Big Basin, Santa Cruz Boardwalk, Oakland Zoo and Ice Cream

Helloah! Busy busy, fun kind of busy though. I will simply step aside and let the pictures tell you about my adventures, with captions naturally.



Our campsite at Big Basin. It was a walk-in tent site. That means, you don't pitch your tent right next to a car but, walk for awhile to arrive to your campsite.



We had a huge campsite of our own and I could freely roam with my wagon in tow.



Our first night's dinner was a feast fit for a king! Dad made delicious steak kebabs and we had corn on the cob, bread and veggies. There were so much left that we actually reheated and ate them during our lunch (when hiking) the next day.

Mama tried something new when making Smores. Someone told her to assemble the graham crackers, mallows and chocolate into the foil and let it roast above the fire.



Daddy thought Mama left it roasting for way too long... he's opening it up as Mama anxiously (me, excitedly) wait...



Eeps. Where's the marshmallow? And whoever heard of an overcooked graham crackers? Not I.



This was the least damaged of them all. Mama and I scraped off the chocolate and licked the marshmallow off. It was still very delicious!



After salvaging what was "left" of the foil smores experiment, we proceeded to do it in the good ol' fashioned method.

We all got into our tent because it started getting chilly. Mama wanted a picture of me and Dad. Here is a series of how Dad drove Mama crazy.

Dad!!Ahh, Daddy being silly as usual!

Needless to say, I kept seeing spots from all those flashes!



Mama couldn't resist for just one more.

The following morning we got up and started hiking. We hiked from around 9:45 am and did not stop until 4pm. Mom and Dad were thoroughly exhausted but me? I wanted more. Good thing the campsite was big enough for me to walk and walk while Ma and Pa slothly moved about like zombies.



Me riding with Dad. Ma was upset, when taking that picture, the battery died. We were almost a mile away from campsite, where two other extra batteries rested on the picnic table. Oh well, the beauty will remain in our minds then.



Eating smores once again after a big feast. We had Hobo (Poor Man's Dinner), corn on the cob, roasted tomato on the vine and other delish stuffs. We were so stuffed and slept well.

We woke up and made a beeline for home because it was cold! We rested and aired our home with smoky campfire scent. The next day we went back to the same area not for camping, but for an amusement park called Santa Cruz Boardwalk. I already went there and didn't take pictures. This time, I did.

On the way to Santa Cruz Boardwalk, Jahren and Mally kept me entertained and my hands too. I was teething at the time which explains why I got my hands in my mouth.





See Dad? He is signing "camp" as he's telling Uncle Kurt (see eyes in review mirror) about our camping fun at Big Basin. We definitely want to return there, it was so beautiful.

We arrived at the boardwalk and I immediately knew what I wanted:



"WANT!"



WANT THAT RIDE!



Daddy went with me this time. The last time Ma was the one who rode with me. I had loads of fun.



See why I had loads of fun? Daddy is so silly.

I returned on that ride again but this time with Jahren!



Wheee!





That was fun! More??

Jahren brought me to this ride, I couldn't go on it before because Mama or Daddy were too big for it. So, in I went with Jahren and he was such a good cousin.

We rode in a helicopter. Jahren made sure I was safe and secured before we lifted off and went into fun circles.







The next ride was really loud and busy. I went with Pa again and simply enjoyed the loud music that was blaring there. Also, I loved seeing all those horses.



Not sure what to make of this ride, yet.



Okay, here we go... da da da dum (see Uncle John and Cuz Jahren in back?)

After the Merry Go Round, I was plain knackered out. Mama had ice cream and she shared some with me. I fell asleep eating it with my blue monkey that Jahren won for me.



yum yum (notice the scrape by my nose? got that when falling down during our hike at Big Basin)



Must finish.. before...zz must finish...



Oh wait, must kiss Blue first...



ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

hours later, I woke up to see Daddy riding this:



It was really hot and too bad I couldn't be allowed onto that ride.



Sunburnt me (tsk tsk Mommy)-- I look different than I did earlier that day. I'm laughing at Mally and Jahren, see next picture.



Them sunburnt too.

Few days later we went to the Oakland Zoo. Man, that place was perfect! You could see all the animals and that they were well taken care of. Mom and Dad loved it so much too that they want to come back again.



Sign upon entrance-- see my crocs? Cool eh? Anyway, we saw some feedings and the Giraffe seemed not to care for it but the Meekrats? They were already hungry and impatiently waiting to be fed. The show was quite comical.



Us watching the Meekrats and their antics.



Where's the food? Where's the food? *digging everywhere* Where's the food? Where's the Food?



F-O-O-D?

The Giraffes? They didn't care if they were fed. Methinks they were happily content already.



Giraffes in the background, there were lots of them and they seemed smaller than I envisioned from Planet Earth.

When walking around, I immediately noticed what I wanted: to go down a slide. It took us a long time getting there because there were many neat things in that Children Zoo Area.



WANT!

We trekked through the bugsville, saw bats, played in the otter land, climbed frogs and pretended to be tortoises before arriving at the slide.

The bug building was super fascinating. I wanted to stay in there forever. See this picture:



That's a huge huge green grasshopper thingy. It hung down like that and around it were tons and tons of walking stick bugs. At first I thought they were plants or vines clinging onto the glass panes. Imagine my shock when I saw them move!



Walking Stick Bug.



See the window? It's covered with those bugs.



Huge black grasshoppers doing something naughty, or so, my Dad says.

Off we went to the frog land. I climbed on a red frog and was happy to sit between its eyes.







I wanted to jump down but asked for help. I insisted Mom to count. She's on Three and I'm saying THREE!

We went to the tortoise area and there were empty shells for us to play in. I happily played pretend.





Wow, cool!



Mom, you gotta try this!



So she did and believe me, it was not easy for her to fit through that thing.

We finally headed towards where I wanted to go in the first place.



Yay! The slide! OOh it looks dangerous.



Bumpity bump.



That's it?

Mom asked if I wanted more, I simply said NO WANT WALK.

So we walked around some more. We saw different animals and then rode a sky tram to see the Zoo from up above. It was beautiful. I simply sat and watched the world go by. My eye lit up when I saw the Giraffe and the Lions as well as the Camels. We also got to see Tigers that were hiding under the shade that we couldn't see when on ground.



Sky Tram.



Giraffe's home.



:)



OOOOOH look!



Lions!

We spent the rest of the afternoon riding on trains and eating. I then fell asleep after a long day. I cannot wait to go back again and say howdy to those animals. Oh yes, the elephants, how could I forget. They were magnificent!

Finally, I'll close this long post with pictures of me eating my favorite thing in the world (besides chocolate). Popsicles! Mom makes them. She says she put in strawberries, bananas, grapes and beets. They're so good that I always ask for more but no luck (I haven't had more than one in a day, bummer).



Why are my feet crossed like this?



Yup, I'm having ice cream and oh so loving it.



It was starting to get messy. I nicely asked Mom to get me napkins. At first she wasn't sure what I wanted them for and gave it to me. I gingerly wrapped the napkins at the bottom of my Popsicle and when it was secured, I proceeded to finish it without making further messes onto my hand.

Alright, I must wrap this up and go to bed myself. Been sleeping late these days, got to, summer is flying by way too fast and before I know it, Mom and Dad will be gone most of the time again.

Til then mates,
Eitan Lorcan