Snow :)

The rain continues in Oakland-hooray!-but this weekend, we got to play in the SNOW!

We drove up to North Lake Tahoe Friday afternoon and joined our friends at a beautiful AirBnB.

The weekend was delightfully low-key, full of laughter and way too short. Lake Tahoe is too beautiful-and too long of a drive-for just two nights. Hoping that next time we return, we stay for longer time!

Diego slept most of the drive up, and woke up about 20 minutes before we arrived. THANK YOU, DIEGO. As we approached the house, he kept saying, “Isla!” “Georgia!” We must have told him a hundred times that we were going to see his friends, and he was very excited.

Saturday morning, we bundled up and drove to North Lake Tahoe Regional Park for some sledding. I imagine the snow was perfect a few days earlier, but it was still quite nice for sledding.

We couldn’t figure out if Diego enjoyed sledding, but after every “run,” he kept saying “more, more” so…I think he had fun?

As much as I love getting out, during these trips, I absolutely adore the cozy afternoons together, snacking, playing games, watching toddler concerts.

Saturday night, Zac made a perfectly crisp Moscow Mule, Jon sous-vide’d delicious tri tip, and we had an incredible family dinner. After the babies went to sleep, the Attigas introduced us to Code Names. I can’t stop thinking about how much I want to play that game again.

This photo makes it look super intense-and it was. And so, so fun.

Narges made a beautiful photo book for all the children, and on the last page, she had this photo-from out last winter Tahoe trip in 2015:

That was the last trip before the babies joined the crew :) And here we are, a few years later, in 2019:

Beyond grateful for the friendship with these beautiful families.

Sunday morning started wayyyyy too early, when Diego woke up a few hours after we went to sleep, ready to PLAY. We took our time driving home, stopping in Davis to play in their awesome parks.

Sometimes I feel like I have no concept of time, or time’s passage. If I saw that 2015 photo, without the date in my phone, it would take a moment to figure out just how much life has passed since that snapshot. And then, there’s moments where it hits: whoa. Time is flying. Sunday morning, we were loading up the car, and I had to grab something from downstairs. Isla and Diego were playing in the living room, and just before I ran down the stairs, I said “Isla, I’ll be right back, can you be in charge of Diego and watch him?” It was probably a 20 second assignment, and Isla was wonderful. When I was back upstairs, and saw the two of them, it hit me.

Wait a minute, this sweet child, who didn’t even exist when we started these trips, is now watching my baby, the same baby who was also just a wish, a dream, when we started going to Tahoe in 2014? We started these family trips in 2014? FIVE years ago? We moved back to California almost five years ago?

Wow, time is flying. And I’m so, so grateful for these friendships to anchor these years, and for all the memories we’ve built together.

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Rainy days

Good morning! It’s Wednesday and I’m waiting on the platform for BART. It’s been rainy here-thank goodness-so we’ve been pretty housebound.

Diego totally surprised us a few months ago with his yoga moves. I guess he learned it in daycare? He’s leading David in some morning stretches :)

We went on a longer evening walk last week, taking advantage of the ~slightly~longer days, and walked by this incredibly festive and patriotic house. The little banner under the “Take back the House” sign says: “We did it!!” And thank goodness. Trying to remember the incredible relief we felt in November, as federal actions grow more and more concerning.

Diego is more than slightly obsessed with his rain boots, so we did a lot of puddle jumping this weekend. He got a little too excited, and scratched up his face, but as always, it freaked me out more than it affected him.

That’s all for me on this cloudy Wednesday! I keep going to the library hoping I’ll find a good book, but I can’t seem to settle on anything. Hoping to find something soon. Until then, there’s Maisel, Season 2 :)

Weekend

Standing on the platform, waiting out a BART delay. My commute, thankfully, is incredibly short, so commute downtime is rare. Anyway, rather than getting grouchy about the delay, going to think about this weekend.

We had a totally open weekend, which ended up being a really nice combination of quiet and full. Silvia generously watched Diego on Friday, and in the evening we all went to OMCA and did a food truck picnic on their lawn.

This is only our second time at the museum, but their Friday events are quickly becoming one of my favorite Oakland activities.

Saturday morning, we realized our fridge was pretty empty, and decided to treat ourselves to breakfast at La Boulangerie. Diego ate that whole croissant!

After breakfast, we walked over to the library for story time. Diego sat through a few songs and stories before he grew antsy, and we left for a neighborhood walk.

After his nap, Janou came over! We went to the park for a bit, before Max and MaryJo came over, too. MaryJo brought over an incredible box of veggies from her farm-including the biggest tomato I’ve ever seen. It was so gorgeous.

The three of them kindly watched Diego for the night, and David and I went out. It was very thoughtful-yesterday was their one year anniversary! David and I had a great time celebrating their anniversary, ha. We went to Pucquio and it was delicious.

Sunday morning, we packed a picnic and drove to Crown Beach in Alameda.

We met up with the Dillons, and it was a beautiful way to start the day. This was my first time at this beach, and it’s a great spot for toddlers. Super shallow water, nice and calm, and eaaaaasy parking.

