California State Capitol Grounds

It was Sunday mid morning and up until this point we were having a pretty uneventful weekend. After checking the paper and seeing that we were going to have a perfect weather day (mid 80's) I knew that we needed to get out and take advantage of a non sweltering day right here in Sacramento. So without wasting another minute I got everyone dressed and ready and we headed out the door with only a vague idea of what the day would entail. First stop LUNCH - we were all getting hungry and I didn't want to start an activity with the kids only to hear them whine "we're hungry" within the first two minutes. I knew I wanted to eat outside and I knew I wanted it to be somewhere in Sactown. Where to go? Ah yes, an all time family favorite -Ernesto's.

Not only does Ernesto's have great carnitas and outside eating but it also has plastic dinasaurs which for some reason truly seem to keep my kids occupied at the table.

After a great lunch I had in my mind we would head over to Old Sacramento for a little fun but as we drove past the State Capitol the beautiful grounds seemed to call to us. It just so happened that there was plenty of street parking so at the time we thought we would stop off for a quick detour. Turned out to be a swell idea, we ended up having so much fun that we never even made it to Old Town. Here were a few of our highlights:

The trees! My girls absolutely adored playing eye spy with the identification tags found on many of the trees throughout the grounds. They ran from tree to tree to see if it had a tag and then they would wait for us to help them read it. They also as always found a ton of stuff to collect off the ground that had fallen from the trees. The best find of the day - the oranges.

Other highlights included the rose garden, the sunflowers and the many memorials and statues. My husband and I were quite amazed at how interested our girls were in all of the the different aspects of the capitol. It must have been a good day for us because you never know with our two little ones - they can love something or just as easily dislike it the moment you arrive and then continue to complain for the entire outing.

So there you have it, a lovely day spent at the California State Capitol grounds. All in all we were there for about an hour and a half. Next time the girls have requested that we bring a picnic lunch which I do believe is a grand idea. I also noticed a few families on bikes and scooters riding on the many paths, that would be a good idea for next time too. And who knows maybe one day we might even venture inside the Capitol!