lego heaven - maker faire

Boy went to the Maker Faire this weekend - discovered (among other things) the joy that is about 10,000 gazillion legos all there for the building.

fun with auntie

Little Dito loves driving the car!

Snow Day In Rockridge

We met up with Avi & Lilah for a snow ball fight under the BART station in Rockridge.

Momma gets breakfast

Chicken & Waffles at Aunt Mary's ---9.27
This was one of the rare mornings where my errands took me out of the immediate neighborhood which in turn became a great excuse for treating myself to breakfast - and since I had a half off coupon for aunt Mary's ... well lets just say Chicken and Waffles here I come. It was a nice treat to sit outside on their deck and enjoy a few minutes of quiet over coffee & yummy food. Maybe I will get to bring Em here sometime.

When a tree falls in the neighborhood

The neighbors called last night just after midnight to tell us that everyone was okay and that we shouldn't freak out if we saw FireTrucks coming up to their house. It was rainy and very very windy out and one of the giant trees in their yard had just come down onto their roof. - I hadn't heard a thing!!

This morning we went over to take a look - Wowza





Thank goodness everyone was fine & the house is hopefully fine - that is some good construction that it can catch a direct hit and not crumble.

Firewood anyone?

Park 61st st Emeryville

After a trip to the BEST B*Y (thanky you Unka Jim) we found this new park in Emeryville (around 61st and Doyle) - it wasn't super big but it had some pretty cool play structures and we needed to run around for a bit so it was Perfect.

Indoor Play Cafe

On this rainy rainy morning we had a play date with Amy and Cypress at Sadie Days in Oakland - it was a pretty cool space but crowded - lots of moms escaping the bad weather. Still I love a place where the boy can run and play and I can have a latte!!!! Plus seeing Amy was a BIG bonus.

Breakfast Out

You would think now that the kid is in preschool 3 or 4 days a week I would have lots of time to kill with my favorite persuits like coffee, journaling, meals and just general lounging.... but that is SO not the case. I don't really know what the problem is but today I did get to have one of my RARE meals out with myself!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Look at that yumminess -

Yeah Sunshine Cafe on Solano

Monday Funday

Our Adventure Day playdate was at Lawrence Hall of Science this week. We had a good turnout of kids this time - lots of siblings too - There was much running around and playing with the various exhibits and then we ended the day in the blocks room.

Corty's dad David spent about and hour & a half working on his tower....

Rose Garden Sunset over the Golden Gate

Okay did anybody notice that the title of this post was rose garder for a few days. Oh well. So we have been having the MOST AMAZING January weather believable. And I feel kinda mean talking about it because I know that the East Coast is beyond cold right now. Seeing temp readings of NEGATIVE Double Numbers in the shire and in Boston. So I am feeling for you all - but I am also so enjoying running around in short sleeves and being on the verge of complaigning that I am getting too warm.

The beauty of this place is taking my breath away again and again. I think I have always appreciated the bay area - but seriously being away for a few years has made it that much more Awe Inspiring to me. Nearly everyday I am hit by something - the redwoods and eucalyptus by my house, the sweeping views of the bay and marin as I drive the boy to preschool, the magic of the fog, the stunning sunsets like this one that was so literally perfect with the bay clear and the Marin mountains and the GoldenGate framed between the Berkley Trees.

If you haven't been here in awhile you should come visit.

Bud

I visited Tehiya today (one of the schools that we are thinking about) and on the way out I saw this blossom - which is from the same tree that was behind our Cambridge House & would blossom for about a week every spring before another storm would come and blow all the pink flowers off and onto the ground.

I was pretty amazed to see it in Dec.

Crazy Awesome Sunset

Lately we have been having some of the most amazing sunsets. Each evening I pretty much stop in my tracks and stare out the windows and down the hillside & feel truly blessed to be in such an amazing place. These photo's dont really do it justice at all.



but you get the idea I hope.
I know that they truly are stunning because after I spend my 20 minutes stuck at the window I have been seeing tweets and status updates from Oakland, SF, Berkeley all saying the same thing.

