Ano Nuevo State Park

We had a fun little trip down to Ano Nuevo State Park today.  We stopped in Pescadero for lunch on the way there and then went on a hike down to the beach to see the elephant seals which are currently in the molting period.  We were able to get quite close and observed them while enjoying the gorgeous day.  Our trip back took quite awhile because of alot of traffic through Half Moon Bay and San Francisco, but we broke it up by stopping in San Mateo for ramen at Himawari.  We sampled some delicious dishes and then headed back on the road and finally got home in time for bed.  Everyone had fun and as you can see, they love "Auntie" Livia!

Zoo

 Miss Independent wanted to carry the picnic blanket all by herself.

Checking out the new coati exhibit at the zoo.

We went to the zoo yesterday and enjoyed the beautiful weather.  One of the highlights was the new coati and cotton top tamarin exhibit which recently opened.  We toured quite a bit of the zoo and enjoyed a nice lunch of a baguette, goat cheese, olive tapenade, yogurt and mandarins on one of the benches in the shade.  I was told that this would be a great lunch for "every time we visit the zoo in the future".  Agreed!

The Snake King

The Snake King from David Chng on Vimeo.

Visit to Ardenwood Farms

Sheep hanging out by the wagon

Pretty nasturtiums

Alex showing off his pinecone bird feeder

Very excited about his favorite part of Ardenwood, the peacocks!

We visited Ardenwood Farm in Fremont on Saturday and Alex was quite the tour guide for Daddy, showing him everything on the farm.  Of course, the focus of the morning was aimed at where we might find the peacocks.  They roam around freely, so you cannot predict where they may be, but Alex was sure to check out every spot where he saw them on our last visit.  We did encounter them on a few occasions and as you can see, he was quite excited! 

They also had an activity where you could make a pinecone bird feeder by spreading peanut butter on a pinecone and then rolling it in birdseed.  Alex decided where to hang it outside when we got home.  Predictably, the entire pine cone was gone the next day.  I'm sure it wasn't a giant bird which took it away, but those cat sized squirrels which come to the front yard must be having a tasty little snack somewhere in the trees.  

Speaking of the Zoo...

Silverback Gorilla

He came right up and just posed for the camera for about ten minutes

The penguins

Mr. Rhino

A good view of the anteater's nose

One of the many peacocks....clearly Alex's favorite on this visit

We went to the San Francisco Zoo on Sunday as well, with Daddy.  We had not been there in a long time and although it was a chilly, chilly summer morning, we were able to see many animals which we do not normally get to see at the Oakland Zoo.  I've included some of Daddy's nice photos so that you can all see them too!  The gorillas were quite amazing, and the baby was really cute!  Alex especially loved the peacocks, just like he did when we visited the farm on Friday.  In fact, he loved them so much that we purchased some peacock feathers from the gift shop on the way home.  Thanks to Rhonda for those!

Zoo Time!

Cool!  Johnny and Alex were quite excited when they realized that we were all going in the same car for the trip to the San Francisco Zoo.

Alex measuring up to the gorilla

Cuties

Watching the penguins swim by

A fast, fun train ride. 

Back home after a good day at the zoo and a nap in the car

 

We had a fun day with Johnny and Carrie on a trip to the San Francisco Zoo.  We decided to carpool and the boys were quite excited about that decision.  Who doesn't love to ride next to their buddy on a roadtrip?  We saw lots of animals, with the peacocks being Alex's favorite, and the lions coming in as Johnny's favorite.  There was a train ride before lunch, some playtime on the playground and then a couple of naps in the car on the way home.  What a great Tuesday!

Ardenwood Historic Farm

Hello Mr. Turkey

These goats were not willing to leave any morsels untouched

Burning off some lunch jumping on the hay bales

Following the chickens

Standing in a field of beautiful lettuce

Eating some of the goodies which we picked up from Perry Farms

On our way home yesterday, Alex mentioned that he would like to go the farm.  I told him that we would and made good on my promise today.  Instead of visiting the Little Farm again, I decided to take him to Ardenwood Historic Farm in Fremont, which is also part of the East Bay Regional Park District.  We had a nice full day of fun at the farm. 

Alex told me that his favorite part of the day was visiting with the chickens, watching the peacocks which were just roaming around the farm, and feeding the goats.  He also seemed to have a great time jumping from haybale to haybale, over where we sat down to eat our lunch.  Other activities included a train ride, a chance to grind some corn to feed to the goats, watching the blacksmiths working, and a demonstration on old fashioned laundry techniques. 

