Future Plans and Emma Prusch Park

I've been asked quite a bit recently what our future plans are and whether we intend to move back to Australia or not. I'm sure people ask this out of politeness than genuine interest, but for anyone who may be reading this, the answer is that we're not sure. We're playing everyday by ear at the moment and just seeing where this adventure takes us. Careers aside, I feel like it's been good for us so far; for us as a little family unit and for us individually (despite the fact that Robert works 24/7 and really didn't get a break when he took a week of leave a few weeks ago. But that's a different story.). For me, I really genuinely wanted a new start and to move somewhere we literally didn't know a single soul. And yes, I wanted a bit of an adventure. I'm not an overly adventurous type (I'm definitely not someone who feels like they need to see the whole world before they die), and being quite introverted, I tend to stick to my comfort zones. But I feel like making a new start freed me from some personal and emotional baggage; a new start has felt really good. There were also people that I wasn't sorry to have left behind (don't worry, if you're reading this, chances are none of them were you! LOL). And I'm not going to lie: I kind of enjoy being one of the people who have a foreign accent! Haha! A lot of the time I get asked if I'm British. Australian is usually people's second guess. Anyway, I hope this answers the question of whether we'll move back or not! There are things we like and dislike here, but I think you'd find that anywhere. 

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Anyway, a couple of weeks ago(? I'm losing track of time!), we took Mr Toddler to Emma Prusch Farm Park. It was sort of a continuation of checking out these awesome parks in SF and surrounding areas. It was about an hour's drive away from SF, and for anyone who knows Sydney, it was a bit like driving from the CBD to Penrith. The weather difference was similar as well: we left a cool, temperate SF and ended up in a very hot San Jose. Which sucked because I hate hot weather, and we probably would have hung around a bit longer if it hadn't been so hot. But the park itself is pretty cool, and I couldn't think of anything similar in Sydney. Aside from an awesome playground, it's basically a playground crossed with a little farm. I think its intention is to show kids what country life is like a bit. There are multiple picnic areas, an animal area that's home to some goats, chickens etc., a farm house, a barn and some gardens. There are also chickens just wandering around the place of their own freewill (clearly the owners have a lot of trust in people!). 

In his typical fashion, Mr Toddler went straight for some old tractors once he'd had lunch. He wanted to sit up on them and play with the steering wheel, but unfortunately the heat had made the metal too hot, so he couldn't really play on it. But I thought it was good for him to see some animals again and to be in a big, open space. City living definitely has many perks, but the one thing it doesn't have is a lot of green, open space. 

San Jose itself was interesting. And I'm starting to get more accustomed to the Bay Area being home to many small cities, unlike Sydney which is a big city with lots of big suburbs. If I were to liken The Bay Area to Sydney, Sydney CBD would be its own city, Parramatta would be its own city, Penrith would be its own, etc., etc. San Jose was also like walking into Mexico town. Everything was in Mexican(???)... Portuguese(???)... Spanish(???)... (what language do they speak in Mexico? LOL!), and I felt like every business was a taco place. LOL. (I guess we know where to go if we want many, many tacos!) I've found it interesting to see the influence of a country we really don't have a lot of exposure to in Australia. I'm glad we got a car. We didn't have to, but I think it was worth it, if only just because it's given us the chance to explore so much more than we otherwise would have. 

Anyway, enough of my rambling. Here are a few pics from the park. If Mr Toddler ever decides that animals are his "thing", it would be a great place to host a birthday party at!

xoxo