Tick...tick...tick...

Want to go on an adventure? J.M. Barrie's beloved childhood story, Peter Pan, comes to San Francisco for it's U.S premier 360 production. Housed in a state of the art CGI theater, Peter Pan is performed in a round tent that is surrounded with high resolution video to fully immerse the audience in a multi-media experience that won't be soon forgotten! Actors and professionals integrate stage performance, music, computers, and video to create a sensory adventure for all ages.

We're heading to SF for our viewing this Wednesday (Math can't wait!)...I'll be sure to provide a more detailed review after!

Peter Pan will be performing Tue & Thur at 7PM, Fri & Sat at 7:30 PM, Wed & Sat at 2PM and Sundays at 1PM and 5PM. It's located at The threesixty Theatre at Ferry Park.

Tickets can be purchased here or you can call 415.551.2056

Have You Read "Three Cups of Tea"?

Last year the the bookgroup I'm part of read the book "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson, and then we had a tea party to celebrate this wonderful inspirational story. Unfortunately, at the time, we were unable to procure any rancid yak butter, but a member made some fantastic traditional Chai in it's stead...omg, yum!

Synapse Institute, the progressive lab school my son attends, has been inspired by the book, too! The students have decided to put on a garage sale to raise money for Pennies for Peace, an organization put together by the author. The proceeds will be sent to help students in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

This is a fun and interactive way to show your kids the spirit of citizenship in action, and heck, you might pick up a used Burberry bag for a steal ;0)

Located at 305 N. California Ave in Palo Alto from 8:30am-2pm this Saturday, March 20th.

Any donations to put up for sale are welcome, and can be dropped off at the above location anytime before Friday afternoon.

For the Facebook info page go here .
For more info go here .
For more info about the organization Pennies for Peace go here .

Exploratorium!

We did our first trip to the Exploratorium last month for a field trip with Math's school. Woah! So cool...especially the grounds surrounding the building. All the moms were all saying how we'd love to have gotten married right under one of those amazing arches...

First off, place was fantastic for kids of all ages (though toddlers might be a little tough, there was a space for them to play, too). We had kids ages 5-12 and all of them had a blast! There was tons of things to touch and explore and experiment. The kids got to watch a cow eye dissection (their faces were pretty priceless), and they enjoyed roaming around with free-reign of the entire space. We went during a week-day and there were plenty of schools there for field trips. The food from the cafeteria was pretty decent, and they had a nice selection of healthy options. I noticed that as we were leaving (around 2pm), the whole place was near empty...so if you are visiting during during the week that would be an ideal time to start!

To quote The Terminator, "We'll be back..."

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Alexi and his best friend went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium this week. The kids had a blast exploring and seeing all the fish and aquatic animals. The splash zone was a huge hit with the under 3 crowd. There were tons of things to touch and feel. Alexi liked dressing up as a fish, and in the end, ran himself to exhaustion. He fell asleep on the way out...perfect trip!

LEGO-cy Exhibit

Ever year, the Bay Area Lego Users Group puts together an exhibit at the Museum of American Heritage in Palo Alto. Any budding builder is bound to LOVE this moving, brick creation! A whole scene is created out of legos by members from age pre-school all the way up to grandparents!

Admission is $2. The event opens December 11th (Friday, Sat, Sun) and runs through Jan 17th of next year.

Beautifull Event

Photo from Beautifull website

Today, November 18th, Beautifull is hosting a "Nutrition for Pregnancy" series going in the Laurel Village from 7:00-8pm. Director of Nutrion, Lisa Sawrey-Kubicek, MS, RD, is going to speak about maintaining a healthy body during pregnancy! There's contest prizes, appetizers, and other goodies that will be available to all you expecting mommies out there in the Bay Area. Might be a good way to meet other prospective play date buddies, too!

Located at 3401 California Street, San Francisco, CA 94118. You can RSVP by calling (415) 738-9080.

P.S. - They have frozen yogurt! That would have sealed the deal for me...

SuiteTrip.com

It's on! I'm lucky enough to count myself as one of the Trekaroo contributors for SuiteTrip.com. Fellow Treakroo writer, Esther Lee, and I join an awesome group of writers: Beth Blair, Jennifer Miner, and Kara Williams (The Vacation Gals), Grant Martin and Scott Carmichael (Gadling), Lisa McElroy (Suite Living), and fellow Bay Area Mom, Jamie Pearson of (Travel Savvy Mom).

Today SuiteTrip launched their site for all the world to see. Under the umbrella of Homewood Suites Hilton, the site allows you to check out awesome travel tips like budget vacations, family friendly destination spots, and what to pack!

