Local adventures

I am not sure exactly when it started but a few weeks ago we began calling our errands “adventures” to bring a little joy to the otherwise mundane tasks and to help encourage Oskar to get dressed and out the door. Since then, we have been on a few adventures, some real, some unexpected and some just an errand repackaged as something new and fun.

The first of our adventures was on a Sunday and it was to the Tile and Flooring store in Hunters Point to pick out tile for Timber Cove... we got there before they opened and were the first ones in the door. With Alva in the stroller (at two weeks old) and Oskar and Martin running around we somehow managed to pick out tile fairly quickly. It took a little longer to actually order the goods so while I managed the actual purchase Oskar and Martin played in the display bathtub. It kept them both happy, entertained and contained for at least 10’minutes.

The following week we had a true adventure to Tilden Park to see the farm animals and ride the steam train with Grandma and Grandpa. Oskar was a little overwhelmed by the animals, but we kept ourselves entertained by watching my dad trying to feed the cows, pig, sheep and goats his old celery.  Apparently the animals are local food snobs; they constantly turned down our limp celery in favor of fresher greens. From the little farm we took the short drive to the steam train where Oskar was super excited and exclaimed every few minutes first “we are taking the train” followed by “we took the train.” Unfortunately Alva was a little overwhelmed so Martin and Alva stayed behind while Oskar and I, along with Grandma and Grandpa took the loop.

 A dead car battery and need to drive around for a while led to our adventure to Cavallo Point with Jeffrey and Kyrian (who were nice enough to give us a jump). We drove over Sunday morning so we could charge the battery and allow the two boys to ride their bikes and explore the wide open spaces. And we refilled our stomachs with lunch at the restaurant.

The following weekend my parents came over and we went on an adventure through Chinatown in search of dim sum. The wait was too long at the first restaurant we tried so we ended up at a counter-service restaurant deeper in Chinatown with limited seating and nothing but locals. My dad managed to make an impression by ordering the chicken feet, while Oskar made friends with the toothless older woman waiting for her food. She didn’t say a word but made enough hand gestures and facial expressions to get her point across... at least I think she was saying Oskar had a good appetite!

And finally, our local adventures ended with the biggest one, a trip to Timber Cove for Saturday night. It began with a monumental meltdown by Oskar in the morning because his banana broke into two pieces, followed by a road side stop five minutes before Timber Cove to clean up some puke (Oskar’s), feed Alva and pee on a tree (Oskar, thankfully not Martin).  The night ended with both kids crying at bedtime in our hotel room. Thankfully the time actually spent at the house with Grandma and Grandpa was really fun (they drove up that day to drop off the newly purchased tile and help supervise the kids while Martin worked).

Next up, a true adventure to Europe with the four of us!