Connor even got to sleep in a "big kid bed" for the first time. I had doubts as to whether he'd break his neck in the middle of the night, but he did great (Elise actually slept in her Pack N Play - she definitely can't handle real beds yet). Saturday, after Connor's favorite tradition of eating doughnuts, we went to the Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. Ryan got some of my favorite pictures ever of Elise. 
They have a bunch of exhibits on various animals and ecosystems, including a huge rainforest dome filled with butterflies. 
Elise kept holding out her chubby hand and telling me she wanted the butterflies to go on "Eeess awm, Eeess awm!" Sadly, none landed on her arm, but I did let her lightly touch one that had landed on a flower. I guess this is strictly forbidden, as another child doing the same thing got yelled at by a museum worker, but we weren't spotted! 
Oh, I have to mention my favorite thing about the Academy of Sciences. Their cafe areas have these elaborate systems of garbage cans, with separate places for various types of recyclables (of course) as well as compost bins and plain ol' garbage (which practically had a big frowny face painted over it). Ryan thought it was ridiculous, but I thought it was cool. I'm just not sure if it really works. People are easily confused, and I'm sure the compost bin would need to be thoroughly sorted for plastic wrappers, etc. (Not my first pick of jobs.) Anyway, after the museum trip, Helena and Ryan's mom did a great barbecue dinner with all kinds of stuff I'd never thought of grilling. 
We had corn on the cob, roasted potatoes, veggie kabobs, roasted strawberries with green onions, and grilled banana. Oh, and I think one steak. It was very educational. I'm definitely going to attempt to recreate the dishes at home now that I can enjoy food again. 
The next morning, Ryan took the kids with his dad and Helena to (of course) get doughnuts, and tour a warehouse Merrill is currently taking apart. I can't tell you much about it, but they say it was huge, and equipped with its own little electric cars. And a cocker spaniel. 
After they returned we went up to Tilden Regional Park, just north of Berkeley, and did their carousel and steam trains. 
The trains were really impressive - we've taken our kids on all kinds of mini trains since they were born, but this one was the best ride by far. Monday morning we headed back home, but not before the kids spent more time on the pelican slide. 
Ryan's dad had this and a turtle-shaped slide brought from (I think) a Great America he worked on. In other words, they were part of an amusement park. He keeps suggesting that we have them shipped down to our place, but I really don't see how that is possible. Besides, they suit that yard perfectly.Just a really nice weekend! Thanks to everybody for all the fun. When we got home Monday evening, we saw that tree trimmers had massacred our yard. Mostly, it looked much better, but they chopped down one of my favorites. It's where this sharp-shinned hawk used to hang out, looking for squirrels. Here's a great shot of a suicidal squirrel trying to chase it away.
Weirdest thing I've ever seen a squirrel do, I imagine.
It was great! It would have been better if I'd been able to go on more rides, but my pukiness and general condition kept me off alot of things. I love the progression of Elise's face as this ferris wheel does it's gut-dropping swing (the cages are on rollers, so you go sliding down a ramp from time to time). She thought she liked it until then.
Here's Elise watching the Pixar Play Parade with Mama while the boys went on Grizzly Rapids. Connor just barely made the height cutoff, and supposedly didn't get scared once. He cannot be related to me!
We'd been warned to bring the kids' swimsuits, so during the hot part of the day they were able to play in this water area, which they loved. 
We finished the day by finding a spot on the pavement and watching the Disney Electrical Parade, which I think is still awesome.
We walked to the local fireworks "spectacular" and hung out until things got dark enough. The kids went nuts with their glow-bracelets. Bizarrely, in these pictures they're conducting the sousa march that was playing over the loudspeaker. 
Elise did great with the fireworks. She kept telling me she was "caiowed fiewuks", but didn't cry. On the walk home, we started what we hope will be a tradition of reading the Declaration of Independence out loud to the kids. Okay, to ourselves. We had a hard enough time following what was being said, they just tuned out. It was a cool reminder of why we were celebrating, though. What an amazing and blessed country we get to live in!
Connor and Elise, of course, came running out of the tent barefoot to see what we were doing, and I kinda freaked out. They got yelled at and thrown back into the tent. The rattlesnake was curled up in the bush next to our minivan, and had been trying to cross the street and leave the campsite when several cars (including Ryan's) scared it back into the brush. I decided that the thing to do was leave it alone, and try to give it a chance to flee, since it obviously didn't like being near so many people. I staked Wiley between the tent and the bush (not as a sacrifice, but as a deterrant), and we went around to the picnic area away from the cars to let it (hopefully) crawl away. 
After about 10 minutes I went to throw some trash in the dumpster and peeked, and saw that, yep, the snake was carefully crossing the road and exiting the campground. Then we had to take pictures. 
The rest of the evening was really nice. The kids played in the dirt, we ate ravioli, took a walk, and started a great campfire. 
The kids got new flashlights for the occasion (dollar rack at Target), and delighted in shining them in each others' eyes. 
We toasted marshmallows, which Elise definitely approved of. 
Then, after the kids were so tired they were spazzing out, we put them to bed and just chilled together by the fire. Very pleasant. At least, until Wiley, who was staked just behind us in the gloom, jumped up, yelped and started frantically trying to catch something on the ground. He chased it until he hit the end of his tie-out, then started limping and shaking, and collapsed in the dust. The only thing I could think was, "My dog has been bitten by a rattlesnake, and is going to die." I picked him up, we rushed him back to Ryan's car, and I started choking out instructions to Ryan about racing the hour down the mountain to the emergency vet in Eagle Rock, as Wiley trembled and shook in my arms. Ryan, bless him, was a voice of calm. He got out his boy scout manual, looked up snakebite, and told me to try to find a wound. I couldn't, and as we talked there, Wiley started to calm down and support his own weight. We quickly realized that he wasn't going to die. Rather, this was something that had happened to him once before when he had become overexcited. A doggie fainting-spell more or less. Last time, the vet had done an EKG and said it wasn't an obvious heart problem, but that they couldn't tell exactly what the issue was. Anyway, we think what really happened was that a moth fluttered in front of his face (I had seen something mothy, but forgot it in the rush of freaking out). He was surprised by it, tried to catch it, and was clotheslined by his leash, causing him to faint. We spent the rest of the night teasing our brave poodle for fainting at a butterfly. Everyone slept great that night except me. I learned that a camp cot really does need a mattress pad to be warm and/or comfortable. Somehow Connor ended up with his head in his sleeping bag, and his feet on his pillow. 
In the morning we had breakfast, then packed things up and headed down to the Mt. Wilson Observatory to hike around for the afternoon, where we saw this giant telescope. 
On the way home, after a beautiful day of blue skies, we descended into a fog bank and had to go about 10mph the entire way down the mountain. At home it had been raining all night and day, so I guess we picked a good time to camp. Plus, the following Monday I started to feel rotten, so the timing had been perfect. Hopefully we can do it again when I'm feeling better!
We also had a great barbecue, which I would have enjoyed if possible. It was really nice to see them.