Rice cakes for me, rice cakes for you!

Wandering the paths we found some logs, so Ashwin thought he might take a break & have a snack 'like a frog on a log'. Looking at this pic now with the onset of summer, it is strange to be so rugged up but that is the deal when SF is foggy, it gets very chilly & layers is the GO. I even may have to start knitting up some extra scarves just to have in my bag, just in case. The only problem with Ashwin & the gardens is the ponds & his desire to be in them, in the end he just settled for a puddle to splash in.

Another tall & very big tree...

in the SF Botanical Gardens... I just loved it there as there was an incredible collection of plants that I had not seen before. The other exciting thing about visiting was going to the Australian plant section & imagining I was back home. They had a huge 'black boy' which would have been years old, but here they call it a grass tree just to be 'politically correct'. I think we could have spent hours in there wandering the paths & finding plants. Oh & it really did remind me of the 'tan back in Melbourne with even a duck pond!

At the carwash - yeah!

On the way out to SF today with Shona for a trip to the San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum. Shona was keen to go through the carwash - complete with hairdryers for drying. Ashwin hated it completely as it was noisy from the water & all the crazy stuff that was slathered all over the car.

Gym & ice cream

The other day we were trialing out a Gymboree class in Los Altos Rancho shopping centre. Here we stepped back in time to this strange strip mall with shingles on the roof & shops for people with a helluva lot of money. The class was OK but a bit unstructured and as you have to pay money for it, I'd rather go to the park.

All grown up now!

From our visit the other day for coffee at Shoreline cafe in the morning, Ashwin & I saw the goslings now in their teen years. They are looking a bit dorky these days & not as cute they were a few weeks ago. I had to hold Ashwin back as he wanted to go & pet the geese but oh-oh we don't want to get bitten.

Peek a boo!

Looking through the video camera pics the other day I found some long lost pics from ages ago... When I first saw the Canada Geese at Shoreline, it was very exciting. This little guy is playing peek-a-boo under his wing. Now when we go down there there are many more geese & their goslings wandering the paths.

I'm hungry...

...any flies on the menu?? Here is a teeny weeny venus flytrap that was at the Chomp exhibition at the Conservatory of Flowers. There were so many unsual plants that I had never seen before.

The conservatory

One of the places at Golden Gate Park I wanted to check out was the Conservatory of Flowers - the excitement was the exhibition of carnivorous plants. It was an amazing place with so many gorgeous orchids.

Greens to go...

We went for a drive to find some lunch in San Francisco & as we couldn't find a park anywhere, we landed in Fort Mason - yay as we found a free carpark! We were wanting a tasty, healthy meal & here was a restaurant we wanted to check out greens - a vegetarian restaurant, what a bonus! The food was yum & we had the most delicious pastry for dessert. We will definitely have to head back there one day on a clear day for a beautiful view of the water & the Golden Gate bridge, coupled with a delicious meal.

Ships Ahoy

Our daytrip out on our weekend away was to go for a wander through Golden Gate Park - I didn't realise that it was so big & 50 blocks is way too much to cover in a day. So we checked the map & choose the places we would check out. We had gone for a drive & it was time for Ashwin to let loose of some energy so we found a playground to play in. I liked the artwork on this boat with all it's sea creatures. Ashwin had a ball here & it was soon time to wander on to the windmill, that is to drive on over there.

Wake up lazybones!

As Ashwin was having a rough time during the night sleeping in a new environment we bought him into our queen size bed to sleep with us for a while. We had an early start in the morning & Ashwin enjoyed his sleep in the big bed with his doggie named Bobbo. The only problem was trying to get him up to face the day!

Rocking back to the 20's

Where we stayed in Pacifica there was this cool bar facing the ocean that had been there since 1927! They had the coolest furniture in their cocktail bar where we hung out for a drink & a snack. We found a couple of vegetarian options on the menu - some jalepeno poppers which were jalapeno with cheese in the centre, crumbed & deep fried (oh so bad but very tasty!) Check out the till in this pic, very cool indeed - can just imagine the bar back back in it's day with everyone dancing the night away!

Crabby crab shell

Here is the beach from a crabs point of view - with some surf in the background. Unfortunately when we arrived at the beach it was freezing cold & overcast compared to the valley where it was a warm sunny day. It is funny when you head on over to SF the differences in weather can be so extreme.

These boots were made for swimmin'

In amongst the seaweed & cigarette butts on the beach we found a dirty old boot in amongst all the rubbish. The black minerals in the sand make the beach look dirty but that is just the way it is. It is hard to compare to the beaches back home in Australia - white sand, blue water & clear sky!!

