Twains!

Today's gonna be a much more lighthearted day here. After all the emotions that yesterday's post brought up for me and some others, today should be filled with cuteness. A note about comments: I don't know why some of them just disappear when you hit "publish." I've looked and looked for an answer, and blogger is very unhelpful. If you've managed to solve this on your blog, let me know how. Otherwise, I think I'm going to set up Disqus on this thing tomorrow, so that the wonderful words my friends are writing actually get here!

Now on to the adorable!!!

In Berkeley, there's this huge park with lots of open space and hills and little wonders tucked into all sorts of nooks and crannies. One day I'll write about The Little Farm and The Tilden Merry-Go-Round, but they're both closed right now and today we went to ride the Steam Trains, so that's what you're getting!

Ticket Booth

Train Station

The Redwood Valley Railway, or "da Twains," as they're called at my house, is about a 20 minute drive away from Alameda on a traffic-free day. Emmett likes the drive because we go through two big tunnels each way. And that's good, because today is the second day in a row that we've driven out there. Yesterday we got caught in traffic and didn't make it up the hill to the Trains until 5:00, and since it gets dark early now, and they close at dusk, we missed the last ride of the day by about 10 minutes, I think. So we had to turn around. Not the happiest ride home, but once we hit the Caldecott Tunnel, the kiddo was being his usual goofball self again.

We went up there with my sister Kelle today. She'd never been before (probably because she doesn't have a toddler yet!), so it was fun to show her around. The gates had just opened today when we arrived, but there were already several other families there. Lots of grandparents - maybe because school was out today but most businesses were open?

Yes, those are my giant knees. Too tired to edit out my mom jeans.

He's so excited he can hardly stand it

Anyways, we bought a 5-ride ticket for $12, then walked to the front of the train to greet the Conductor, also known around here as DaDuctor. (Sidenote - I know, just KNOW, that I have at least two single-ride tickets in my wallet. But I can never find them when I'm there, only when I'm looking for something else entirely.) The DaDuctors are really nice older gentlemen who seem to love trains and making kids happy. They're cheerful, knowledgeable, and wear adorable railroad hats. Today, the conductor we met gestured for Emmett to reach into the engine, pull a rope, and make the bell ring, then shouted "All Aboard." Or maybe he just smiled and let Kelle take pictures of us, but in my head (and I'm sure in Emmett's, this was a serious and wonderfully cliched train moment).

Emmett led us to one of the traincars at the end, a caboose-looking thing with a roof, and we piled in. A conductor came by to punch our ticket, and we were off! The ride itself is really nice - about 12 minutes, with lots of adorable things to look at along the way, and when it's clear, a great view of the Bay Area.

I didn't even Tilt-Shift this! It's that adorable, all on it's own!

We rode twice, and in between, poked around the grounds a bit. Down the hill is a true miniature trainyard, with a great view of the Steamtrain as it chugs out of the station. On Sundays, you can sometimes get rides on the mini trains too.

Hi People!

Up top, they have a small set of souvenirs (Tshirts, postcards, etc, mostly under $15 and cute) and a train...house? A train garage? A wheelhouse? Is a wheelhouse even a thing? Isn't it like an arsenal, but full of skills instead of weapons? Or is that a skill set? I'm just confused now. Ok, so it's a building where they do repair work on trains. The trains, and their engineers, work behind giant glass panes, and the kids can watch them tinker and repair.

Kids Tees, $9!

All in all, we spent a great little hour there. It's cheap, it's adorable, it has potential for pretend play when the kiddo is older, and it's not too sparkly or cartoony or ADD inducing. Just a nice thing to do that makes my kiddo beyond happy.

Cheeeeeeeeeese

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I am thankful today for all the outpouring of support I received after my last post. Everyone who responded, whether on the blog or by text, or email, or over Facebook, thank you sincerely. I feel so encouraged to keep writing, and so happy to be who and where I am, with the friends I've got!!! 

