SF Life Continues...

I haven't updated this blog for a while. Mainly because I've just been busy with other things, primarily trying to put together a design portfolio! Which I'm excited to say is gradually coming along. 

Anywho, SF life has been rather boring and unblog-worthy lately. Although the weather (for me) has been horrendous. Although Autumn (or "Fall") has just begun here, SF has a late Summer; its warmest months are September and October (apparently). So just as I thought Summer was over, it warms up. I'm pining for colder weather, especially since we moved here as Summer was about to begin and it was still going in Sydney. 

BUT ANYWAY, enough weather whinging, in the past couple of weeks, Mr Toddler turned two. (Obviously) it was his first birthday we've celebrated here. We didn't do anything major (I refused to organise another party this year after he had a Christening and a birthday party last year!), but he did get lots of presents and we took him to the zoo as it has everything he likes there: a train and animals. LOL. I also skipped a ballet class to make him a train cake from the Aussie Women's Weekly kids' cake cookbook that I think every Australian knows of! 

Today, however, we took him for ANOTHER little steam train ride. There are so many here, which is great because he loves them! They're also cheap, which is also great! This one was in Berkeley which is about a 20 minute drive from SF over the Bay Bridge (the Golden Gate Bridge's less famous sister (or brother?)). A friend in my ballet class suggested it to us. It was at the end of a really lovely drive and up a small mountain, so we got some amazing views along the way. From one point you could really see the whole of SF; it was pretty awesome! 

I think we'll probably be back here, as long as Mr Two likes trains. Aside from it being cheap, it's not in the middle of another big park or amusement place. It's just this little steam train service/place at the top of a mountain. LOL. And it just makes for a simple outing. We went on two rides as the ride itself is only 12 minutes long. It takes you through some nice forestry, and... that's about it! It was nice to have an outing where we didn't need to pay heaps to get into a place and/or do lots of things. It was simply just a little train ride that our toddler enjoyed. Dad, if you're reading this, Robert's thinking of taking you here when Mum, Erika and I go to the ballet! :-) I think you'd really enjoy it! (My family will be here over Christmas, which I'm very much looking forward to!)

Anyway, I have some more everyday-life posts to make here, which people seemed to enjoy last time. So hopefully I'll update this blog again soon! Sorry for the silence!

xoxo

If you're my friend on Facebook, you may have seen this picture, but there are some amazing views on the drive to/from the train! You can see the WHOLE of SF. Straight ahead is the city and the Bay Bridge. On the right is the Golden Gate Bridge. :-) I made Robert stop the car so I could get out and get a shot! :-) 

Traintown! (I think the name is pretty self-explanatory!)

I should re-name this blog to: Family-Friendly Things to do in the Bay Area. LOL. Considering our "adventures" and activities are generally based around what we think our toddler would like. We (obviously) don't really get the chance to do things like try fancy restaurants or check out the night life (yes, I could hire a babysitter from somewhere, but I don't trust people easily, let alone someone I don't know at all to take care of my child just so my husband and I can have a child-free night.). Although I was meaning to do a post about Cliff House where Robert and I went for dinner one night when my Mum was here. But I only just remembered that, so perhaps that'll be for a future post! 

Anyway, we took a drive to Sonoma last weekend so we could take Mr almost-2 to Traintown. If you've been reading this blog, you'll know that our toddler is currently very, very obsessed with and consumed by anything trains. Thomas and Friends characters are his favourites, but he'll take any train he can get! Sonoma is about an hour's drive from SF (just a bit over?), and is a bit Hunter Valley-like (for those who know Sydney and it's surrounding areas). We drove through quite a few vineyards and farms which made for a nice drive (when I was awake. LOL!). I quite like seeing some country-side-ish places; it makes for a nice break from the city's hustle and bustle that we live right in the middle of.

Traintown itself is, I guess, a small amusement park(?). I'm not really sure what you'd call it as there's really nothing like it in Sydney. It's built around a small steam train that you can (obviously) get a ride on. But there are other rides there, such as a ferris wheel and other small rides you'd see at the bigger theme parks. But it's nowhere near the size of Luna Park. The train ride itself was about 20 minutes. It would be shorter if it didn't stop halfway to let riders get off at a little petting zoo! It wasn't a big petting zoo, there were mainly a few goats and alpacas(? llamas?). But they're enough to build (more) excitement in little children. They could feed them and pet them, which is nice for a city kid like ours! (The place knows what attracts kids: trains and animals!) We also took the chance to check out the train up close. Along the ride, there are also miniature buildings built, so it looks like you're travelling through little towns. It's pretty cute. 

You could spend an entire day there, but two year olds only have an attention span of so long, so we were there for the train ride, a ferris wheel ride, lunch and for him to check out the gift shop (which he spent a long time in admiring the Thomas merchandise! Amazingly, we walked out empty-handed!). 