This way to our getaway...

As we had a long weekend the other week here for Memorial day, we had to take advantage & head away for a couple of days. We ended up going to Pacifica - 60 km north of our place right near San Francicso. It was beautiful to see an ocean beach & feel the chill of an overcast afternoon by the sea :)

Now for some yoghurt!

Hey there Ashwin, it's time for dessert after your dinner!! Now that Ashwin enjoys feeding himself, playing with his food & playing with his cutlery - here he is after a feed... nice moustache & beard little one. It certainly is fun to watch him eat these days as he has so much enthusiasm. If he isn't walking around with a rice cake, he's belted up in his highchair eating pasta with pesto. We have some favourites too at the moment such as strawberries and everyones favourite - ice cream!!

Little Golden Bear

This bear looks very much like a koala - this is the first time I have laide eyes on a golden koala! The biscuits are quite yummy & come in little packets, so as soon as Ashwin sees them he's screaming for some sugary goodness. I just love Asian supermarkets, you find the best stuff there!!

Mr Climber

Mummy let me out of this playground, or I'll climb out! Ashwin has now got into climbing everything - the fence, the couch, the chairs, the table! So now we have enrolled into The Little Gym classes down the road. It is excellent as there are balancing beams, mats, bars & Ashwins favourite bubbles. They have the coolest bubble blowing machine & all the kids just love it! We had an excellent time at our first 'free' class & it has encouraged more climbing action all over the place!

Ride em Cowboy

We went to a new park on Sunday afternoon in downtown Mountain View called Eagle Park & it was excellent as the kiddie play zone has had a refurbishment & has this gorgeous pony ride on. Ashwin just loves it & was riding away for ages! We have swimming classes coming up end of June right next door to this park at the pool next door to the playground - which should be fun. Our weather has been glorious with warm sunny days & our afternoons in the heated pool at the apartment complex.

Shingle Roof

Here is the Ainsley House info place, next to the main house where you can go on tour to see the historic place. The roof on both these places were steamed shingles nailed into place and jigsawed around the edge just to finish them off. The roof looked beautiful against the blue sky that day with it's varying tones.

A valley of fruits & vegetables

Once upon a time in the valley before the days of silicon it was a fruitful place full of produce. These are some of the labels that were on show at Ainsley House in Campbell. I especially liked the massive can of prunes - they would certainly keep you regular. I must say that this time of year is just amazing at the farmers markets - there is beautiful produce everywhere & at the moment there are strawberries galore & of course, the first tastes of the summer stonefruit, yum! We have been enjoying the peaches & they are so sweet.

Magnolia grandiflora

At last the giant Magnolia are in bloom everywhere, while we were down at Campbell we found a few trees full. James looks like he's about to pull the flower off the tree but no chance. I remember first seeing these trees in Fitzroy Gardens in Melbourne - there was only one tree there & it was huge.

Marching along

This was the craziest marching band I had ever seen, they were wandering up & down the street doing their thing & of course because we are in da West Coast it was '80s hits galore! While we had our pizza to go at the park we were watching them, they even got to 'Turning Japanese' by The Vapors in their own marching band style. It was fun eating pizza & running after Ashwin & dancing to classic 80s tracks! It can get a bit too much when you hear 80s music everywhere you go - even the supermarket!

Mmmmm beer

Ashwin was keen for some of James' beer but that was a no go zone, he had to settle with the cup instead. As this has been his only hat for the moment, he's been going around in his cowboy hat to keep those rays away. He had a great time at the festival, basically running around everywhere & we had to chase him - here & there. We were quite exhausted come the end of the day, that Ashwin slept in the car we just chilled out when we got home & the rest of the day disappeared.

Festival Season and it's time for a beer!

Yep James is pointing to his watch & it says 11am - as it is free festival season here in the valley we have been checking them out & enjoying the beer & wine to go. We are at Boogie on the Bayou - the downtown Campbell New Orleans themed event, which was OK. We went with our neighbours & had a yummy pizza from the main drag.

The next Soceroo

Here we have Ashwin in a new outfit from friends back home in Melbourne (thanks Jayne, Dougie & family!) He is in our apartment in front of his own toy corner, that generally scatter around the whole place over time. We are trying to get him to become a bit of a kicker but he can't really get the kicking action, instead he opts for picking up the ball and running back to you with it. We'll get there one day all, we just have to practice a bit more, outside on the grass & not in the loungeroom!