I'm also thankful for my husbands military service. It's Veterans Day today, and I want to show my appreciation for his sacrifice, and that of so many others, who fight (and/or fly, or play music, or file paperwork) for our freedoms. I hate war, and I hate that we fight at all, but the men and women who serve in our military are not the ones who choose war. They only choose to lay their lives on the line for us, and to get not nearly enough in return for their devotion. Also, had he not been a dashing young Marine, he and I never would have met. And so I picked out a steak for him at the market today, as a thank you for everything he's done, and is doing. (And by "I picked out" I mean I wandered back and forth in front of the meat section looking lost until Kelle grabbed my arm and guided me to the butcher counter, and then picked out the steak while I ran off in search of Drano and a red cabbage).

Adorable 19 year old Ross - thanks babe!

Lastly but not leastly, I'm thankful for Tom Yam soup, blue nailpolish, and drinking juice out of a wine glass (feels fancy!)

Day Trip - The Bay Area Discovery Museum

Yesterday, we went to the Bay Area Discovery Museum. They have a free admission day on the first Wednesday of every month, which we've known for ages (or for about a year, but whatever), but have never taken advantage of for one silly reason or another. But yesterday we were determined, and I'm so glad we went!

The museum is in Sausalito, just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, in the old Fort Baker, all of which combines to make it a really cool setting. Seriously, just check out this view from the parking lot!
           

                   
So we went in, and the kiddo could barely keep it together long enough for us to fill out the guest card and make our $3 donation. The whole place is set up so that kids can roam around and discover all sorts of things on their own, which I love. I'm kind of a museum dork, and I love nothing more than a well-curated museum, which my family mocks me for relentlessly. And I LOVED this place. The setup and concept all made sens, and it made it really easy for Emmett to find a set of instruments to play almost instantly

Of course, with so much to check out, the music didn't last too long. Within about 5 minutes, we were on to a section of the museum that actually made me jealous of my kid. When my sister and I were little, we pretended all over the place, and our favorite pretend game was "Wilderness Girls" which we invented while camping in Sequoia with my cousin Carrie and friends. Post camping trip, our favorite place to have epic games of Wilderness Girls was at the Chicago Botanic Gardens, a magical place with a Japanese rock garden, a big lake, and huge forests full of wild animals that might jump out at you at any moment so you'd better go make a fort quick! That last bit might not actually be real...

Anyways, the Discovery Museum had a whole section designed just for absolutely epic games of pretend, called "Lookout Cove." A shipwreck, a fishing boat with a steering wheel, a smaller (but still big!) version of the Golden Gate, little nests, possibly the best climbing tree I've ever seen, several caves, miniature rivers and waterfalls and best of all, this amazing work of art called the Peekaboo Palace. It was amazing - nooks and crannies and windows and corners to peek around - the ultimate treehousefortcastle. (I know, that's not a real word, but this place was unreal, so I'm sticking with it.)

Seriously, look at this thing! The coolest!

Peekaboo!

A nest, that apparently had baby tuhtoes in it

Serious frog is serious

Stepping stones - those are probably special "hot lava" type woodchips 

A spiderweb! Of course, if Kelle and I had been captured by a villain, this would have been the dungeon

Ross couldn't wait to climb this thing

We spent most of our time in this pretend wonderland, but there were other fun things all over the place. An exhibit created by the Boston Children's Museum that explores all sorts of fascinating things about 5 Native American communities in New England, like traditional jewelry making, storytelling, modern Pow Wow, traditional recreation and more. I didn't have a chance to get pictures in this one because the kiddo was grabbing things left and right, putting them down in the wrongest places, and trying to climb into display cases. So you'll just have to trust me that it was awesome.

Another set of exhibits featured hands on crafting and art for all ages - from complicated whirligig creations to simple paper towel tube scupltures, there was something designed for any kind of kid. Even mine! He drew on his face, licked some glue sticks, got his hand stuck in a tube, tried to stomp through the display of tissue paper sculpture, and then pulled all the books off the shelves. But you know what? It was totally fine! The museum staff was well trained to interact with little ones, and knew what to expect, and I didn't feel awful about my 2 year old being just that, which was so nice.

mmmm, purple

I was glad to see this survived all the toddlers - it was even cooler in person

I just love reading corners with giant pillows

After we undid the mess, Emmett was ready to move on. We hit up the giant tinker toys in a spot called "Imagination Playground" for a bit, and watched big kids build an enormous fort. The kiddo didn't quite know what to do with these things, but Ross sure did, and had a great time showing him how to build fancy things.

