We attended the March for Science to the State Capitol today. This was our first political march, and we did not come prepared with our own witty nerd sign, but did come dressed for the occasion with my Addgene apparel and Melody’s Schroedinger’s cat T-shirt. Westley enjoyed his new stroller and clapped along with the crowds as they cheered, “What do we want? Evidence-based policy!” and “When do we want it? After peer review!” We met some UCD ophtho folks there, and joined them for lunch over hot pastrami and meatball sandwiches at Sampino’s. Back home, we spent our little spare time killing Kett in the new Mass Effect Andromeda. Although generally panned for its character animations, stilted dialogues, and tedious missions, the game brought enough nostalgia and satisfied enough of Melody’s completionist tendencies to keep us engaged while we waited for our left Joy-Con to be repaired. I also tried to revive my old RC car with a new LiPo battery to play with Westley, only to burn out the motor after just 2 runs. Otherwise, we’ve mostly stayed at home to manage the finishing touches to our window repairs, installation of a motorized sunscreen for our family room, and successful sale of our Sundance Spa, which we sent off with a final late-night soak as its last hurrah.

You know your wife really loves you when she shows up to your work with a new video game console that most people could barely get their hands on. Despite being weeks after its debut, the new Nintendo Switch remained sold out at most stores after many positive reviews for its innovative design. Once we knew a new shipment had arrived at Best Buy, Melody showed up after work that day and scored the last one of the batch. The handsome gadget sat pretty on my desk, but could do very little since the system did not come with a game. So we spent our long weekend mostly taking it easy. Since Westley’s daycare did not have Cesar Chavez Day off, we took the opportunity to lunch out at Station 16 in midtown followed by macarons from Ginger Elizabeth. On Saturday, we stayed at home while painters came to put the finishing touches on our windows, followed by a visit to Ikea to let Westley bounce on various Swedish furnishings. We ended our long weekend with a short field trip to Lake Berryessa, where the heavy rains this winter have allowed the water level to rise above the poorly-named “Glory Hole” spillway, creating a mesmerizing vortex that became the feature of a recent NY Times article. It was not as dramatic by the time we got there, but Westley seemed to enjoy the outing as we stopped for lunch at a local RV resort diner. For Melody’s birthday, I left work early to check out the Davis Co-op to feed her cheese addiction, then grabbed a bite at Tasty Kitchen before picking up the baby. We also ordered our copy of Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, so we’ll be putting our Switch to good use after all!