Crazy flower

On a vist to the Childrens Discovery Museum, yet again - Ashwin just loves the place! In the community garden we found this very interesting flower, certainly has it all to attract any insect pollinators. In fact their garden was in full bloom due to the gorgeous weather & time of year.

May the force be with you!

Look who we found disguised as a postbox down at Santa Cruz - yep it's R2D2 & the Star Wars crew promoting to post your mail at light speed! Hehehe that is so funny as the speed to post anything in this country travels at snail speed - I am impressed with the international post as it gets to Australia in a week or so but you really pay a high price. And to coincide with the USPS marketing campaign - postal prices have just increased, it is now 90 cents (from 75) to send a postcard, lucky I checked the other day!!

I can hear seals!

Sitting on the beach we could hear the sound of seals in the distance & when we wandered onto the pier we found the seals hideout. There were so many of them lazing around (with a breadroll?) including baby seals that were oh so cute. Ashwin loved looking at the seals from high on his perch above them.

Look out - it's Baywatch!

Kynan & Ashwin had to do a quick runner before they got run over by the Santa Cruz baywatch brigade doing their afternoon run. We were a bit disappointed not to see a bikini or a budgee smuggler in site - we didn't even lay eyes on a Hoff lookalike! Ashwin enjoyed being whisked away & laughed at the fun of it all.

This is THE boardwalk...

...down to the beach, yep what you imagine a boardwalk to be! Thought it was funny as this was it & here is the crew wandering on down to hang on down the beach & check out the sites. The water was way too cold for a swim, so we took Ashwin by the waves to feel the chill. He wasn't too keen at all. It was good to kick back & think about what to eat next, luckily for us there were some restaurants up on the jetty - whew! Not many vegetarian choices on the menu, so I had a Caesar salad & it was a whole lettuce.

Cruising the streetz

Here is the crew wandering by the token Casino (love the sign!!) near the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. It was a very long day, wandering around the rides & checking out the food & hanging on down the beach. Not too impressed with the beaches over here, I'm looking for the white sand but the sand is full of black grittiness. There were no waves at this beach but I have heard that there are some nearby - there is always next time to check out the surf & go for a hike, the healthy option :)

Lovin' it!

Here is Mr Peach enjoying himself down the boardwalk, so much to see. This shot was taken just after eating Gilroy garlic fries (Gilroy is famous for a garlic festival & it is located in the South Bay too!) Basically it is fries drowning in garlic - you could use the leftover garlic in your pasta for dinner!

Deep fried... what??!!

Here it is in all it's glory - deep fried Twinkies! The boyz had to try them out & as Kynan said, he hadn't eaten one before... I thought they might be battered but no, just stuck on a stick & deep fried, only for the hardcore with two flavas, chocolate & vanilla. The expression on the Matt & Kynans face says it all, mmmm tasty little morsel!

Stepping Back in Time...

It was a thrill when walking the boardwalk & seeing the signs & hearing the sounds of the '80s man! Really you just have to go there to check it out & go on a few rides especially after eating some of the food for sale, mmmm deep fried Twinkie!!!

Downtown Santa Cruz

Check out this funky movie theatre at downtown Santa Cruz - yep the place made famous for The Lost Boys (or boyz, if u r hanging down the cruz!!). See the film they were playing - The Never Ending Story, Ashwin would love to check that out - it wasn't really a movie theatre day as it was a glorious, sunny day! So we headed on down to the Boardwalk & the beach 'G' for an experience of a lifetime :) The boardwalk (or concrete walk) was THE place as one of the classic '80s films were filmed there (borrowed it from the library recently) & we were location spotting the whole day!

Finger Painting

With the weather being so hot I thought we could get away with some painting outside on the patio in some swimmers! Then afterwards take a dip in the pool to clean up - of course, a rinse in the bath beforehand!! Ashwin really enjoys playing with th paints & was trying his had at some tribal body painting as well, as you can see in this pic :)

Fountains of fun

Continuing the warm weather we were down at Los Gatos on the Saturday. Ashwin had enjoyed himself with all the kiddie stuff so we went to have a huge lunch & coffee & we needed a walk afterwards & look what we found - a cool fountain for Ashwin to have more fun in, thank goodness for the change of clothes!!

Climbing to the moon!

Our walk back to the car from the huge telescope was fun & we enjoyed the weather very much. Here Ashwin tries a bit of rock climbing up a wall! We were 4200 feet above sea level on Mt Hamilton in the Diablo range east of San Jose - so the wind up there was very cool. It has some spectacular views & I can imagine it would be an awesome place for sunrise/sunset as well (we have daylight saving at the moment, so it would be a really late sunset & we would have a very upset Ashwin!)