Last night, we made a big salad with MaryJo’s farm finds. It was delicious! And now, another week begins…

As nice as this weekend was, it was really fun remembering this spectacular weekend last year. Happy anniversary to Janou and Max!!

Cabin camping in Point Reyes

While I would love to be a mom who easily packs and takes on camping adventures, I am so, so, far from that person. David and I have camped a grand total of two times, and both times we tagged along with expert  friends. Expert camping friends who also cook incredible food, plan everything perfectly, basically make camping look really easy.

Knowing I’m a novice, and knowing how much we loved our previous trips, cabin camping at Samuel P. Taylor Park seemed like a great way to dip our toes in the whole camping-as-a-family thing, while staying comfortable (and warm!).

Friday afternoon, we drove out to Marin. The drive was gorgeous. We usually take 580 to Point Reyes, but David had a meeting in SF, so we took 101 across the Golden Gate bridge.  The bridge was packed, full of people marveling at the city views in the afternoon sun.

Silvia met us as the cabin and we all got settled before leaving for a trail walk. The cabins were built relatively recently (2012) and were perfectly clean, with electricity, an electric stove, and mattress pads-no tents needed.

We picked this camping date as it was the only one available-the cabins get booked up 6 months out. We really lucked out with the weather-it was warm, and the park was green and lush, especially after last week’s rain.

After the trail, David started dinner. Outside each cabin is a picnic table, fire pit, and barbecue. This is my favorite part of camping: spending hours outside, around a fire, and eating cheese and crackers, while waiting for a yummy camp dinner. David made incredible burgers and veggie kebobs. Our hiking backpack ended up being much more useful as a highchair. Maybe we just need to go on more hikes? It was totally worth bringing it for meals-Diego was perfectly happy to sit, snack on goldfish and edamame, and supervise dinner prep. I was also really grateful we went camping with Silvia. It was really wonderful to have grandma help with Diego and spend time together.

The only thing missing from our camping cuisine was s’mores-next time! Still, it was nice and cozy drinking tea by the fire, while watching the stars come out.

The next morning, David made an mushroom, egg and sausage scramble, and we enjoyed breakfast in the crisp morning air. For a brief hike, we tried putting Diego in the Ergo, but halfway through, he was NOT HAVING IT. On to David’s shoulders he went!

We said goodbye to the Madrone cabins and drove over to Point Reyes Station for CHEESE. I love visiting Cowgirl Creamery and seeing the stacks of Red Hawk and Mt. Tam in the dairy window.

With bags full of Humboldt Fog and turkey sandwiches, we made our way through green hills of happy cows over to Drakes Beach. At this point in the day, it was quite warm, not a cloud in the sky, and WINDY. I was reminded of the hilarious chaos of beach tent assembly in the wind, but David eventually got it, and we enjoyed a delicious lunch while watching the water.

While I took a power nap in the tent, this brave little Pisces crawled into the water-again! I love this photo Silvia snapped of David and Diego.

After exploring the water, Diego was freezing, and it was time to go home. Hope to get back to Point Reyes soon. I’ll be keeping my eye out for openings at the Samuel Taylor cabins-they are awesome.

Sending good thoughts for the weekend!

Weekend in Irvine

​Hello, Friday! Before jumping into a new weekend, just want to remember last week’s visit to see my parents. Diego is quite the Northern-Southern California frequent flyer, but this was his first flight out of OAK. And-his first AirBART! Three cheers for public transit to the plane.

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The airport was packed (Friday evening flight), but while we were waiting at the gate, I looked up and guess who I saw….

Uncle Max!! One of these gentlemen in micro-fleece was en route to grandma’s house, and the other off to Vegas…

Speaking of grandmothers…the next morning, we joined an impressive group of grandparents, students, and families at the Irvine March for Our Lives. I’ll be honest, when I heard the words “Irvine” and “march,” I kind of expected it might just be my family, standing on a corner with signs. Irvine doesn’t exactly scream political activism.

Wow. Was I wrong. The turnout was amazing. And passionate! And incredibly inspiring. I was most heartened by the enthusiasm from all the cars driving by.

I’m nervous about getting too hopeful–November is still many months away–but I’m hoping the activists and voters maintain their stamina and turnout for the midterms.

After incredible tacos at Puesto, Janou and I went for a walk at the beach. I can’t remember the last time to the two of us had a free afternoon to go for a walk (my mom watched Diego-hooray!) and it was really nice to enjoy the scenery and catch up.

That evening, we all met up at the park before heading home for a birthday dinner for Diego! My mom made delicious arroz con pollo-so comforting and cozy.

The next morning, Mom packed up a picnic breakfast for the beach. Bagels + beach + fresh air are all a happy start to the day.

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It was a beautiful spring morning. Soon, it was time to head back-this time, Janou joined us for the flight! Flying with a teething baby seems to be my thing, and he’s getting verrrrry wiggly. But we all made it back, relaxed and refreshed from a beautiful weekend with family.