Ardenwood is a 205 acre farm parcel, with a working organic farm which is run by J.E. Perry.  It is great that this area has been preserved, with all of the development that has happened around it.  There are plenty of areas to picnic on the grounds and there are special events many times throughout the year.  The docents are dressed in period and are very helpful in explaining how things were back in the 1800's when the farm was occupied by the Patterson family.  We're lucky to have such a little gem as part of the regional park system!

Moss Beach: Weekend 2

Fun at the beach


Look Mom, a chiton!


Blue-green anemone


Checking out a tidepool

After being deterred by a closed beach last weekend, we ventured out to Moss Beach on Saturday to check out the tidepools. We were able to see some anemones, hermit crabs, chitons, mussels, barnacles, coralline algae and surfgrass in the tidepools, as well as harbor seals and some seabirds in the distance. It was like a big treasure hunt, trying to find the various marine life in the pools and Alex had a great time. Afterwards, we hit downtown Half Moon Bay for some lunch and rounded out an enjoyable morning.

Busy, busy

Monte the calf, born on August 1st, weighed in at 80 pounds.


Alex trying to coax the black sheep over to the fence so that he could pet him. Eventually the sheep was enticed, despite our lack of celery or lettuce.


Luke and Alex at the Oakland Zoo. The giraffes were closer than normal, but the boys were quite intrigued by the ducks in the moat, which kept going under the water. Every time they did, Alex and Luke both exclaimed, "uh-oh!" and then the ducks would pop back up.


Alex practicing some snowboarding moves on the "eggs".

So, today was a very busy day, due to my continued attempts to remember things without writing them on a calendar. I planned two playdates with friends, one in the morning at the Tilden Little Farm and then another in the afternoon at the zoo. At least they were at different times of the day, right? We definitely had our animal fix today and Alex enjoyed every minute, as usual. The Little Farm is great early in the morning, as the animals are so active and excited to eat breakfast. We were able to get up close to the new calf at the farm, which was cool, and Alex loved the bunnies (aka "hops") and all of the ducks, chickens and geese as well.

After a 3 hour nap, we hit the zoo for more fun! I prefer afternoons there, because it is much less crowded and you can actually see more. The huge fruit bats, the frogs and the otters were of particular interest today, along with the ducks at the giraffe exhibit, as noted above. All in all, it was a fun day. Nice to see friends and have so much fun with animals.

Father's Day at Ano Nuevo

Happy Father's Day, Dada!

I love my Daddy!

The fam with the seals in the background

Seals chillin' on the beach

Swimming and chatting


My cuties!

Hopefully everyone had a Father's Day which was as much fun as ours. We got off to an early start and headed down the coast, stopping in Pescadero (kind of loving this town now) for some yum-i-licious artichoke bread at Archangeli's. If you are ever in the area, stop by and get some of the bread, which is often times still warm, as it was today. After devouring about half of the loaf, we arrived at Ano Nuevo State Reserve to take a hike and go out to see the elephant seals on the North Point of the reserve. It was a gorgeous day, which made the hike out and back very enjoyable.

Wow, those are some large seals! At this time of year, the population is primarily male and they are in the molting season. Amazingly, a male elephant seal can reach a weight of about 5000 pounds and a length of about 15 feet! That means that many of these adult males actually weigh more than our car. They seemed to be enjoying their time on the beach, playing, covering themselves with sand and splashing around in the water. They were quite chatty too. As you can tell, I was quite fascinated by these creatures, so I will share just one more factoid about them. The pups weigh about 60-75 pounds when they are born and they grow to 250-300 pounds in just the first month---wow, that is some rich milk, weighing in at just over 50% fat content, no lactation consultants necessary.

To finish off the trip, we stopped for lunch in Half Moon Bay and visited the feed and tack store there, where they had all kinds of baby chicks, ducklings and turkeys. Alex also was lucky enough to be able to pet a rabbit, which was pretty cool. The man at the store was kind enough to take one of the bunnies out of the hutch and let Alex pet him. Quite cool for a little boy who is a bit bunny crazy at the moment.

Bunnies and Tigers and Turtles, Oh My!

Here kitty, kitty, kitty


Look Mom, a turtle!


Alex and the tomato frog


Alex and I made a short trip to the zoo yesterday afternoon and had a fun time exploring without the crowds that have been there the past few times that we visited. The bunnies were of particular interest, along with the turtle which was in the crocodile exhibit. I didn't get a good shot of Alex with the bunnies, but he spent a great deal of time in front of the window watching them eat their dinner. He loves to do the bunny sign, so he had fun running back and forth in the exhibit, signing bunny. The tigers were uncharacteristically active, so we were able to get a good view of them as well. Afterwards, we took a ride on the train and the carousel, before heading home.