I have been very bad about updating this haven't I? Well that should tell you how much wonderful fun we are having. July is coming to an end, which means in one month Z will be in school! I can't believe how fast 4 1/2 years have gone, or more specifically, the last 2 months.
We've settled into the bay area and are now working on exploring all there is. Three weeks ago took the Bart (our new favorite way to travel) into San Francisco and braved the Muni line to Golden Gate Park. The Muni is the the municipal transportation in the city and is known to be difficult to navigate and notoriously late. At Golden Gate park they had an amazing playground with huge castles and climbing structures and a free concert performed by the San Francisco Symphony. After spending a few hours there we went in search of food and found the worst cupcake I have ever had - even Z wouldn't eat the icing! - and went home exhausted and happy.
The following weekend we decided we were in need of the sun. I've been loving the summer here, it's rarely over 70 degrees, and I appreciate it all the more while watching news of the heat wave that is killing people and crops across the south. With that said, I do miss the sun sometimes. The cure for this, we decided, was a weekend camping trip to New Hogan Lake in the "Gold Country", meaning inland Northern California. The lake was pretty, the weather was hot (high 80s!) and there were frogs everywhere!
When I was little (up through my early teens) I spent every summer vacation on my grandparents farm in west Texas. At that time there were always summer rains. After a heavy rain, starting at twilight, under their street light 1/2 mile from their nearest neighbor, the frogs came out. They had buried themselves in the ground after the last rain stated to dry, awaiting the next shower. They were ugly slimy warty bullfrogs and all the kids loved them. There were baby ones so tiny I could cup two or three in my hands, up to huge ones I could barely lift with two hands and was slightly afraid of. We (myself, my sister and other cousins) spent many a summer night being chewed on by mosquitoes and filling feed barrels with frogs, only to unceremoniously dump them out at the end of the night to allow them to go hide before the hunt resumed the next evening.
I remember the joy and excitement we had at that time and I wanted to give Z some of that. Alas, I am no longer a tomboy. I am not a fan of slimy yucky things anymore. I don't know when or why it changed but now I just think of all the germs they may have and get grossed out. Scott however had no such issues. He was wonderful with her. During the day I sat on the edge of the lake making sure the dogs weren't getting eaten by ducks (a childhood trauma I'll never let go of) while Scott and Z waded out chest high for her, through the muck that always gathers at the edge of a lake, to try to catch minnows or tadpoles. And at dusk he took her frog hunting and found a huge slimy toad she loved and tons of tadpoles, most tiny babies, one the biggest I've ever seen. We released all but one tiny tree frog who now has a new residence in Z's room and is fed calcium fortified crickets. Seriously.
This past weekend we were needing a beach fix and decided to go to Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz was said to be similar to Santa Monica but with a bit colder water. Santa Monica has the pier we loved, Santa Cruz has a boardwalk. They both have beaches and the ocean. We thought this was a no brainier. We were wrong.
According to Google maps the drive is 1 1/2 hours. We were warned that traffic would be bad coming home on a Sunday so we decided to do a Saturday day trip. We left about 11 and did not get parked until 2:30. Traffic was awful the whole way and then it took us 30 minutes to find parking. It wasn't that we were looking for free parking or close parking, just ANY parking. Once we got to the boardwalk we were so disappointed. It was wall to wall people, all with that rude, arrogant tourist air that will poison any location. The beach was covered in trash, the water was freezing, and no one was smiling. Next time we'll stick with our original plan, which was to go hiking over there. I also received an email from a friend of mine when we got back from Santa Cruz that told me where the locals beaches are and that there is an 1800s steam train we could take Z on. Here's hoping it's not like the Chama Train in NM - oh how I hated that thing!
During the week Z and I spend time exploring Berkeley. There is a park about 2 miles from us that has 40 ft concrete slides carved out of the hillside that the kids go down on cardboard. Between that and Adventure Playground, which National Geographic listed as one of the the top 10 parks in the nation and one Yelp reviewer described as "Lord of the flies meets Shanty Town" we are never at a loss of things to do. If anything we are limited by my level of energy and desire to deal with other people's children.
Here's hoping for a just as exciting August!
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