Exploring with Grandma

  I mentioned that last week my mom came in town.  She was just as excited to explore as I was and so that's what we did.  It sure was nice to have someone navigate as well as help load/unload the kiddos.

 

  We went to Central Park in Santa Clara.  It is a really great park with lots of walking paths, 2 playgrounds, a library, this large pond and fountains, and other things we didn't get to explore.

 

  It also had lots of these wolf/fox looking creatures on the lawns.  The first one I saw totally freaked me out, then after staring at it for a time I realized it wasn't real.  They were everywhere!  Calvin wanted to go touch one, but then my mom made it growl and he wouldn't go near it at all!

 

  When it finally dawned on me that the park was in Santa Clara, I wanted to see how far it was away from the International Swim Center I kept hearing about.  Turns out, it is IN Central Park.  So naturally we went to it and explored.  It's huge, if you can't tell.  I'm standing in front of the 50 meter pool, they also have a 25 yard pool and a dive tank.  I was able to swim here on Saturday with a team.  It's pretty crazy getting a tan in November.  Just sayin.

  The boys in front of the dive tank.  Calvin was pretty confused about how/why you would jump off one of the platforms.  I tend to agree with him.

  After exploring the park, we went home to pick Hannah up from school and then headed to Santana Row.  I also kept hearing about Santana Row and wanted to take my mom.  It is basically one long street full of really nice shops (think Belle Square/UVillage) and restaurants that are supposed to be top notch.  After walking the street the kids got pastries at a French bakery.  I wanted a nice picture of my mom and the kids, but should have done it before the pastries.  Hannah and Calvin were in sugar- high mode.

 

A silly picture was going to have to do.

This also happened.

 

  I've since done a little exploring on my own and realized it's better to do the exploring when I have a navigator and I should only explore ONE new place per day.  Driving here is stressful enough with the fast drivers and many expressways and freeways.

 

Hope you all had a good weekend!