Sunday in Oakland

Nana took a little trip to Southern California to visit family and friends.  When she asked if we would pick her up from the Oakland airport, I said absolutely.  I love any excuse to hang out in Oakland.  

First stop was to our favorite taqueria.  Tom and I ate at this place very regularly when we lived down the street and it was just as delicious as we remembered.  

 After walking around the neighborhood and seeing the site of our first date (a dive bar), we headed into the Oakland Hills.  We decided to take a little steam train ride at Tilden Park.

 The whistle was a bit loud, but the ride was fun and we got to enjoy some of the beautiful trees.

 Scenic overlook on the way down the hill.

 Then we headed to my absolute favorite place to walk/hike in Oakland, the Mountain View Cemetery.

 The cemetery is filled with amazing monuments and mausoleums, and allows for awesome views of the bay.

And at the end of a great day in Oakland, we were reunited with Nana which was definitely the highlight.

Lunch at Dad's work

I can't remember the last time we visited Tom at work.  I know we haven't had a chance to visit his new job (which at almost 11 months old, isn't all that new anymore).  So today, as summer vacation is rapidly coming to an end, we came to Symantec to join Daddy for lunch.  

He met us in the lobby.  

 And then we headed to the cafeteria.

 There was plenty of outdoor seating and the weather was great.

 Then it was time to see Building B.

 There was a game room on the first floor that needed exploring.

 Then we checked out Tom's work space.  He's currently in an open concept floor plan so he shares his "area" with three other members of his team.

We enjoyed seeing where Daddy spends his weekdays and maybe I'll get a chance to join him for lunch again.

Trying new things

Leo has expressed an interest in skateboarding on and off for a while.  Last week, I took him to his first skateboarding lesson at a skate shop not too far from our house.  

 The guys I grew up with taught themselves to skateboard out on the streets - no lessons, no pads, no helmets.  But this is a different era and I paid a sweet guy to hit the streets with Leo and show him the ropes.  He thrived on the one-on-one attention and enjoyed his first lesson.  I gave him his space during the first lesson so all I have is paparazzi type photos like this one of him returning to the shop at the end of the lesson.

We borrowed a board from his friend Max and Leo practiced at home during the week.  On Saturday, we returned for another lesson.  He spent half the time out on the street and the other half on the ramp in the back of the shop.  

 He really likes skateboarding and we really like to see him excited about something.  He practiced at home.

 Yesterday I got him his own board and to say he was thrilled would be a major understatement.  He wanted to ride it to the park that afternoon but also wanted me to hold his hand the whole way.  How could I say no.  He's not going to want to hold my hand while skateboarding, or any other time, for much longer.

Today we took a little trip to a skate park with his friend Max.  Max has been skating for a lot longer and is much bolder, but I was proud of my timid guy for being brave, shaking off the falls and trying his best.  

This little firecracker is all signed up to play soccer this fall.  Practices will start later this month so I decided I should show her some basics.  I think she'll do just fine.  

Oregon Road Trip: going home

It was hard to say goodbye to Oregon, especially when we were facing a very long haul to get home.

 We pulled over at Cape Sebastian for one last look of the lovely Oregon coast.  The kids weren't interested in stayed in the car.

And then we were on a mission.  Mission: home.  It took us over 10 hours with stops.  The kids were absolute troopers and did a lot of eating, reading, gazing out the window and a little of this.  

And that wraps up our epic Oregon road trip for summer 2016.  It was an amazing experience and I look forward to visiting Oregon again soon.

Oregon Road Trip: Day Six - beach day

We had originally thought we would drive home on Wednesday, July 27th, but we quickly realized after we had made the long trip north that we should take a little more time enjoying Oregon.  This made Wednesday a day to relax and explore.  

We headed north, crossing over the Rogue River via the Isaac Lee Patterson Bridge.  Still love that river.  

Our river guide recommended Arizona Beach, so we decided to check it out first.    

It was beautiful and there wasn't another soul there.  

Tom got pretty relaxed, pretty quickly.  

Father daughter selfie. 

Mussel creek ends at this beach.  

The kids love this kind of beach that has both the ocean's crashing waves and the calm waters of the creek gathering.  

It's no ordinary sand castle when Daddy gets involved.  

Unfortunately, it was a windy day and it began to defeat us, so we packed it up and headed north again.  We ended up at Port Orford.  It was very pretty but also very windy.  

Windy selfie.  

 We had a delicious late lunch at a little fish-n-chips place and then made our way back down to Gold Beach.

We stopped by the beach in front of the hotel and the kids were thrilled to see the stick they had stuck in the sand the day before was still there.

 They pretended it was a microphone.

 It was still windy, so we decided to hang out in the hot tubs for a while.

 We also had some bubble fun on our balcony.

We headed out in the early evening and discovered that the fire hydrants in Gold Beach were golden.  A local offered to take our picture next to it.  I think this is a common occurrence.  

Back to our home away from home.   

 Nothing really beats a taking in the beautiful view from the balcony.

It was a great day that was leisurely and fun.  We didn't have a jam-packed itinerary full of extreme adventuring and endurance hikes.  As enjoyable as it was, I don't think that will be the norm for us.