Tilden Park

 

 

 

It's been a whirl-wind week of science fair, little league games, trips to Cupertino, homework and play dates, so Gina and I finally carved time out of our schedules Friday to do a hike & lunch. We found a winner: a looping hike in Tilden Park (between Orinda & Berkeley) that peaked at a ridge with views to three San Francisco bridges on one side, and Mt. Diablo & San Pablo reservoir on the other. 

Science Fair 2013

 

 

 

 

 

Julie's science fair display was a working version of a vortex, and Nate and his friend Will did pH testing of anything they could find, including my lye solution for pretzels, root beer, and his own saliva. Of course, after seeing all the cool displays at school, it's really about the cup cakes at the end...

Rattlesnake

We got quite the scare, Julie especially, while hiking on Mt. Tam on Friday. We were on the last leg of our Cataract Trail waterfall hike, debating whether or not turn around, when hike-leader Julie suddenly let out a scream and ran behind us. Nate, not knowing what to think, also screamed and started running back up the trail. I then saw the large rattlesnake that sat well-blended in the grass only a foot off the trail and at about Julie's head height, its tail rattling loudly and tongue flickering continuously. Julie might have been only two feet from the snake...too close for our comfort.

Saturday Night in the City

We decided to take advantage of the early sunset before daylight savings time kicked in, so we headed to San Francisco for dinner and to see the Bay Lights exhibit. We couldn't secure dinner reservations at Foreign Cinema in SF, so we instead showed up at their door the minute they opened, and scored a perfect table outside where the kids could watch Escape from Alcatraz projected on the building next door. We headed then to the Ferry Building and watched the huge LED show (largest in the world) until Gina dragged me away, saying something about bedtime. I'm not sure if it was for her or the kids. 

di Rosa Preserve

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gina and I have been sneaking away in the day recently, and our latest foray was into Napa to take a tour of the di Rosa Preserve, a 250 acre indoor/outdoor private museum with 1800 works of art. We had been there before when we lived in Petaluma, but this tour seemed to take us places we hadn't visited, including the outdoor sculptures that had "Lynched Volvo" and the world's largest filing cabinet that contians a single, smashed-up MG Midget. 

Hello Little League. Goodbye weekends.

 

Spring has sprung