I felt that the biggest downside of the place is the food situation. There are signs everywhere saying "no outside food to be consumed in here". I'd packed a lunch for us as I couldn't find any info. on the website, but seeing these signs, I assumed there was a cafe or restaurant in there. The only thing they have is a tiny counter with junky snacks and soft drinks; no proper meals. Now, considering this is a family-oriented place, I found this extremely stupid. I don't think I'm a complete food nazi, but I am very conscious of what my toddler eats, and I generally try to feed him healthy food, with sweet/junky things being treats once or twice a week (if his father chooses to eat ice cream multiple times a week, he has to eat it after Mr toddler's bedtime!). And I think people are becoming more conscious of what they feed their kids, so you'd think you'd have a proper cafe selling proper meals for kids, at the very least. There also isn't really any place to sit down and eat properly; we just had to find a bench to perch on. We bought a couple of pretzels and drinks, but in the end I ended up giving our toddler his packed lunch in secret, which I felt was so stupid! Clearly, other people felt similarly: I saw lots of people grabbing pizza from the place next door and bringing it in, anyway. And the dad in front of us on the train had a lunch box for his daughter, so we obviously weren't alone in how we felt about that!

But otherwise, the place was quaint. You could end up spending a lot with older kids as I'm sure the ticket prices for each ride just continue to add up, but I guess that's how it is with all theme parks? (I wouldn't really know; I don't go to them very often!). We really just went because I Googled "steam trains in the Bay Area" and it came up! (Good ol' Google!)

Speaking of food, however, I should go and give my child dinner. Because apparently kids need to eat three times a day or something. What's up with that?! LOL. I leave you with some more pics!

Thanks for reading!!

xoxo

You can't really see it from this picture, but these are some of the miniature houses along the way on the train ride!

And so are these.

The miniature town that the train stops in and lets you out for the petting zoo.

Hi!

Ballet Progress, Mac 'n' Cheese and a Choo-Choo!

We had a busy weekend this past weekend, and unfortunately, I've come out the other side with a cold. So I'm sitting here writing this while the toddler sits in front of the TV. I know, I know: TV is terrible for kids, especially those two and under. But I'm a lazy parent, especially while I'm sick. Normally I try and take him out daily, but I just haven't got the energy right now. 

But like I said, the weekend was pretty busy. Which, I guess, is a good thing. My ballet teacher encouraged me to go to one of her Saturday classes which is a level up from what I'd been doing. I think she thought I was up to it, so I gave it a go. Robert very kindly cancelled his plans to go play Magic so I could go. It was a challenge, but it was good. Topped off by her telling me that I have some talent. So that was pretty awesome. :-) Ballet's been so great, and it feels really good to stretch the muscles and use some of the flexibility that my body has that I felt was going to waste. I do wish I'd never quit, and doing it now isn't going to make up for the 20 year absence, but oh well, I'm definitely enjoying it now, and am just glad my body's holding up pretty well! LOL.

We then headed down to Mission Bay (about a half hour walk from our place) for a Mac and Cheese "melt-off"! One thing that is quite ingrained in SF culture is the food trucks. Sydney doesn't really have anything like them. But they're exactly that: trucks that serve food; mobile restaurants! They come in all sorts of cuisines, and there are often events where they gather. This one was specifically for mac and cheese, and since Mr Toddler loves his mac and cheese, I thought it'd be a good thing to do for dinner. 

Double-decker bus playing music! The DJ up the top was wearing a cheese hat. LOL.

It was at Spark Social, and we walked in to the trucks, lots of people and a double decker bus where people were playing (very loud) music and dancing. We got there around 5 or so, which probably wasn't the best time for little kids (it had been going since lunch time). The place was mainly taken up by childless adults who were getting drunker by the minute. LOL. The trucks were also running low on food, so we didn't end up getting anything as good as I'd hoped. I think it would have been much better if we'd gone earlier, but I was at ballet, and the event page on Facebook said it went 'til 9pm, so I thought 5-ish would have been OK. But oh well. Like Robert said, it's good to do things like this, even if they're not always the most successful of outings: what's the point in living elsewhere if you're not going to experience it? 

Sunday was spent at Oak Meadow Park. Chosen because it has a little train that goes around the park, and I thought Mr Toddler would like it since he's so obsessed with trains at the moment! I'm still getting used to it being cool in SF but hot in other areas. There was also a carousel, but we didn't go on that. There are carousels all over the place here. There's one at the kids' museum, there was one at SF Zoo, and one at the park. I'm sure there are many more! There aren't any in Sydney (anymore), aside from in theme parks (maybe?), and there aren't even many theme parks anymore! 

It was a nice day (albeit, hot), but probably would have been more enjoyable if I hadn't been coming down with a cold. 

Anyway, I should probably go play with Mr Toddler or something. It's been a boring day indoors for him today. :-( Excuse the terrible pics this week. :-(

xoxo