Oregon Shakespeare Festival

We went to Ashland, Oregon last weekend for our annual meet up with family, and to catch a few plays. If you've got yourself a budding thespian (and we do), don't miss an opportunity to partake in some incredible shows! Ashland is located about 6 hours north of here in a tiny hamlet town that's reminiscent of an Old World society full of scholars and poets (and there are troubadours!). It's also worth mentioning the killer coffee shops, the great dining options, fantasy stores, hiking trails, and parks.

Lilith Park

OSF plays 9 months of the year, and boasts one of the largest repertories in the country. They bring in notable actors and artists from all around, and were even written up in NY Times this year!

There are several different theaters including an outdoor venue. It's so wonderful to drink mulled wine under the stars listening to iambic pentameter lilt away. Insanely enough, the kids pick up on it pretty quickly, and the actors are typically very physical with lots of gestures and body language. The minimum age to see a play is 6. Every year there are several family friendly plays and musicals both by Shakespeare and other notable writers. This year we saw Much Ado about Nothing, Don Quixote, and Music Man. If you have other younger ones and no one to watch the kids there are reputable daycare providers available (and pet sitters that will massage and walk fido, too, go figure).

The nicest thing about OSF is most of the actors in the company are down to earth, friendly, and typically live in town. Last year, we took the backstage tour and were guided by one of the leads from the show we saw the previous night! Matthew thought that was totally cool! We learned about how sets were designed, and how costumes are made. We even hung out in the green room, and learned more about life as a new actor!

Mark Bredard, our tour guide and principle actor

Can't make it up to Oregon? Arrange for OSF to come to your child's school! The company has a visit program that will work directly with your curriculum and teacher to bring Shakespeare to your young ones in a fun and dynamic way.

"My Son is Inigo Montoya...Prepare to Die"

My son started fencing this year. Surprise, surprise...he LOVES it.

We signed up for classes at the new Jewish Community Center in Palo Alto. No, we're not Jewish, but the facility is very friendly and welcoming to all interested parties. The staff was super helpful in getting us all set-up even though the center hadn't officially opened yet, and they were super nice about my crazy kids running around like they owned the joint. The facility is state-of-the-art, eco-friendly, and very fabulous. Alexi can run around out in the courtyard while Math's in his class. As long as the weather holds out it's a win-win.

The class itself is wonderful! The teachers are very, very thorough and encouraging. They kids are all very collaborative, and advise each other. I love that the older boys mentor the younger ones. There is a huge amount of etiquette involved, and I appreciate that the game melds competitiveness and good sportsmanship together. And, of course, there are swords, right? What's better than that?

Samuraí Exhibit

Yesterday was the last day of the San Francisco Asian Art Museum's Samuraí exhibit. So cool! We both learned tons of stuff and took in the glorious sunny weather. While the Samuri exhibit is no longer going on, the museum itself is chock full of intersting art, programs, and resources. Not to mention it's in a gorgeous building full of amazing architecture at every turn.

My older son and I have been exploring what it means to be Asian, or in his case half Asian, together. I'm adopted and growing up I didn't really think much about what it means to be Asian. I grew up in an Irish Catholic family and was loved and happy...really it didn't occur to me to question my cultural identity till I had kids of my own.

I've explained to my son for awhile now that he is half Korean and half Caucasian, and he is also adopted and he is also American. He's more obsessed with making time travel happen at the moment so this isn't a subject that comes up often. Again, yesterday we talked about how he was of Asian decent and how the cultures and foods and folkways and mores are different than the ones he's grown up with. He seemed to think the whole thing was pretty cool since, in his mind, being Asian makes him half ninja warrior...okay, kid, okay.

Zeum

Last week the kids and I had the incredible opportunity to check out Zeum located in downtown San Francisco. Joy Daniels, the PR and Marketing manager of Zeum, invited us for a personal tour and, being the last week before school started, we gladly took her up on the offer.

First off, I can't believe I never knew about Zeum. It's a multimedia, art-integrated museum located just behind the Carousel. The Carousel, oddly enough, almost EVERYONE knows about. I did a little back-research on the place before I decided to take Alexi with me. A few people mentioned it was mostly geared for older kids. I also looked at the website and it seems that way as well, though it did mention a toddler zone. Well, just for the record, Alexi went and he had a blast!

We arrived and Joy met us at the entrance. We hit it off immediately, and I can honestly say I'd enjoy hanging out with her without the kids anytime! She was friendly and easy to talk to, and the conversation was fresh and engaging. She told me a lot about the museum and how it offers many cool programs including apprenticeships for high schoolers, birthday parties and field trips. The field trips sounded the most amazing to me! A professional educator collaborates with your teacher before the field trip to create a visit that will integrate with the class' current curriculum or study theme. How cool is that?