I am glad to feel so truly blessed and although I really really miss friends & family on the other side of the country my soul is just elevated by the beauty of this part of the world.

Deer by the hammock

Here's a couple of shots of our neighborhood deer hanging out by the hammock at our new place - I thought I had company when I heard them rustling up beside the house. For the most part I think the Berkeley Hills wildlife are awesome and cool - but I am a bit put off by word of an ongoing Mountain Lion warning issued from Lawrence Hall of Sciences as a mother and cubs have been hunting in the neighborhood. Hope these two stay healthy and don't attract any predators.

Adventure Playground 9.26

Tashlich

L'Shanah Tovah Ya'all.

I can't believe that we are back in the Bay Area to start the New Year (5771). We attended erev services at Beth El - the reform congregation just down the hill from us in Berkeley. Yoel Kahn from CSZ is the Rabbi there now and Rueben is the Asst. Rabbi so it felt very at home for us - and there are a lot of kids at the early service so the boy could sit and play angry birds without causing too much of a stir. In the morning we came into the city for the CSZ services at the Herbst Theater which REALLY feels like coming home. We sat in one of the boxes and the boy played with magnets on the floor - I was surprised to have Jack's Grandma Inez come over and say hi - didn't realize that she attends CSZ. We went from services to grab a lunch to go from one of my favorite dives then headed out to Chrissy Field to do Taschlich.



The bridge was just visible through the fog but as we enjoyed our lunch the sun came out more and more.

For the boy it was a chance to play on the beach as we cast our crumbs into the sea.
Oh yeah - it was also a great chance for him to enjoy Jesse's company as well and to gather some more tips on strategy for taking on the helmet heads of Angry Birds.

Home Sweet Home

Well I am a bit behind schedule on getting some updates on here... but today will be worth the wait. To start here are some shots of the NEW house in the Berkeley Hills. We got to CA at about 1:30 am on the 23rd of August and crashed on Elizabeth and Angie (who found this place for us) then when we woke up in the morning we came out to explore our new digs.

The place is probably a bit fancy for us - its way, way way way way UP in the hills - almost in Tilden Park. And its pretty white and modern & minimal on the inside (well it was before all of our boxes got here!)

The first shot is a view of the house as seen from Angie & Elizabeths yard, and the second shot is the view that we see from the front room, the boys room and the deck - lots of Redwoods, Eucalyptus and a drop off down the hill to the bay, Alcatraz and the Golden Gate.

Lovely!!!

Tilden Park - Little Farm

Today we met Loula and her moms at the little farm in Tilden Park - the boy didn't love it quite as much as Drumlin but he was excited to meet Loula again and also to run into one of his classmates as we were feeding the animals at the park.

After feeding celery to the goats and cows we headed down to the nature center and then to the playground nearby. The boy really picked up then and he and Loula spent the next hour or so running around like little crazy nuts - climbing, jumping, running, climbing... it was a lot of fun to watch and Em and I really liked hanging with her moms. Then we all headed over to the carousel....

all this and chocolate ice cream too.

Hike

We headed up the street again to do a little hike this afternoon. We planned on going to the Science Museum but took the wrong path so we just watched the hillside trimming goats instead.

Livin La Vida North Berkeley

The view from my lounge spot - Strawberry Canyon Pool - UC Berkeley

Em has come here with the boy a couple of times since we landed in the middle of a heat wave today was my first day joining them - although parking is a pain, and there doesn't appear to be any good public transit options this is a Rockin Outdoor pool with a massive shallow end for the kids to enjoy and today it was also the location of some Butch Soup as I found myself swimming with some other EB butch daddy types.

Checking out the view

We went for a walk up the street with Elizabeth and her boys L - (3 1/2) and C (just turned 3). Our route was up our cul de sac then turn right head on up the hill till the street ends in another cul-de-sac and then out onto the dirt path.

Views above and Views below

UC Berkeley Campus right below us, city straight ahead and Marin etc ahead and to the right

ahhhh.....