San Jose Children's Discovery Museum

Imagine a "magical place", as my friend called it, where kids could explore and learn while having fun at the same time. This place exists and it's the San Jose Children's Discovery Museum, which is about a 45 minute drive from SF on the 101 to 87 highway. The museum has many exhibits and here are some of the highlights:

• WaterWays - gather balls and place them in tubes and tunnels, watching the water system shoot up the balls or go through obstacles - Isaiah didn't get so wet like he did last time we went there

Isaiah snatched a ball from this little girl and look what she does next time she gets another one.

• Bubbalonga - makes lots, lots, and lots of big, very big bubbles - Isaiah looked like he was blowing very hard

• Check out the Streets, where kids can pretend to be firefighters or medics, while obeying traffic signals - Isaiah dressed up as a firefighter and obeyed the street signs, yes we had to wait till the light was green to cross the walkway



• And last but not least, Isaiah's favorite exhibit, the rubberband racetrack:
  

Of course, Isaiah cannot wait to go back again.

Recap of Isaiah's 5th Birthday

Great day of joy and laughter for my son, Isaiah, as he turned 5 years old on April 24th. He already grew a couple more inches and gained 5lbs in the past few months, probably being about 4' tall and 50lbs. Yes, I know he only has 1 more foot and an inch to become as tall as me. If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm only 5'1.

Anyways, back to the recap. Not only did I get a cake for his preschool, but also one for home to eat with the family. Both cakes were fruit cakes but from different Chinese bakeries. If you're ever in the city of SF, check out Red A on Clement and 7th in the Richmond or Sheng Kee on Irving and 20th in the Sunset for some good Chinese bakery. Since, I only was able to be there for the home small celebration, here's what the cake looked like:

It was all gone in 10 minutes or so.

Now, let's move on to the toys he received. I bought Isaiah's present early and apparently when the package was sent to me, the advertisement on the box showed a boy on a bike. Of course, Isaiah knew this package was for him, without even telling him. I couldn't tell him no, you have to wait. I tried that, but he ended up frowning and crying - I can't resist. So, he got his present a week early.


As for the other presents, which includes a Cars Tractor Tipping track set, remote control Tonka Bounce Back Racer, a Mighty Muggs Bumblebee, and a Power Rangers Megazord; Isaiah picked them all out. Note: all purchased at Target, not Amazon...could only find the reference pics on Amazon's site.

He keeps telling everyone he's 5 years old and we cannot fake admission fees for amusement parks and the latter, but he has reached the height requirement for most extreme roller coaster rides for his age group. Let's see what he'll get next year and by then I'm sure he'll be taller than me even.

Baker Beach

It's been a while since I posted a story onto this blog.  Excuse my laziness and me trying to figure out my life at the moment. During the weekend, I tried to research and find out what to do on Chinese New Year's day, since my son, Isaiah, had the day off from preschool.  He went to the zoo about three weeks ago and then to the park the week after.  Last Monday, he already went ice skating at Yerba Buena.  I wanted to do something different with Isaiah and with weather predictions of rain for Chinese New Year's day, I did not seem to have much luck.  I asked my long-time elementary school friend where to go for a day of excitement and fun for kids, because he has a son too, named Kayleb.  We thought Isaiah and Kayleb could play together and become new friends.  

I checked the weather yesterday for today and luckily, the prediction stated no rain and 54 degrees.  Now, 54 degrees sounds cold, but when I walked out to get my morning Starbucks breakfast, it was warm.  Since today did not rain and the weather was warm, we all decided to head to Baker Beach for some fun in the sun and sand.  Yes, I've heard the rumors that Baker Beach is known as a nude beach, but the only nude ones were the kids.

Isaiah and I waited for my friend and his son to arrive.  We don't live too far from the beach, so we got there pretty quick.  While waiting, I took some pictures of the waves and of my son playing around. Try to find the dog.

My friend and his son finally came.  We all went towards the water, which was very cold.  Look like they all wanted to run to the water, instead of away.

After some fun in the water, we all played around the beach building sand castles and digging holes. 

This is how Isaiah and Kayleb played the game of "Tag".

They tag each other and say, "you're it!".

After all of that fun in the sun and water, we walked to Hard Knox Cafe for some good soul food.  Thanks Jeff for taking me to that place or else I would've never known that restaurant was in my neighborhood. Here is Isaiah and Kayleb both staring at the TV while waiting for their food. They really liked the Mac & Cheese there.

Christmas 2008

Favorite time of the year for my son, besides Thanksgiving and his birthday, because he receives the most gifts.  I am not doing much for Christmas this year, besides spend time with my son. We're not going anywhere far or to any destination.  Maybe, we'll watch a movie if the weather permits us to do so.

Back to presents now.  I bought myself a black winter peacoat from H&M and a white sweater from J. Crew.  Both items were made out of wool and dry clean only.  Isaiah received 4 gifts in total this Christmas.  From his preschool holiday party, he received a book about NASCAR racing from his teachers.   

Also, Isaiah was excited to see Santa again and told him what he wanted for Christmas (I assume).

And yes, I had to take a pic with Santa too.

His grandparents (my parents) let Isaiah pick out a toy from Target for his Christmas present. This is what he ended up picking out.

For the next present, from his great grandparents and great aunt, he also had the chance to pick out another toy.  This time he went for the rocketship.

And this is my present to him.  He has been playing with the Leapster 2 ever since he opened up the present.

He is really into the game.

Well, until next Christmas...

Disneyland & Six Flags Magic Mountain

I know this is sort of late, but this is where I went for Thanksgiving weekend. First, my family, my son and I went to Six Flags Magic Mountain. For the 5 or 6 hour drive there, my son was pretty good for sitting in the car for so long and not having to use the bathroom every few minutes or so.  Once, we reached Six Flags, of course we all went to the kiddie coasters for my son.  He went on almost every ride, including the Thomas the Train ride, because he loves trains. Look below, he even got the front seat of a roller coaster and all to himself. How cool is that?

Though, my son was apparently scared of the conductor.

Next, I left my son with my parents, while my brother and I went to ride on X2. X2 is a roller coaster where a person is in a laying down position, going through loops and flames.  Now, this is an upgrade from the first X ride.  I would say that there is not much difference between the two, except for the sound effects and music and flames, to add to extremity of the ride. Though when I put on the seatbelt and it locked, I thought wait a second, I haven't been on a roller coaster in a year. What have I got myself into?  It was already too late and next thing I know, as my brother and I are in the first row of the roller coaster, we are flipping upside down for the first drop. Breathtaking to say the least, meaning I had to catch my breath.  Then, we all headed towards Downtown Disney to eat dinner at Rainforest Cafe.  Great food and atmosphere, where it seems like one is in a rainforest.  Of course, I had to buy my son another Mickey Mouse at Downtown Disney while we were there.

Next day, we all headed to Disneyland Paradise Pier Hotel to eat breakfast and my son, Isaiah, met Goofy, Daisy Duck, and Minney Mouse. Isaiah was very excited to meet them all.

Then, we went on a few roller coasters at Disneyland, including Space Mountain, Go-Go Gadget Coaster, Mountain Bobsleds, and even saw the Fantasmic! show.  This is before we entered the Mountain Bobsleds and Isaiah had no idea what we were getting into.

Also, I purchased a set of legos for Isaiah at Downtown Disney's Legoland, which has some cool figures created out of legos.

Even this guy walking by the store became fascinated.

Of course, couldn't forget about the Mickey Mouse ears and that Wall-E.

For my birthday, which was on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, I got to sit in the car for 7 hours on my way back home from Disneyland. What a vacation! Until next year...