Thistle Be Fun!

Well, well I have a lot of catching up to do.

We start with the weekend of May 15/16th.

We spent a day at the Castroville Artichoke Festival.

Castroville is just northwest of here and is considered the "Artichoke Center of the World".

So, we thought we better go check it out.

This is a post heavy with pictures, but I always post with the boys' grandparents in mind.

Plus, there was so much to do!

First, the parade!

Fabulous dancers in fabulous dress.

Kingsley's little bit 'o' heaven.

Lots of cars, lots of them.

I am beginning to realize that no festival around here is complete

without cowboys.

Dancing horses!

You should have seen some of these performers, so incredible!

Festival fun is never complete without jumpy houses.

Different jumpy houses for different ages and likes.

Mini-train ride.

A big hit.

Even though we are active members of the Children's Museum in Monterey,

the boys loved checking out their booth and activities. Some cool stuff!

Rides!

Of course.

Festival music and dancing in the straw.

All done.

Kingsley's favorite car of the parade.

I did not take pictures of any artichokes!

In addition, I did not snap any pictures of the varied and creative (not to mention delicious)

ways in which artichokes were served and available for purchase.

We sampled deep-fried artichokes and an artichoke burrito which were heavenly.

We purchased 5 artichokes for $1 and sauteed some up for dinner.

A fun, and filling, day.

Oh yes, a word about the post title.

"Thistle be fun!" is the motto of the Artichoke Festival.

Artichokes are thistles, don't you know?

(I didn't.)

All Aboard!

Hop on board as I play catch up this week.

Our first stop: National Train Day in Salinas.

Though it didn't look exactly like the picture-perfect postcard above,

it was a fun side-trip in addition to our usual Saturday activities (library, farmer's market, park).

It is fair to say that Kingsley had a ball.

He was in train heaven when the gentleman let him operate the switches for the model rail road.

The boys were happy to see that Thomas and Percy made an appearance.

Kingsley wore this hat for five days in a row. My little Junior Conductor.

A fun day indeed.

Do You Know The Way to San Jose?

Well, now we do!

We visited Happy Hollow Park and Zoo this past weekend.

What a fun place for little guys.

The park just re-opened after being closed for a couple of years due to extensive renovation.

We approve.

We enjoyed a gorgeous day, sunny and warm.

We visited some of the animals.

The boys enjoyed the many play structures.

A favorite park feature for the parents: The Jail, where parents could drop off

their children for up to 30 minutes---just enough time to enjoy a cup of coffee sans kids.

OK, just kidding (a girl can dream).

Riding the carousel.

The Crooked House.

Kingsley's favorite and a first:

The roller-coaster ride.

More fun rides.

Charlie just made the height requirement for The Frog Hopper.

They both loved it.

Following Danny the Dragon's sparkly green footsteps.

Someone didn't want to leave.

But, then the boys found sticks and all was well again.

This was truly a "Happy" place and we plan to return.

Next time we will fit in a puppet show and see some more of the animals.

And, hopefully the Danny the Dragon ride will be up and running again.

Nana and Barka's Visit

We had a most wonderful time during Nana and Barka's visit these past couple of weeks.

Here Kingsley and Barka get reacquainted with one another.

It didn't take long for the boys to cozy up to Nana again.

We fit in lots of park time...

and some nice strolls.

We visited the MY Museum (Children's Museum in Monterey).

Here Charlie is giving the hospital the ETA from the ambulance. Very important work.

A few more pictures from the museum.

Kingsley still loves anything with wheels, gears, or cranks.

He loves to figure out how things work.

In the Tree House.

Working the construction site.

Playing dress-up in the green room with Papa.

Charlie treating Nana and Barka to some delicious plastic food meals in the play restaurant.

We celebrated Kingsley's birthday.

This is his first cupcake of the day.

He looks so old to me in this picture--no longer any signs of the baby I once knew.

More cupcakes.

Kingsley "let" the rest of us have some vanilla ones.

The boys enjoyed lots of story time with Nana.

Jeremy and I enjoyed a couple of days away.

We stayed at The Inn at Del Monte Beach in Monterey. Cool place.

We spent a day wandering around Carmel. Beautiful.

Thank you Nana and Barka---for everything!

(Barka is how Kingsley pronounced Grandpa way-back-when, and it stuck).