Day 8 - Movie and some shopping

Our last full day in San Jose.  Boris and I went to see a matinee at the movie theater while the boys stayed with Grandma and Grandpa.  It took us a while to decide on a movie.  There were a couple good options, but we weren't sure what the crowds would be like on an opening weekend.

We finally decided on the movie R.I.P.D.  Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges.  It was a fun movie.  I thought they did a pretty good job with it even though it wasn't rated very highly.  I had been hoping for a little more of Ryan Reynolds eye-candy, instead of always Ryan Reynolds with a cop-suit and shoulder holster.

After the movie, Boris and I picked up Five Guys for everyone and we ate at the house.  Grady did not want the bacon cheese dog that we got him.  He insisted that the bacon needed to be gone.  Grandma picked it all off for him before he ate it.  Everyone else seemed happy enough with their burgers and dogs.

I wanted to head over the Title Nine in the afternoon and Boris wanted to visit a camera store in Palo Alto.  It was a huge ordeal to figure out who would go where.  First, both boys were going to go with Boris and my mom would drive me.  We thought the boys might get a little too bored with the longer drive and the no touching.  Then maybe Grandma would stay home with the boys while Boris and I went our own separate ways.  The boys didn't care for that idea.  Next, we thought maybe I would drop Grandma and the boys off at Vasona while I shopped and Boris would go on his own.  Grady seemed happy with that one, but Peter was getting upset because he wanted to go with Papa.

Finally, my mom and I took Grady in the Prius while Peter and Boris went in our car.  I dropped Grandma and Grady off at Vasona and took off for the store.  Downtown Los Gatos is so crowded on a Saturday afternoon.  I had to park on a side street and walk a block or so.  Title Nine had a ton of nice stuff.  I tried lots on and had a hard time deciding which things to buy.  I ended up with about four outfits.  I think I'll have to save up a little more and come back to the store when we're down in August.  It's expensive stuff, but I really like the styles and colors.

While I was shopping, Grady and Grandma played on the playground, went on the carousel, rode the train and hiked all over the park.  Grady was pretty disturbed that he couldn't play in the creek.  Grandma had to convince him that he could come back some other day when he had better clothes and shoes for water.  When I picked them back up, Grady told me about the train ride: "we went pretty fast.  There were no seat belts, but we didn't go flying out."  Just in case you were wondering about their safety standards: subpar on the seatbelt issue, but luckily safe enough that no one went flying.

Grady was upset when it was time to leave the park.  He still had lots of playing to do.  But it was really hot outside and it was getting late.  I convinced Grady that we could come back next time we're down and we'll plan for a weekday so it's not as crowded.  Peter and Boris were going to meet us at the park, but with the heat and the crowds, we all just met back at the house.

Boris says that Peter had a really good time at the camera store.  He was very interested in everything and was asking all kinds of questions.  He got a bunch of attention since he was wearing a Superman cape and he brought his camera in to take pictures of everything.

Peter felt like he needed some quiet time on the drive, so he sat reading comic books in the car.  Boris thinks he made it through a couple.  I start wondering now if he takes the time to read all the words or if he's still mostly just looking at the pictures.  Today he said something like "I used to like drawing comic books".  I wonder if that means he feels less interested in it than before.

The boys each got a special walk with Boris around the neighborhood after we got back.  I think they both had their own need to calm down and have some time with no expectations of excitement.  Then we just had an easy dinner and got the kids to bed.  They packed up a bunch of their toys tonight, so hopefully we don't have too big of a mess to clean up in the morning before we leave.