Grandma Arrives

Kids are super excited to pick up Grandma at the airport so we plan a trip to San Jose around our stop at the airport.

Laura plays on a replica of an original pianoforte in the Beethoven Room at the San Jose Public Library.

We hung out at a nearby trampoline park until it was time to pick up Grandma at the airport.

Fortunately Grandma did not have to leave for Fresno until noon, so we had a chance to check out Dry Creek Pioneer Regional Park before we dropped her at the car rental agency.  

  We are looking forward to Grandma's return to Fremont next week!

Thanksgiving Break Kick-off

Today we started off Thanksgiving break by meeting up with Marci at the science museum on the UC Berkeley campus (Lawrence Hall of Science).

DNA sculpture outside the entrance.

The kids loved the paper airplane launcher.

Benjamin took Joshua's heart.

Solving an organ puzzle ("Where does the pancreas go?"

Built a hydraulic machine which raises a rubber ducky.

View of the entire bay area from the outside exhibit.

Saturday we went to see Fiddler on the Roof in downtown San Jose.  Since the theater was right next to the Tech museum, we got to spend an hour there after the show (and get out parking ticket validated).  The robot building exhibit was too busy so Benjamin and Laura did the design challenge;  they had to build a machine to get a ball across the "river".

On Sunday, we visited the Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment.

And ate dinner at Chevy's on our way home.  Benjamin and Laura loved the make your own sundae which came with the kids meals.

Veterns Day Weekend

The kids had a three day weekend due to Veterans Day.  Friday I decided to take the plunge (we had downpours in the late morning) and go all the way to the Lindsey Wildlife Experience in Walnut Creek 35 miles away.  This place is a wildlife hospital, and they have animals on display that cannot be released into the wild.

Laura playing in the animal burrow exhibit.

Raptors were displayed on these raised perches near the ceiling.  The description explains how the bird got there and why it can't survive on its own in the wild.

Joshua is pretending to fly like a raptor.

While we were there, they showed the guests a bald eagle (which is behind a big sheet of glass).

We had fun in this small museum in spite of the crowds due to the school holiday.  If we get a chance to return, I would like to see the live demonstration in the animal hospital exhibit, which is shown only in the morning and late afternoon.

Saturday we went to Coyote Point Recreation Area and the CuriOdyssey Museum in the park.

Walking along the bay.

Pkaying in science section of CuriOdyssey Museum

Enjoying the view outside the museum/

Rodin Sculpture Garden and swimming

Saturday we met up with Dave's cousin at the Rodin Sculpture Garden and Art Museum at Stanford University.

This cool cactus garden was not here when I was at Stanford.

We also checked out the mausoleum,

Sunday, we went swimming at the Sillman Aquatic Center.

Joshua in the lazy river.

Class Trip #1

Today Laura had a class trip to the Exploratorium (https://www.exploratorium.edu/).   They took the Bart from Fremont to San Francisco.  Unfortunately I did not go so I don't have any photos.

Laura was also on Safety Patrol this week.

When Joshua is not playing video games or (on rare occasions) doing homework, he is reading manga.  Benjamin said that he usually spends his lunch in the school library checking out books.

A peek in Joshua's backpack.