Picnic Day

Last Saturday was Picnic Day at UC Davis. I used to go every year when I lived in Davis but I hadn't gone since I moved back to the Bay Area. As much as I enjoyed going to Picnic Day, Vic did not, so he stayed home. I had originally planned to just take Gina but she had a soccer game that she didn't want to miss so it was me and the boys. I got them up early and we were on the road by 7am and driving onto campus by 9am (First time I've driven that far with the kids and no stops along the way). Of course the campus has changed a lot in the last 10 years but with only one slight misdirection I found the parking lot.

We walked over to the parade with a short detour to the bathrooms and the Coffee House for smoothies (Because to get kids to use the bathroom you have to promise them more liquids). We ended up standing next to the grandstands where the parade starts and the Aggie Band-uh puts on a show before the parade starts. This was the first time I had seen the start of the parade up close. Other times I've watched it from downtown or other parts of the campus. It was fun seeing the Band play but it was sure loud. Andrew covered his ears the whole time. Once the parade started I found my friend Kristi who was there with her family. I had tried to find her before the festivities started but it was a little crazy with all the people. After watching most of the parade we went to the kids area where they had bubbles and craft stuff and most importantly for Andrew, candy.

Then we headed over to the animal exhibits. There were lots of goats and sheep and horses. Dylan got to hold a rat and they were both fascinated by a tub with baby sturgeon. In the Animal Science building I ran into my grad school mentor. She hadn't seen the kids before so it was fun to talk with her for a bit. Then the kids got to see baby chicks and baby quail as well as an incubator with newly hatched chicks.

Then it was off to the Arboretum to watch the Battle of the Bands. Andrew did a lot of walking and despite some complaining, he did a great job keeping up. We were a little late getting there so we ended up sitting in the sun. Can you tell it was a very sunny day? Dylan loved all the marching bands, that is what he talked about most. The crazy Stanford Band was there, along with the Humboldt State Lumberjacks, UCSD, and Berkeley. Andrew was fascinated by the Aggie cheerleaders standing on shoulders and hands. We only stayed long enough to hear a few songs. I would have loved to stay longer but I had wanted to meet my mom in town before we headed back and it was very HOT in the sun. Dylan was fast asleep in the stroller before we got to the car. He stayed asleep while Andrew and I visited with Nana. Once we got back to the car, he woke up and was very ticked off that he had missed the whole visit (we didn't mention the ice cream). Once on the road they both slept and we were home by dinner time. I can't wait for next year.