Pizza! Yum Yum! More to come in the next post.
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