Yard Work

We worked in the yard again today. My mom is here visiting (she got here yesterday) so she was able to watch Carter while we worked on the front bed on the other side of the sidewalk from the one we did last Saturday.



We got ambitious midway through our work and decided to put in bricks as an edger between the bed and grass. Amazingly we were still able to also finish that added project before dinner.


We still have several projects to get done this spring, but at least the yard is looking good from the street now!

San Francisco - Day 4 - Muir Woods & SF Zoo

Carter woke up early on Thursday - he was up at 4:30 am. He finally fell back to sleep on his own at 5:15 am only to be woken up by us at 6 am so we could get going.

Thursday was finally sunny all day. But it was cold in the morning (low 40s). We dropped Brian off downtown and then Carter and I headed over the Golden Gate Bridge to Muir Woods National Monument. Carter slept for part of the drive over there.


I bundled Carter up for our hike. In addition to his sweater and fleece, he had a toboggan, mittens, and blanket. We left the car around 8:45 am. The park was open but the ranger station wasn't open yet to pay the entrance fee. At this time there were only a few other people in the park. The trail we followed was paved so it was easy to push Carter in his stroller.

Carter in front of a redwood tree ...


All bundled up ...


On one of the 4 bridges ...


Carter and me (this is the best I could do with no one around to take our picture) ...


I missed my good camera. The lighting is difficult because very little sunlight reaches the ground. I still tried getting a few good shots with my point-and-shoot camera.


Carter between two trees ...


Looking up ...


Happy boy ...


Carter in a tree ...


We went all the way down to the 4th bridge before turning around. When we came back to the 3rd bridge, we crossed it and walked on the other side of the stream. We finished hiking around 10:30 am and we stopped by the visitor's center to have Carter's national park passport book stamped.

Since we were close by, we drove over to the Muir Beach Overlook.



We only walked part of the way out to this overlook because Carter was really squirmy and wanted to walk. There were steep dropoffs on both sides of the trail so he made me really nervous.


Carter took a nap on our way back in to San Francisco. Our plan was to go to the San Francisco Zoo next so we stopped by an Arby's near the zoo for lunch. This was the first time I'd ever taken Carter to a restaurant on my own. We've eaten out plenty of times but Carter's always been in his stroller or in his carseat and is usually the only one eating.

We got to the zoo around 1:30 pm. The San Francisco Zoo is part of the reciprocal program with the Knoxville Zoo so we got in for half price (Carter was free of course).

The first animals we saw were giraffes and zebras. Carter LOVED them. He kept screaming at them. He didn't want to leave the viewing area for them. Several times I started walking away and as I was turning the corner I would tell Carter bye-bye. Instead of following me or getting upset, he just waved bye to me.



There were lots of babies at this zoo, including 2 giraffes, a gorilla, and lots of monkeys.



Just one of the cubs ...



A pile of lemurs ...


The lions ...


We enjoyed watching this bear play with a stick ...


"I like bears" ...


I didn't know polar bears could climb steep stairs like this set out of the pit separating the exhibit area from people ...



The kangaroos were my favorite animals ...


I really enjoyed going to this zoo with Carter. Though he was a handful part of the time. Carter didn't want me to hold him at all but he didn't want in his stroller either. He just wanted to go where ever he wanted to (which was often behind split rail fences where we weren't supposed to be). We had several temper tantrums with lots of screaming. But I kept letting Carter out of his stroller because I wanted him to be able to see the animals better.

Brian finished up early so we headed out around 3:30 pm. The only part of the zoo we missed was the Children's Zoo. Carter took a third short nap on the way to get Brian. We stopped by the hotel and then went to Red Robin for dinner. Carter did really well at the restaurant again. We got back to the hotel early and had Carter in bed at 7:30 pm.

Mother Goose

Yesterday Carter and I went to the Mother Goose class for the first time. Amy and Caitlyn go all the time and it was about time we joined them!

The program is held twice a month at a church near our house. We crashed the old kids class at 9 am (it's supposed to be for 18 to 30 month olds) since that's the one that Amy goes to with Caitlyn. I was really impressed by the program (especially since it's free!).

Since it was our first time there, I was given a binder with information and the lyrics for all the rhymes and songs that are sung in the class (along with a CD).

While we were waiting for the class to start and everyone to show up, they played some music in the classroom. Carter has gotten more confidence lately and stood in the middle of the room dancing while all the other kids pretty much stayed by their moms.

Since Easter is just around the corner, they started off with pictures with the Easter Bunny. The kids had mixed reactions, of course. Carter did fine. I stood next to him as he sat on the Bunny's lap chewing on his fingers. He didn't get upset but he wasn't very excited about it either. We are supposed to be given the prints at the next program we attend.

Next the instructors (there were 3) did some rhymes and then handed out maracas. There weren't any organized playing of the instruments. Just some music in the background and have fun shaking! Once the maracas got collected (Carter willing put his in the bag - wow!), we did some more rhymes. Carter wasn't too interested in sitting with me but there were a few other wanders in the room. Carter found a buddy (another boy around 20 months old) and they would give each other little hugs or just stand next to one another leaning into each other. It was very cute. Carter tried being social with a few other kids but they weren't interested (they seemed scared even though Carter was tinier).

Then they brought out bubbles for us to play with. Carter and Caitlyn really liked having us blow bubbles at them. I've never seen Caitlyn so happy!

After some more rhymes and songs, we finished up. The instructors dumped a bunch of balls in the center of the room and the kids got to toss them around. Carter liked throwing the balls while Caitlyn liked collecting as many as she could hold.

Carter had so much fun. He was very social with the other kids. He was probably the youngest in the class but all the kids weren't much older than him so they weren't much bigger (and none of them smaller). It was really neat to see him try to interact with other kids.

