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!