After his ideal breakfast of pancakes with blueberry syrup (cooked to light brown perfection by grandpa: I remain pancake-making incompetent, so my griddle cakes end up black or raw, or an unappetizing combination of the two), we headed out.
Phil's parents live near Apple Hill, an area in the hills of California where a group of family farms have cooperated to create a market of vineyard-orchard-Christmas tree pleasure. Boa Vista remains open year-round, offering their delectable raw sweet cider. We picked up some for the road, and enjoyed hot apple cider around an applewood fire. I had a moment of orchard envy (our 300 or so trees seem mighty small beside so many), but then remembered that I'm not really ready for employees or migrant workers. For the moment, we'll try to keep it all scalable.
We went to the train museum next, a delightful place for boys. Jadon and Grandma went on the tour (that was Jadon's highlight), while Phil and I followed the other boys as best we could. The rattling sleeper car that made me just a bit seasick; the engine where we sat and felt like we were driving; the model train with four different sized tracks as it went up the mountain, the amazing selection of Brio-type train tracks to enjoy—it's a great museum, on the western site of the transcontinental railroad.
The lighting prevented good photos inside, but when we went next door to eat our delicious picnic lunch, Isaiah and Abraham found a large historical artifact to pose near.
Green is Abraham's color.
From there, we took the boys to their fabulous surprise: Build-a-Bear! Jadon and Isaiah had gone at around ages 2 and 4, and when I pulled their dogs dressed as Buzz and Woody out of storage, the little boys were most intrigued. The ear of Jadon's dog soon fell (was pulled?) off, and Isaiah didn't always choose to share his dog, and so we decided to treat the boys.
Have you ever made a Build-a-Bear? It's a cute experience. First choose a bear body. Then while you press a foot pump, an employee stuffs it. You can dictate whether you want more stuffing, and then you put in a little heart before the employee finishes the bear (in an ingenious bit of prestitching, the finishing requires no needle, just a shrewd bit of tugging and tying.
All boys were enthusiastic to stuff their bears, except Joe.
After Joe's dog, Abraham's Snowy the polar bear, Isaiah's Tar the black bear, and Jadon's Bob Johnson the monkey were stuffed, they "washed" their new friends. The "showers" send out a stream of water, and there are brushes available to fluff.
Next the boys had to choose costumes. Prom dresses and tuxes (we know a man who used a Build-a-Bear to help him propose) to average cute clothes for boys and girls, from princesses to firemen, there was an array. No more Buzz and Woody, though. Abraham chose a navy uniform for him, which I felt especially appropriate, as we were in California for Gramps's 90th birthday, and he was in the navy during WWII.
Joe found a Jedi costume, complete with lighting up light saber. His dog's coloring matched the costume well! (And note the "Dressing Room," complete with mirror, where the bears can dress up.
In the end, we had Darth Vader monkey, Spider Man bear, navy bear, and Obi Wan Kenobi.
And four happy boys.
While some adults got Starbucks, the boys and I rode the escalators up and down. A highlight (it's the simple things in life).
We stopped for Chipotle take out.
Then headed back for a small party with a dino theme.
Isaiah had even remembered to take the mylar balloons, left over from Gramps's 90th, and put a dot between the 9 and the 0: Happy 9.0!
After a few bites of cupcakes, and a few games, Isaiah came to me quietly and said, "This has been my best birthday. The only thing that would have made it perfect was if I could have gone back to the bowling alley and played air hockey." That was a simple request to fulfill, so he and Phil played a few games of air hockey, and Isaiah returned, full of happiness and thanksgiving for a great day.
And all went to bed with their new friends. That is a good day!
I like this story a lot!
ReplyDelete