Pleasanton Ridge

The Pleasanton Ridge is a bit of a hike, but if you can make it to the top you will have some breathtaking views of the valley. The hike up was pretty intense, but it was a gorgeous fall day and we were glad to be out! Cora was still in the backpack carrier at this point and she enjoyed the ride! About halfway up, we stopped and let the kids play under a huge tree. As you can see Caleb climbed and we just hung out and had a snack. After a bit of a break, we continued toward the top and almost made it. We decided to turn back after a while as we weren't sure the kids would make it all the way back down without a meltdown. There were a lot of other families and lots of dogs on this hike which is always fun. Halfway back down the hill, we discovered that one of Cora's shoes was missing! It had fallen off while she was enjoying her ride down the hill in the backpack. We did some backtracking to no avail, and since it was getting late and the kids were tired,we decided to just head back to the parking lot. Lo and behold, when we arrived back to our car a lady approached us holding Cora's shoe! I have no idea where she found it or how she knew it was ours, but I was relieved to have it back! All in all, it was a afternoon well spent on the ridge.

Tilden Park ~ Little Farm

Ok, we all know Tilden Park is awesome: steam trains, carousel, farm, etc. if it would just be a little easier to get around. The signage is not very helpful as you maneuver through the Berkeley hills which makes things even more frustrating, but if you can manage to find what you're looking for, I guarantee its worth it! So this day, we decided to hunt down the Little Farm. I had heard about it numerous times and although my sense of direction is pretty good, I was not sure I could find it on my own with the kids. So, I decided to wait till my husband who has an amazing sense of direction could go with me.
Although we had directions that seemed pretty clear, it still took a few wrong turns and a stop at the Lawrence Hall of Science to ask for directions, but we did eventually find it! Yeah!!!! Again, it was around lunch time when we arrived, so we sat at a picnic table and had lunch before venturing to the farm. What an great place! I had read on the website that we could bring lettuce to feed the animals, so I grabbed a bunch of romaine we had in the fridge before we headed out and the kids really enjoyed feeding the animals food that we had brought ourselves as opposed to buying something there. There were cows, goats, chickens, etc. The farm is built against a large hill and you climb the hill to get to the goats, etc. We wandered around the farm for a bit, reading about the animals and feeding them. After enough wandering, we walked back across the path leading to the farm and hiked a loop through some gorgeous greenery of the park. It was a very easy, flat hike that the kids really enjoyed. The path loops a small pond where we saw some ducks and turtles. The kids are always excited to see any kind of wildlife, so this was really fun. Some of the path was dirt and some was a wooden path that sat on top of marshy ground. It probably took us an hour to hike the loop, but we took our sweet time and studied lots of cool animals, plants, etc. The Little Farm is another gem where the kids can discover, learn and just as importantly, be kids!

Lake del Valle ~ Livermore, CA

Although this is my 2nd post on a park in Livermore, Livermore is new territory for us and is quickly becoming one of our favorite places to hike and explore nature. Lake del Valle lies in the foothills that surround Livermore and has a ton to offer. As I mentioned before, my son loves to fish and Lake del Valle is a great place to do that as there are a ton of spots along the lakeshore to stop and fish. This is a man made lake that also offers swimming, boating, kayaking, camping, a dog run, boat tours, pontooning, hiking, you name it and it can be done at this park. On our first trip over, we found a spot on the dog run trail to settle in for the afternoon while the kids played in the water and fished. The water was clean and cool on this hot Sunday afternoon which was a great relief. I love nothing more than finding a spot where the kids can play freely and just explore their surroundings and be kids. This allows me some much needed down time, but more importantly, I feel like it allows my kids to learn about the world around them on their own terms without me or another adult directing or redirecting them whatever the case may be. Either way, Lake del Valle is a great place for families to explore.
On our 2nd trip out there, we decided to try kayaking. Unfortunately, when we got to the park, there were gale force winds and there was no hope of me being able to keep the kayak from being thrown about by the wind. Thankfully the kid working the kayak rentals let us know that it would be pretty rough out on the lake and that he was already thinking he was going to have to save some people that had gone out in kayaks. We appreciated his honesty and heeded the warning. We then went out to the swimming area to try to let the kids play in the water some, but the wind was so strong that it was not enjoyable and we ended up just going home. We expect to return to this park soon to continue exploring the many activities offered!

