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<\/a><\/div>\nThe weekend kicked off with a visit up to Brentwood for cherry picking. It was late in the season overall, but especially late because cherry season actually began early<\/em> this year. The place we usually go to was closed for the season, which meant we had to look up another, and that’s how we came across Three Nuuns Farm<\/a>, and I’m so glad we did! In addition to cherries, they had strawberry and peach picking! We skipped the peaches since the boys aren’t into them, but we began our journey with a tractor ride out to the strawberry patch.<\/p>\n We all enjoyed the tractor ride, and there was a cute spinning strawberry ride that the boys thought was hilarious<\/em> to spin us in because I don’t like spinning rides (thanks, kids). After the ride, MJ presented me with a dairy-free “Farmpop” – a cherry fruit juice popsicle that was one of the highlights of my day. It was so good. The strawberry patch was a little picked over, but we found enough to make the adventure worth it.<\/p>\n The tractor then took us back to the entrance where dropped off the strawberries in the cooler in the car and walked to the other side of the parking lot to begin cherry picking. It looked a bit dismal at first, almost all the red cherries we encountered were shriveled up, and a few too high up in the trees to pick. We then went much deeper into orchard until we found yellow cherries that were ripe and perfect for us to pick!<\/p>\n Four pounds of cherries later we were ready to head to downtown Brentwood for lunch, and a stop by an antiques shop where I picked up a record and some [not antique] cherry earrings.<\/p>\n On Sunday we drove north again, but this time to the west. We booked a glamping night at Safari West, and our tent with comfy beds awaited!<\/p>\n I’ve wanted to go to Safari West since I first heard about it years ago, long before we had kids. It’s a safari! Within driving distance! Situated on a 400-acre plot of land near Santa Rosa, they have all kinds of animals, mostly from the African savanna, and they do safari-style tours throughout the week to see them up close. I’ve followed them on Instagram for years, and held my breath as the fires in Santa Rosa threatened the facility several years back (thankfully, everything turned out OK).<\/p>\n I was so happy that everything aligned properly for us to finally go, we booked a Sunday night stay and a midday Monday tour. Our evening there began with dinner at their on-site Savannah Cafe, which I think I’d skip next time. It was expensive for what it was, which was a very limited buffet where they were overly stingy with the brisket, and the boys struggled to find things they would eat. Our waitress was nice though, and it was enjoyable to sit outside for a meal there at least once. Once we finished dinner we explored the animals they kept in a series of zoo-like enclosures around the central part of the facility.<\/p>\n Aaron immediately fell in love with the cheetahs, while Adam was quite taken with the lemurs and birds.<\/p>\n Around 8PM they put out supplies for s’mores back at the Cafe, which we all enjoyed.<\/p>\n The “tent” was a lot of fun. It was canvas-sided, but they were little house-like structures. They each have a large private bathroom, and the bed configuration was a King and a bunk bed all squished into the room. It was cozy, and the first time all four of us shared a room together! The boys were pretty excited to sleep in the bunk bed, with Adam (the oldest) on top. It got surprisingly cold overnight, so MJ ended up closing everything up and turning the heater on<\/em> when he went to bed.<\/p>\n The next morning we got up to enjoy the continental breakfast that came with our overnight stay. They had pretty standard fare and everyone found things they could eat. It was then back to our tent for a little while so we could enjoy our final time there before check-out at 11AM, and our tour at noon. Once we were checked out, the boys had some snacks and MJ and I had planned on grabbing a sandwich at the on-site snack bar, Delilah’s Delights, but they were closed while staff was on a break until almost tour time! Thankfully we were able to grab a couple small things and eat them quickly before the tour began. It was also good to learn that food was allowed on the safari, which was good for Aaron who got hungry halfway through.<\/p>\n We had a fantastic tour guide who was not only knowledgeable and funny, but indulged all of Adam’s questions about the truck we rode in. I loved that the tour was unscripted and went along with where the animals appeared, how interesting they were being, and how engaged the guests were. At one of our first stops, we got to see a baby rhinoceros nursing! Eventually. He was clearly hungry but he’d grown almost too big to nurse comfortably, so was making frustrated sounds about this fact before he found the right position.<\/p>\n I loved seeing the big herd of Ankole-Watusi (African Longhorn). They have HUGE horns! And apparently they keep the grass on the sprawling property nice and tidy.<\/p>\n I think my favorite part of the tour was the zebras. I’m not normally a big zebra fan, but they had a baby who was only a couple months old and she was lovely, and I’m always entranced by how sharp the stripes are on adults, it was nice to get to see them up close. So beautiful.<\/p>\n Part of the way through the tour we were able to move from the main part of the truck to our turn up on the top, and that’s how we got to see the water buffalo, wildebeest, and so many antelopes.<\/p>\n The tour concluded by going past the giraffes, which were all closer to the main camp area of the safari, instead of being out in the broader property. I know sometimes they are (our first au pair has gone on this tour too, and she got to see roaming giraffes!), but maybe it was because there was a new baby? The baby was pretty cute. Once the safari part of the tour was over, we had a short break, during which our guide was kind enough to talk to the boys about the different configurations of trucks they had, and to pop open the hood of one of her favorites. Epic. Remember to tip your tour guides generously.<\/p>\n Once the break concluded, she took us on a walking tour of the facility we’d seen on our own the evening before, plus the aviary that you can only get into with a guide. Aviaries aren’t really my thing, since I’m a bit scared of birds, but I turned up the bravery and joined everyone on the bird adventure. It was also nice to see some of the enclosures with the benefit of a guide who we could ask questions of, and Aaron liked seeing the cheetahs again.<\/p>\n Our day concluded with a drive home and a dinner stop along the way.<\/p>\n The final few days before our trip included a walk over to the BART station in Castro Valley one evening for their “BART Mart” Anime Artist Alley Pop-Up, which was super cute. None of us are really into anime though, so the highlight there was the Railgood shop where I picked up some t-shirts for the boys and the new BARTy plushie keychain for myself. I also brought my laptop to the Don Castro Regional Recreation Area one afternoon with our au pair and the boys so they could go swimming.<\/p>\n![](\"\/images\/journalpics\/062026\/three_nuuns_tractor_ride_sm.jpg\")
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