The Nut Tree

I have some pretty blurry memories of The Nut Tree from my childhood. My mom could probably fill in the blanks for me, but I think we used to drive out there to visit my dad when he was working really far away. Mom would trek us all out to Vacaville in the family station wagon where Dad would meet us for a day of fun and then we'd head back home to Larkspur and he'd head back closer to his job.

If you haven't heard - The Nut Tree is back up and running as a new "family park". It's really quite cute, small and very clean. I don't recall exactly what kind of rides and things they had back in the 70's, but there is a beautifully restored train ride they claim to be the same train they had used for decades. I couldn't help but wonder if I had sat there in that train car with my family 30+ years earlier.


We had a great day, in spite of the sweltering Vacaville 104 heat. The boys loved the merry go round and all the unusual animals you could ride (a crocodile, tiger and flamingo among the more unusual).



I was thankful the speed of the merry go round was pretty tame. The one at Discovery Kingdom whips at a speed uncharacteristic for a kiddie ride, and for my motion sick tummy it's not a lot of fun. This one was very gentle and I would have gone again (and again) if the kids wanted.

We tried to feed the fish, but it appears they are very well fed and didn't even humor us with a nibble of the food we tossed in. I suppose I can't really blame them - in that Vacaville heat they probably felt like we were adding ingredients to a big pond of fish soup!

I think the highlight of the day for Domino was the "I80 Bumper Cars". Given Domino's nature to overreact to loud noises and things out of his control, I was really surprised to see he enjoyed people crashing into him. He was laughing and grinning from ear to ear - shouting out and pointing to which car to ram next. Rascal on the other hand, "was not havin' it". We quickly adapted from "bumper cars" to "avoid cars" skirting around the perimeter and avoiding all crashes whenever possible. Domino had such a blast he went on the bumper cars with Dad another 2 times while Rascal and I watched and laughed from outside.

We rounded out they day with a couple of scoops of rainbow sherbet, a splash of cold water on our heads and a mini-meltdown in the Jelly Belly Store. It's hard to be 3 when it's 104.

I don't think we'll make a habit coming here the way we do with Discovery Kingdom. It is pretty expensive ($20 a person for unlimited rides) and with the heat, we lasted just about 2 hours before we threw in the (hot and sweaty) towel. I think the park is open year round, so when Discovery Kingdom is on a break it might be something to check out when the weather is kinder to us hot weather wimps.

But oh-my-goodness - I just had that realization that hits me every few days - we won't be able to just head up to The Nut Tree any time we feel like it. Domino starts school FIVE DAYS A WEEK (!) in a matter of weeks. It's going to a whole new world for all of us.

Now that will be an exciting ride!