Daddy Weekend

Steve has been working really hard in a 6 week long training academy.  We don't usually see much of him during fire season but we have been seeing even less of him than usual.  He made trips home twice (for about a day each time) so we thought it was our turn to go see him.  

My parents had a wedding to go to in Galt so we decided to tag along and stay at the same hotel (to make use of extra helpers!).  We didn't leave quite as early as I had hoped on Saturday but we made it to Ione (and to Steve) by noon.  

We stopped to grab some lunch in Pine Grove (a great little burger place) and headed over to Indian Grinding Rock State Park. I was a little disappointed, mostly because it was really hot and dry (we needed to go higher in elevation to escape the heat, or come in the spring).  Still it was fun being together, and Ally and Eva enjoyed running around.  

They had a replica of a Miwok Indian village that we got to explore.  The girls loved running in and out of the indian houses.

Here is part of the grinding rock, this is where the indians would gather and grind the acorns.  The rock was huge!  It was so interesting because it was in the middle of grassy meadow.  I would've liked to learn more about the geologic history of the rock.

This state park had so many huge oak trees, they were massive.  I love thinking about all the things that have happened around these old trees, they have seen a lot of changes I am sure.

The kids were so happy to have some daddy time, and he was pretty happy to see us (and to take a break from studying!).

Ally loves to climb trees, she was so excited she was able to climb up on this huge burl.  She wanted to keep climbing, but I wanted her to stay lower.  

We thought Eva might want to join her, but we were wrong.  

It was a really hot day and Eva had to take a little break walking back to our car.  I love this picture, one of my favorites.

After the state park we drove around in our wonderfully cool car exploring the area while 2 out of 3 kids napped.  We drove through the towns of Volcano and Sutter Creek.  It is a really pretty area and I would love to go back and explore more someday. 

The girls were so hyper from lack of sleep and the excitement of seeing daddy and sleeping in the hotel they were bouncing off the walls.  Eva was so tired that when I laid out her bed she climbed right in and acted like she wanted to go to sleep.  She was so hyped up she could hold still, she kept getting up and running around the room only to lay back down.  She couldn't make up her mind.  We finally got all the kids settled down in their beds and after some poking and teasing (between the girls) they all fell asleep.

The next day daddy had to leave after we checked out of the hotel.  We weren't ready to head back home to the heat so we found a great place to spend the afternoon.  We went to the Discovery Museum Science and Space Center in Sacramento. It was the perfect place, the girls had so much fun, they were able to play and explore and we were able to sit back and relax while we watched them. Perfect!

Eva is obsessed with the Cat in the Hat, so she was really excited to spot this sign.  I love hearing her say "cat hat".

The favorite part of the museum was the space shuttle play area.  I couldn't get over how cute the space suits were, and the helmets so fun.  The girls played and played in this room, and they even came back for a second time right before we left.

I know Eva was in heaven with all these buttons she was allowed to push, and a keyboard she could mash on.

Ally was so cute making up different space scenarios and trying to get Eva to help her solve the problems.  

This dress up rocket was a close second in cuteness.  Eva didn't even want to try this one on, she was content just playing with the astronauts.

We spent a lot of time in this play area.  There was a little fighting over the astronaut figures, and Eva commandeered all the white figures while Ally got all the gray ones.  Eva totally grossed us out by licking the full length of the play space shuttle for some unknown reason (oh the germs...).  

It was such a fun stop.  At fist I was disappointed that they only allowed kids 4 and up in the planetarium but there were plenty of other things to do and they didn't even know what they missed out on.  

We went home so happy to have spent some time with daddy and completely worn out with fun (at least I was!).