Kenny actually had a little fever the previous night, so we weren't sure if we were going to go into the City on Monday. But he woke up feeling normal, so we decided to go for it. We went to the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. We had gone two years ago, after it had been remodeled, and before Kenny left and our wedding, and I really wanted Zak to be able to go this trip. He had a fantastic time. He was interested in everything and loved talking and looking at all the different exhibits and animals. I loved watching how excited he was; he had such a child-like wonder about him that made it even more enjoyable for me. Plus, it is a really neat place to visit.
the 'living roof', with all CA native plants and flowers
fossils
typical Zak
proof that I was there! / being a dinosaur?
looking at lizards & tortoises
cheetah under construction, this just made me giggle
Jenna with (one of) her animal counterparts
Mom demonstrating her surprise at how big antelope actually are
nerd
watching sharks and rays
good timing
The season exhibit was on snakes and lizards, which was awesome. I enjoyed seeing a huge 14 foot python and other venomous snakes. I don't know, I just like snakes, they do not creep me out at all. The best part of that exhibit was a 'game' about hunting like a snake. The controls involved smelling prey and then attacking it, and then eating it. My absolute favorite picture of the whole day was a silly one of my dad playing it, and off in the distance (not in the picture, unfortunately), was a 6 year old blonde girl watching him, as the snake devoured a rodent. Brilliant.
part of the snake exhibit; they are looking at a screen showing their body temperatures, like how a snake sees/senses
pictured: Dad ruining a small girl's day at the Academy, not pictured: terrified girl watching the snake eat a rodent
a wonderful picture with Jenna
she couldn't decide which one was the best
14 foot Burmese python, they can grow up to 30 feet!
The planetarium was awesome, as usual. Zak and I used to go to the school's planetarium often, but it was so small we sometimes didn't get tickets. The one at the Academy was absolutely huge and awe-inspiring. They played a really fascinating documentary about life and how everything is connected to the stars and the universe, and my mind was properly blown. Zak loved it, especially because he really enjoys space and learning all those things.
I loved the aquarium, especially the touching tide pool exhibit. Jenna didn't want to touch anything, but I dove in, gently touching all the sea stars, urchins, all that. It's so awesome. The jellyfish were also really neat to watch. We tried to find the giant octopus, but he was hiding, so we had to make due with the smaller one in a different tank.
the most evil creature
The tropical rain forest bio-dome thing was pretty enjoyable the second time around. I told my family to down-play the talk about butterflies flying around, landing on people sometimes, because Zak's not a huge fan of butterflies and moths. He just doesn't like them flying around his face, and all of that. But he was fine, and seemed to really enjoy himself. Plus, the butterflies didn't land on him, and he was able to enjoy them from a far enough distance for it to be ok for him.
from a safe distance, he didn't mind the butterflies
After many long hours there, we left right before closing time, but not before exploring the neat gift shop! We ended up getting a little pocket gem book for Zak, a magnet, and he bought me a cute purple rock heart. If it wasn't all expensive, I could shop there for presents for Zak, everything was right up his alley. The rest of the day, he talked about finding out how to get a job there, and e-mailing some of the people who run the place. He would be really great at a place like that, plus we would be close enough to my family and in California! We'll have to see what happens, but he seems definitely interested in this new option.
next year's gift for Dad
we couldn't justify $300 for it, but it was so soft!
a great shirt
My parents saw this episode on the Food Network of a burger place in the City, and decided to take us there for dinner. It was amazing, simple enough. It's called Joe's Cable Car Burgers or something, and is off the beaten path, and is actually quite small inside, but man, was the food delicious. Probably the best burgers any of us had eaten before. As were were gathering to leave, Dad said something about Jenna's birthday and the waitress asked if it was her birthday (well, technically, it was a few days before), and she was like, 'Why didn't you say something??'. A few minutes later she brought over a balloon and a piece of (delicious!) chocolate cake and put on a birthday song and we all sang to her. Hey, free cake is free cake, right?
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