Oakland Zoo - the animals!

More from Oakland - family stylie..

Kettle corn at Jack London Square just in time for a crab festival by the water - late lunch! Holly & Ashwin say hello to a tomato frog, hmmmm!

Let's hear it for the East Bay...

Way back in the beginning of March we went to the Oakland Zoo to check it out & it was very cool! The size is just right for little people & you can go round & see all the animals & chill out at rest areas for a snack... This pair of cute guys (frogs) are found in Panama - they are about the size of a 50 cent piece & were just fascinating to watch. After all the animal watching Ashwin was keen to go & ride the cars - finally he is over his merry go round phobia!

Look Mum I found a chocolate chip on the floor!!

Oh dear here is Holly's first experience with chocolate & looks like she loves it! An accidental spill & those eagle eyes do not miss a trick, especially when it comes to food :) This all happened one afternoon whilst baking some delicious whole wheat cookies from my favourite baking cookbook King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking choc full of wonderful recipes!

Stitches West 2009

Oh another fruitful year at Stitches West - this year I went solo as my knitting pal was pregnant & had to do the quick dash early... I decided to drop by on the Saturday - I finally got in & whew after a whirlwind shopathon, here is my stash! Some wool blend Italian yarn, handspun mohair, roving, silky malabrigo & a case for my knitting needles - oh yeah & a gorgeous pair of earrings by an Oakland glass blowing artist. Tiring, zzzzz!

Look out scrap

Poor old Scrap - I bet he didn't envisage the grief he would have to put up with in his older years, still the kids are slowly learning to leave him alone. This guy hasn't got the patience to deal with kidlets!

Heading on over to the snow...

Way back in February now... we went on a snow trip to Arnold - a town close to Bear Valley. We figured it'll be nice to hang out in the snow but not really ski so we got to a great vacation rental in this small town & relaxed. It was stunning to see the snow in real life & to walk in the snow it was so deep your legs just sunk, great exercise though frustrating! These are the driving pics - heading on up to the sno park & on the way pencil pines & almonds in blossom.

Relaxing by the creek ;)

To escape cabin fever I went out on a wander to check out the lake near the cabin. The lake was iced over but in the process of melting so no ice skating! Still it was lovely to see everything covered in this soft blanket of snow, so visually breathtaking. This is just beautiful with the reflection in the creek by the lake so I had to take time out here to sit in the snow & soak it all in!

On the balcony of the cabin

The whole snow trip Ashwin was sick with a terrible cold so he really didn't enjoy himself at all - this is a rare occasion when he did have the energy to come outside to make a snowman on the balcony.