Come Visit Cali (Muir Woods)

Muir Woods is just a hop, skip and a jump from San Francisco.

I mean, if you could actually hop, skip or jump over San Francisco Bay.  Instead you get to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge and through the Rainbow Tunnel!  Much more exciting.

Most coastal redwoods have been cut at some point but Muir Woods is one of those protected places that has never been logged.

The trees are enormous and beautiful. 

It has a 1-mile loop hike that is easy to manage with little ones.  Pick up a scavenger hunt before embarking on the hike.  It keeps the kids engaged with the informational signs that are sprinkled along the way.  And there's a prize at the end!  Of course, we also look for tree faces.

And make fish faces at the salmon in the creek.

Armstrong Redwoods is another place to see the Redwoods that isn't too far from us.  Since it is in Sonoma County, we would go there if you choose the Napa Valley option when making your reservations to...

Hiking + loving the sunshine

Went on a hike in our local area

pulled out the baby backpack and

surprise!

it was full of candy.  The day was already a success.

With sugar in our veins, we set out.

At the top is a fire lookout tower.

You can see forever in all directions.

ok.  not forever.  but pretty far.

Photo ops!

We threw some rocks.  Almost made it to the reservoir.  Almost.

These abandoned logs were perfect for playing "forest faces".

We took different pieces of the trees and put them together to make faces.

Seen any faces in the forest lately?

DIY Nature Finds to ???

Today I have a tutorial for you.

But it isn't here.

It's over at Poppytalk's Handmade Artists Blog.

It's about taking the treasures you have found outside and turning it into

a special souvenir or great holiday gift.

I used these treasures...

Go on over there to see what I made!

Except if you are expecting a Christmas present from me maybe don't go look.

You may or may not be getting one from me come December. ;)

Table Mountain

We have lived out here for about four years and I was determined to make it out to Table Mountain this spring for its incredible show of wildflowers.  We didn't get out there until Memorial Day, which normally would be far too late for the flowers.  But, with all the lovely spring showers, we were still able to catch a few. 

Table Mountain is just what is sounds like...a mountain that looks like a table. 

Due to some weird volcanic mechanism, it is flat on top.

We felt very big standing on top of that table.

The table has cracks.

Where the water runs down.

 We played down there for a long time.  We climbed rocks.  One of us turned around pretty quick for fear of falling into the chilly water and one of us bouldered all the way around this little cove.  I'll let you guess which was which.

We skipped rocks (of course.) and found a baby frog.  A few of us loved the frog so enthusiastically we weren't sure he survived our visit.  Guess who that was.

This must have been a good throw!  Look at that face!  Also, this must have been before he decided to follow the big kids in taking off their shoes and wading in the water.  There is also a clue in this picture to help you answer one of the previous questions.

 It was a beautiful hike and a good time with friends.

Hope to see you next year, Table Mountain, with poppies. 

BONUS:

Check out Jake Early's print of Table Mountain HERE.

You can see more of his art at http://www.jakeearly.com/



Hike at Bullards Bar Resevoir

Bullards Bar Resevoir is not that far from the house.  However, the road we usually take still had trees down everywhere from the snow.  So by the time we got to the trailhead, it was already time to have our picnic.

Once the bellies were full we took off.

Some hike a little faster than others.

The kiddos played this game where they would run ahead as far as they could before we lost sight of them and them freeze until we caught up and gave them the signal to run on.

The view of the lake from the trail was just spectacular, even in winter (the water will be higher come summer).  I was just thinking what a great trail this would be to bike when, whadda ya know, a few mountain bikers passed us.  They gave us some tips for when we come back with some bikes, and a few less kids.

Whenever you go to any body of water, you must find something to throw into it.

Usually rocks.  Rocks are good. 

But if you find a stick and throw it in first then you can try to sink it with the rocks.

This is really more of a boy thing.  So Abs and I played with the camera.

Surprise!  We found a frog.  Thought it might be too cold for the little boogers.

Trek is a critter lover.  Ever since forever.

The summer he was toddling, he received several stings from critters that don't like to be picked up by pudgy little pinchers.  Yet it has not deflated his interest one bit.

Bean is more wary of wriggly, crawly, jumpy things.

Oh, and Trek has on his "handsome" shirt.

 Lastly, a quiz.

Anyone know what kind of bird this is?

It was well camoflaged.  We passed by it a couple times before anybody saw it.