We took a break from daily life and headed to the Bay Area for four days of fun. Our first stop was Discovery Kingdom. This was the highlight of the trip for Rachel because they had elephants. We saw the elephants three times and the elephant show. We watched the elephants eat hay, drink water, get a shower from their trainers, and perform tricks. We also saw other animals, visited the butterflies, and rode a couple of rides that Rachel was tall enough for (she is still only between 31 and 32 inches), but these activities all paled in comparison to the elephants.
Discovery Kingdom
Discovery Kingdom
After our fun in Vallejo we packed up and continued on to San Fransisco. We stayed in a condo so Rachel could nap every day and we could make our own meals. It was very budget friendly and it was nice not to have to sit silently in a dark room while Rachel fell asleep. However, she only ended up napping one day in the condo. We did attempt it each day, but most days she crashed in her stroller long before her scheduled nap time.
Our first day in San Francisco we explored the batteries at the Presidio. Rachel enjoyed climbing up and down all the stairs. It was interesting to see and we were surprised to learn that the cement structures were over 100 years old. After the Presidio and some quiet time in the condo we spent the evening at The Aquarium of the Bay. It is a nice and somewhat small aquarium. They have 2 long tunnels with lots of fish and sharks, jelly fish, and 2 touch pools. Rachel was too short to pet the bat rays but she did get to touch a star fish.
Presidio
Presidio
Aquarium
The next day we headed to the San Francisco zoo. They do not have an elephant, but we were able to get Rachel excited about the Zebra and later the polar bears which stopped her from asking to see an elephant (which she asked for every morning). Not thinking we saved the children's zoo till the end of the day and she fell asleep before we made it over there. She would have enjoyed saying hi up close to all the farm animals. We may have even convinced her to pet some. After our afternoon condo break we headed out the Shakespeare Garden, Rose Garden, and a playground in the Golden Gate park. The Shakespeare garden sounded like it had potential, but it was disappointing. It didn't look that cared for and the presentation of the plants and the works of Shakespeare they corresponded with could have been a little better. There was a list at the back of the garden. Some plaques around the garden would have been nice and maybe some paths or something. The gate into the park was pretty. Rachel enjoyed running around the rose garden and smelling the flowers. After she tired of that we headed to a toddler friendly playground we discovered on our walk to the rose garden. Rachel made a friend at the playground. He followed her around and copied everything she did. She loved all the attention and even followed his lead a couple times.
Zoo
Zoo
Rose Garden
On our final day we checked out the Randall Museum. This is a fun and free children's museum. They have some animals, an earthquake duplo platform that you can build a structure on and then push the button to test its ability to withstand an earthquake, a toddler room with toys, and a train area. Brian was super excited to see how much she loved the duplos. After play time we enjoyed our lunch on their grounds which are on a hill overlooking the city. Following lunch we headed to the beach to squeeze in a little more fun before going home. Rachel really wanted to go in the water, but took "no" very well and enjoyed playing in the sand until it was time to head home.
Beach
