Car DVD players work wonders to relieve a child's boredom on a long road trip. (What ever did our parents do without them?) But children are still children. And Max did what most little boys would do upon being released from his car seat after five hours.
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| 27 September 2013 |
At the very first rest stop, he ran around and found the first pile of something in which to play. In this case, grass clippings at a rest stop along Interstate 5 fit the bill nicely. I'm pretty sure that some of that grass is still hidden in the nooks and crannies of his car seat.
Oakland is a great place to visit because we have so many friends in the area. We got together with our friends Jen and Adrian and their daughter, Alexis, for a picnic in Tilden Park.
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| 28 September 2013 |
Of course, we took the opportunity to ride the steam train that runs through the park. Charlotte and her mommy snuggled together ...
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| 28 September 2013 |
... while just behind them Charlotte's daddy talked shop with Adrian.
It was a pretty low-key trip with lots of kid-friendly activities. Following another picnic, Max and Charlotte got to play on a local playground.
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| 29 September 2013 |
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| 29 September 2013 |
Although we took the big highway north, we elected to take the slow road (i.e. US highway 101) south and stopped for the night in Pismo Beach, California, at a terrific hotel. Though we had to get back home, we did stop for breakfast ...
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| 1 October 2013 |
Then we went down to the beach for a little while.
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| 1 October 2013 |
It has some pretty amazing views ...
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| 1 October 2013 |
which Charlotte and Max took in together. It was a really fun place to spend the night. And Charlotte and Max had some pretty serious reservations about leaving, reservations which lead to a rare tandem temper tantrum when we ushered them out of the swimming pool.
But the nice thing about the slow road is that it affords so many opportunities for pleasant diversions. One of the ones on which we stumbled was a charming pumpkin patch (just north of a winery which we also enjoyed). So we picked out some Halloween pumpkins.
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| 1 October 2013 |
Max found one that he liked, but it wasn't easy to get him to understand that we didn't have quite enough room in the car to get it home. Unable to bring a pumpkin that large back home, Charlotte still found adventure in scaling them.
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| 1 October 2013 |
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| 1 October 2013 |
As you can see, this pleasant diversion offered no shortage of ridiculously cute photo opportunities!
But a long road trip is taxing even for the best of children. And Max and Charlotte were near the end of their respective proverbial ropes by the time we stopped for a brief dinner in Santa Barbara, California.
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| 1 October 2013 |
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| 1 October 2013 |
Don't let the big smiles fool you! We just need to make sure that both of our DVD players survive the trip next time. (We had a casualty. But, quite fortunately, Jenn had the wisdom and foresight to buy a warranty, enabling us to have two working DVD players for our next trip!!! Word to the wise: insure any expensive electronics you buy for your children!)
Rufus reminds us that this blog isn't just about toddlers ...
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| 5 October 2013 |
The title refers to our terriers, too!
--- Shawn (for Jenn and Charlotte and Max and Lucy and Rufus)
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