Carter's New Room

Here are some pictures of Carter's new room. So far the paint is done and we have all the main furniture. We are waiting on the crib sheet to arrive in the mail and I need to print some pictures to put in all the silver frames I bought. I need to hem the crib skirt (if it matches the crib sheet, otherwise I need to find something different). Maybe tomorrow I'll start moving some of Carter's books, toys, and clothes. I'm shopping around for a little soft chair for the corner near Carter's bookcase and Brian is considering building Carter a table and chairs instead of us buying a set.









To see the layout of the room, go back to this POST.

San Francisco - Day 3 - California Academy of Sciences

Wednesday (March 3rd) was forecast to be another rainy day with rain in both the morning and afternoon. I decided to take Carter to the California Academy of Sciences located in Golden Gate Park for the day so we could avoid the bad weather.

Carter woke up around 5 am and I finally got him around 5:30 am. When he got up, Brian called Dollar's customer service and was told we could go to any Dollar office to add me to the car rental agreement (they needed to see my license and couldn't add me over the phone). There was an office downtown near the Moscone Center so we decided that would be easier than going back to the airport.

As soon as Brian was ready, we headed downtown early so that Brian could still be at his conference by 8 am. Luckily it didn't take too long at the Dollar office and Brian was on time. Since I didn't have time to give Carter a bath or finish getting ready myself, Carter and I headed back to the hotel. Carter got a good morning nap and slept most of the way to and from downtown.

The California Academy of Sciences opened at 10 am and we got there just a little after it opened. The first thing we did was watch the penguin feeding. This isn't a very good picture, but Carter liked watching the birds swim around.


Carter liked the rest of the African Hall in the natural history area which was a bunch of model animals (like lions, zebras, and antelope) displayed in what looked liked a natural habitat. He kept pointing and screaming at them.

Next we went to the aquarium section. It was really crowded. There were a lot of school groups at the museum which made dragging around the stroller and trying to chase Carter almost impossible. There was lots of complaining as I tried to carry him around. We took our time though and Carter still enjoyed sections of the aquarium.

My favorite exhibit was the moray eels. Usually there is just one at an aquarium in an exhibit with other fish but they had at least 20 in this one exhibit. They were really neat looking.


Carter and I took a break after the aquarium to eat lunch in the piazza. Carter was being really silly during lunch and showing off for people around us. He is so shy if someone comes up to him and gives him direct attention, but he'll show off and try to get someone's attention before and after they try to interact with him.

After lunch we headed up to the roof to check out the Living Roof since there was a break in the rain. Carter loved climbing all over the railings in the viewing area. It was really cold though and there was a lot of complaining when I decided it was time to move on. But Carter had fun while he was up there!




After the Living Roof, we went into the rainforest dome.


There were butterflies and parrots along with the plants in the dome. I wasn't really all that impressed and Carter didn't seem to be either.

We tried to go to the planetarium next but they don't allow kids under 4 into the show. I think Carter would have been fine though.

So we moved on to the Early Explorers Cove which is the children's play area. Carter had a lot of fun playing in the garden and on the ship. We had the most fun though with a wooden spoon and bowl he found in the kitchen section. He carried that around with him for a long time.




Around 2 pm we had to head out because our 4 hours of free street parking in the park was up. I took a quick picture of Carter with the dinosaur as we were leaving ...


Since it was raining a lot, I decided that I would let Carter take a nap in the car and then we'd head back into the museum until Brian was ready to be picked up. I was hoping the school groups would be gone by then and I'd be able to let Carter explore a little more.

So I drove around the park a little and Carter fell asleep. I parked near the museum again and caught up on some email on my phone. Once Carter woke up, I gave him a snack and we headed back into the museum.

It was so much nicer in the late afternoon! It seemed empty compared to earlier in the day. I ended up letting Carter run around the aquarium for about an hour going from exhibit to exhibit. He had so much fun and didn't bother anyone since there were so few people there.


Carter was enjoying running his hand along the wall as he walked from exhibit to exhibit. Once there were people in his way and he started grunting at them like he does to Brian and me to move out of his way. They didn't seem to notice but it was funny to watch Carter try to communicate what he wanted to other people.

After the aquarium we walked through some of the exhibits we missed in the morning (including this albino alligator) before heading out to pick up Brian.


We spent another 1 1/2 hours at the museum. It was a big place, but if I wasn't trying to stretch the visit to take up the entire day, you could probably see everything in 2-3 hours.

Once we picked up Brian, we all headed to BJ's Brewhouse for an early dinner. It was a good thing we got there early because by 6 pm, there was a decent wait for a table. Carter did a pretty good job not being too loud during dinner and we were happy to get a good meal.

We headed back to our hotel room and got Carter to sleep on time around 7:30 pm.

Carter Photos

I realized today that it's been forever since I tried getting good photos of Carter. So I got my good camera out today and I'm going to see what I can capture over the next few days.

Here are a few I got today ...





Carter and I had lots of fun today. We went to Baby Bookworms for the first time in awhile and Carter did great. He really enjoyed the songs - he clapped and laughed a lot. And he stayed by me - no straying off to play by the window. It was really crowded today and when the class was over and the librarian was bringing the teddy bear around to say hi to all the kids, Carter got brave and explored all over the room on his own. He even tried to interact a little with some of the other kids.

After having lunch and running a few errands (Carter screamed happy screams so loud the entire time in Target so we had to do our shopping quickly), we went to Anchor Park to play for a bit. We can't get enough of this nice weather!

Carter fell asleep on the way home and after he got up from his afternoon nap, we played outside some more in our own yard. Carter chased Charlotte around and played with the rocks under our deck.

I think the rain is coming in tomorrow so maybe I'll finally catch up on some chores around the house if we're stuck inside!