Kayak on Jack London Square

As the end of the school year approaches, Gina and I have been trying to do those things we've wanted to do on our childless days out. This one's been on our list for a while: renting a two-person kayak in Jack London Square and then paddling a mile along the waterfront to Brotzeit Lokal for lunch outside. The wind picked up a lot on our way back, and the person in front got a little wet (okay, very wet) with the waves, but we still made it back in time for school pick-up at 2:30pm.

Nate's Table-Chair

Smitten

That satisfied look on Nate's face is from us successfully defending our first place in line on opening day of Smitten in Lafayette, and then being the first ones to have their ice cream. We showed up 45 minutes before the inaugural opening and positioned ourselves at both doors, elbowing several eager younger kids trying to usurp our place in line. No one gets in our way when it comes to Smitten ice cream.

County Courthouse Fieldtrip

Nate's fifth grade class went to the main county courthouse in Martinez to get an inside look at the criminal and civil courtrooms. Their class sat through a DUI trial, visited the high-security jail, and performed a mock trial in an unused courtroom. Nate played the arresting police officer (above).

Mother's Day

Joaquin Miller Park

Last Saturday we drove out to Joaquin Miller Park, just below the Chabot Space Center, and the former site of Joaquin Miller's house. After a hike through the woods and around some branch houses in the making, we went to the base of the house site and found hundreds of frogs and tadpoles in the abandoned pool. Our time there was spent catching frogs and trying to convince the gregarious three year-old we befriended that little frogs shouldn't be squeezed so hard (they're not sleeping afterwards). Our day was finished after a stop at Smitten Ice Cream on College Avenue -- an upcoming Lafayette shop that produces super-creamy ice cream that uses liquid nitrogen to instantly freeze the ingredients. Yum!

Bike to School Day

Today is National Bike to School Day. It's also Wednesday, which means it's also Mom Drives a Cello and Trombone and a Couple of Heavy Backpacks to School Day. Or as Nate said this morning: "It's National Bike TO School Day. They didn't say anything about biking FROM school!"

Berkeley Rose Garden

Coughs and colds abounded this weekend, so it took until Sunday afternoon before we climbed into the car and headed through the tunnel. We stopped in Codornices Park in Berkeley, then walked across the road to the Berkeley Rose Garden where we found someone playing what we later learned is a "hang" drum (apparently invented in Germany in the year 2000). I could have listened for hours. Here's another video, but I think our guy was even better.