Now that is a big one!

This is the 120 inch Shane reflector telescope - so named after the Director of Lick Observatory during the construction in 1959. This is really worth the visit as the tour is self guided & you wander & press a button to play a DVD that was made in the 50's. It has some great music & of course it includes the one narrator of all American info-films of the era who has such a dramatic tone of voice. Ashwin was enjoying the sound of his own voice in the space too, screaming & running around like crazy!

An insiders view

At the observatory we went into the dome & we heard a talk about this telescope and it's 36 inch refractor. It was an amazing space and the hydraulic floor moves up to the eyepiece on the telescope. It was certainly a worthwhile visit to see it, unfortunately not in action - maybe one day??!!

View from Lick Observatory

Sunday being a gorgeous clear, sunny day we went for a drive to Lick Observatory (an hour or so away from our house) to check out the telescopes & the most amazing view. The drive up the mountain was full of twists & turns & it too a while to get up there, still it was well worth it!

A Pony Ride

Saturday we hung out at the Childrens Fantasy Faire in Los Gatos - lots of kiddie orientated activites, including pony rides!!!

Babycino!

Ashwin's on the coffee trail oh so young! Not that he needs a coffee at all - we all forget that we had so much energy when we were his age! Now I cannot get through the day without a strong cup of espresso :) When we go out to have a coffee I get this massive amount of froth on a double cappucino & he enjoys most of it!

Cruising!

Here is the crew who went for a walk in this gorgeous district of San Jose - chatting, taking a pic and eating! Well it is Daria, Shona and Ashwin enjoying themselves on an overcast day in the bay. It was certainly a lot of fun seeing these houses as most of the architecture here is really boring. For example our apartment complex, everything looks the same - even the interiors! These houses had some style & the colours of some of the houses were way out there & look good, you do see that a lot in SF city too!

House of dreams...

...the other day we were down at The Alameda, San Jose with the girls for a coffee & catchup. Ashwin was getting quite bored so we went for a walk around the 'Rose Garden' district, man there are some beautiful houses there- here is one fairytale house. There were streets that reminded me of Flemington - lined with massive plane trees!

bye bye tree!

Down by a park where I go with Ashwin is this collection of beautiful eucalyptus trees. We were there the other day and I saw a big ribbon on the tree saying 'Heritage Tree Removal' and this notice stapled to the tree. It basically says they are removing it because it drops branches - poor tree, what about all the other trees that do the same??!!

From Japan to Brazil in two days!

Sunday we were doing our farmers market shop. As we were wandering waiting for our coffees to kick in, we found a stage with some kids doing some hip hop moves. We discovered there was a free dance recital in the arvo. We enjoyed the dancing & the styles were anything & everything in between from ballet to Brazilian samba!

Sweet, salty or both!

Another great American invention Kettle Korn are one of our neighbours favourite snacks (only if it is right!) i.e. made properly and the best place to get it is at fairs and made fresh. Don't know if you can see the guy in the stall making the corn in the pic but he is using this massive kettle that is damn hot and he throws in the corn, flavourings and the oil - a couple of minutes later here they are, ready to eat. I was quite dubious of mixing the saltiness with the sweetness but they did taste quite good & are quite addictive - see sizes available in pic!!

Racoon Dolls

At the Cherry Blossom festival there were a few cultural exhibits to check out from Koi fish on display to Ikebana & here are some Mataro Kimekomi dolls. As I have seen on their website they are Kimekomi dolls made in the Mataro style. We saw how they were made & there is so much work that goes into each doll. On the inside is a sculptured shape of the object and on the outside you apply various Japanese fabrics to bring the shape to life. I loved these racoons they reminded me of creatures from Studio Ghibli.

To the beat of the drum!

Here are the Taiko performers from San Jose Taiko who were just amazing! Very inspiring as I might do a taiko workshop?? I had no idea that taiko drumming is so energetic. We all loved their performance, especially Ashwin who was mesmerised by the rhythm. I have some video so I will have to upload it to youtube soon to give you an idea of how cool this is!

Nice day for a beer!

Saturday we went to the Cherry Blossom Festival (note: there were no cherry blossoms this time of year). It was a lovely sunny day with so much action going on we got there fairly early. It was time to start the day off with an Asahi beer and look who I found - Takeshi Kitano, the famous film director advertising Asahi. He has been a Melbourne International Film Festival favourite of mine for years - well when I could freely go & watch films without having to get a babysitter, oh well c'est la vie!

Dancin' Ashwin - young & sweet only 19 months!