I don't have a kid, I have an adorable sheepdog

Next was the "Tot Spot," which was a smaller version of Lookout Cove, based around animal homes. It was sweet and cute, but I think Emmett enjoyed the "big kid" stuff a bit more.

Playing in the "fissies" home

A groundhog tunnel

The cutest dang puppet show stage I ever saw

We finished the afternoon in Bay Hall, which had Emmett's favorite thing in the whole world, Trains. And that was the end of it for us - once he saw the elaborate Brio setup with Thomas and James and the whole Shining Time Station crew, he didn't want to leave.

We will without a doubt be back to this place, and not just for a free Wednesday. It was so fun, for all of us, and I am sure that it will just get better. As Emmett gets older, we'll be able to set him free (ish) to run around the place, while we hang out in the cafe and enjoy the view.

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Today, I'm thankful for: interesting conversations with coworkers, burritos (Northern California style, of course), cinnamon raisin bread, salad, and NPR

Tangy Tomato Soup with Griddle Bread

For some reason, today was one of those days where I just desperately wanted some comfort food. This morning, I talked Ross into making some Swedish Pancakes, with fresh strawberry mush (what do you call it when you slice up some fruit, cook it with some sugar and a little water and lemon juice, and then spread it on stuff? It's not quite jam, but it's SO good!). And then after our very productive trip to Blick today, I needed noodles. Slurpy, saucy, long noodles. Know what I mean?

And now, here it is dinner time, and all I could think of to make was tomato soup. It just sounded so good. When I was a kid, we always had the Campbell's Cream of Tomato soup with grilled cheese. Now, I'm a broke-ass grownup, so I've learned to improvise, and actually made something that's even tastier! This tomato soup was thick, tangy, and tomato-ey. The bread was a deliciously crispy, chewy, slightly salty and so satisfying. Grown up comfort food, for sure.  And then I thought, well, Lynds, you've got a blog now, about life at your house and the stuff you get up to, right? So post your recipe! I even took a shot at some cute food photography...I'm no Pioneer Woman yet, but this ish is tasty, so go make it!

Tangy Tomato Soup with Griddle Bread

Soup Ingredients (serves 1)

1 can diced tomatoes (whichever flavor you've got...this would be good with Italian spices or chiles)
1/2 carrot
1/2 small onion
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp flour
1 cup vegetable broth (or a cube of bouillon in 1 cup water)
1/4 cup plain yogurt
Salt and pepper to taste
Your favorite hot sauce

Griddle Bread Ingredients (serves 1)

Bread

Lots of butter (the salted kind)

To make the soup:

1. Dice up the carrots, onions and garlic really small and throw them into a soup pot with 1 tbsp butter

2. Saute on medium heat for about 5 mins, until everything looks soft

3. Sprinkle the flour over the veggies, and saute for another minute or two

4. Pour in the broth and stir real fast, then add the tomatoes and the tomato paste

5. At this point, either grab your immersion blender (I have this one), or pour everything into your regular blender, and blend away. It's important to do it now, because your seasonings will be off if you do it later - all the tomatoes getting emulsified changes the flavor, in a good way.

6. Add salt (I use about 1 tsp, but I'm not huge on salty things), several dashes of pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice if you think it needs it, 5 dashes of hot sauce and the yogurt.

7. Mix it all up, let it cook til bubbly, then serve it with an extra dollop of yogurt.

To make the bread:

1. Butter a fat slice of bread, heavily
2. Microwave that sucker for about 10 seconds, just to get the butter a little melty
3. Place it butter-side down on a griddle or pan at medium high heat
4. When the first side gets all toasty and brown and crispy, flip it
5. Dunk the bread in the soup and be happy