My favorite park ~ Alum Rock Park, San Jose

This is definitely a hidden gem of the bay area. When we lived in San Jose, I found this park in a book called "Babies by the Bay." We were new to the area, so I was just trying parks listed in the book. Was I blown away by this park! It sits right in the foothills of San Jose and was only about 15 minutes from our house. I believe it is one of the oldest and largest city parks in California. It has the feel of a state park with the close proximity of a city park. The first time we visited, I think we were there all day. There are endless miles of hiking trails and an incredible play ground, complete with a picnic area. We have seen many wildlife here including deer and turkey. We have climbed to Eagle Rock and Inspiration Point, hung out at the visitor center and the Youth Science Institute which is a habitat for raptors that are unable to live in the wild on their own due to an injury. Come to think of it, there are 2 playgrounds, one larger newer one and another smaller one for smaller kids that my older kids still enjoy due to the large stone spider and eagle they can climb.
What I like best about the park is the peacefulness that you feel as you enter the park. All of a sudden it is quiet and the noise and clamour of the city is gone despite the fact that it is only 5 minutes away.
This last time, the kids their cousin, aunt and I were able to spend 2 very enjoyable hours just at the main playground. This playground is large, so there is plenty of room to play tag. We also saw deer on the hill behind the playground as well as in the field surrounding us. It was a peaceful ending to our day and we so look forward to going again!

Sycamore Grove Park ~ Livermore, CA

So we had passed this park about 3 times and it looked perfect for our family to go biking in. Most of the paths looked flat and although it didn't look very shady, we were headed into fall and the need for shade was no longer as strong as it was a couple of months back. So finally we decided to go! While my husband got our bikes prepped (it had been a while since we had been biking), I got a lunch together for us.
We aren't very good about leaving much before lunch so by the time we get to where we're going, we're usually ready to eat. So while I made sandwiches and ants on a log, my husband pumped up tires, adjusted seats and got the bike rack on the Trailblazer. Finally, we were off. About 45 minutes later, we arrived at our destination, pulled into the parking lot and payed the $4 parking fee. We found a nice table under a tree nearby and sat down to feast on PB & J, Capri Sun and raspberries. After a few minutes my husband asked me if I had remembered our son's bike helmet....."No." I said. I then asked him if he had remembered HIS bike helmet. He said "No." I didn't think much of it since the paths seemed flat and I didn't think we'd be doing anything death defying. So we finished our lunch and headed back to the car to get on our bikes! My husband gets his and my bike off the rack, gets my son's bike out of the back and starts to set up the bike trailer for the girls. Easy enough if you don't have three super antsy kids waiting to get going, in a parking lot no less where I am trying to keep them from getting run over. As he's getting the trailer hooked up to his bike, he asks me if we have the pin to connect it to the bike.....??? "Isn't it on there?" I ask him? Apparently not. So after a few fruitless attempts of trying to figure out how we can keep the bike trailer connected to the bike, we come to grips with the fact that after all this, we're not going biking after all! Seriously, sometimes its like the harder you try, the more fruitless your attempts turn out to be. ugh!!!!!!
We then spent the next few minutes convincing the kids that walking will actually be better than biking! They didn't believe us at first but you know, we saw a lot more walking I think than we would have biking. At the first bridge the kids of course had to look at the creek and of course there were fish! My son is an avid fisherman and has declared in the past that he wants to be a "fish taker" when he grows up. So of course the fish fascinated him.
We kept walking and after a few minutes, saw a couple of deer grazing under the shade of a huge tree! I'm pretty sure we would have speeded past them on our bikes and not even noticed they were there.
What we saw next was really cool. We kept hearing a the rap, rap, rap of a woodpecker. It took us a few minutes, but we finally found him pecking away at a tree covered in holes. It was so cool to see his resplendent red head. Our two oldest were able to glimpse him as well, but I think my two year old wasn't quite sure what she was looking at. Maybe in a couple more years.
On our way back, we decided to deviate from the paved path and take a dirt path along the creek. There were a couple of places where we heard a waterfall type sound, but couldn't actually see the water flowing over rocks because there were reeds that hid the creek. I know it sounds weird....
So about 2.5 hours later we were back at the parking lot. Totally exhausted, but glad to have spent such a glorious day outdoors. We will so go back this time with our bike helmets and pin for the bike trailer and maybe we'll be able to get deeper into the park!