The whole downstairs was completely "touchable" for Alexi and Matthew, my 8 year old. When we first rounded the corner there was a green screen play structure with slide (this is where Alexi spent the majority of his time). A special camera loaded with some nifty software superimposed my tot onto a computer screen of fiery flames...that'll teach him next time he misbehaves! Math ran in the other direction toward the nearest computer monitor and set to work. I didn't see him again for another 30 minutes. The whole downstairs floor was pretty open so I could see both kids as they ran around and explored the puppet theater, dress up station, and block building space. Matthew eventually set up shop in the Animators Studio and didn't come out for over an hour.

The Animators Studio was something most kids don't get to see or experience till their first year of film school. There were tables of tools and "gut clay," or trash clay, that Math used to flesh out his designs over wire frames. Then he was given more expensive, colored clay to "skin" his creations. Math decided to make a scary flying ghost so the animator assistant provided him with some fishing line (hey, they thought of everything). After he'd made his ghosts, he chose a set complete with model ghost house and backdrop. A mounted camera was connected to a computer with iStopMotion software, which was pretty easy and intuitive to use. After some simple instructions he put together the short clip that's shown at the bottom of this post. They e-mailed me the clip before we left. All tolled the whole process took about an hour start to finish...and he was totally engrossed the whole time. Kid was on fire, he was so interested and excited!

There were a ton more things to explore at Zeum (a music production lab where you can make your own rock video, a multimedia lab, and lots more). If we'd had the time (and Alexi hadn't hit his breaking point...you see, he needs to eat a lot) we'd have stayed another 3 million hours, I'm sure. While there were a lot of things for the big kids to do, I have to say, Alexi had his fair share of things to play with, too. I'm glad I brought him.

After we left the Zeum, we checked out their store (hey, it's hard to resist). We picked up some great birthday gifts for some upcoming parties that weekend. Then, as luck would have it, the Metreon was right across the street. We had ourselves a wonderful lunch at our favorite Pizza joint, and then took a ride on the Carousel before heading home. In all, a very fun day in The City!

Zeum Claymation Short made by my 8 year old

Ulistac Natural Area

Right behind my neighborhood is a nature preserve that runs along the Guadalupe River and trail. It's called Ulistac Natural Area and it's home to several different types of habitats and multiple forms of wildlife. Today a bunch of us took a walk over with the kids and set down a few picnic blankets under the foliage. We had ourselves lunch, and the kids went on their own adventure running around picking up sticks and hunting for bobcats and snakes (none of which they encountered thank goodness!).

Along the trails are informative plaques about the native wildlife and vegetation. On past days we've seen jackrabbits, foxes, bunnies, and various birds. On some weekends there are park events such as art exhibits and nature talks, too! There are no picnic tables (we just sat on the ground...don't forget to bring a trash bag!), but Lick Mill Park is also located directly across the street with a playstructure, bathrooms, and tables, too.

In all a nice place to visit when you've got a house full of antsy kids and nowhere to go.

DeYoung Museum: King Tut Exhibit

Yesterday some friends and I took our kids to the de Young Fine Art Museum in San Francisco to see the traveling King Tut Exhibit.

I pre-paid our tickets using Ticketmaster, and it paid off (no pun intended) I'd spent the extra $2.50 to print them immediately. The line to even gather your paid tickets looked rather daunting. I got a discount by paying with my American Express, but I saw that Costco was also selling packaged tickets including the audio tour. Kids under 6 are free.

The big kids all really enjoyed the exhibit. I felt a little bad that my older son would have liked to spend a lot more time in there, but there was not much in the way of distractions for Alexi (2). He liked looking at the boats and pointed out the birds and shapes and animals he recognized, but he grew bored very quickly. It's a good thing there were a bunch of us so we could divide and conquer. I can say all the kids thoroughly enjoyed the gift-shop at the end, though. There was also a kiosk where the kids printed out their names in hieroglyphics, too.

After our educational excursion we headed to the cafe for lunch. I'm always pleased with the food, and they added a fantastic infused water stand that really made me giddy!

And after lunch we spent a few hours chilling in the sculpture yard while the kids ran around and played. A great day!

Dinner Club

If you love food and aren't part of a Dinner Club you should join or start one immediately. Here's why:

• It's a great way to meet new people
• New recipe ideas are never a bad thing
  
• You get to experience new foods you might not otherwise try or run across
  
• It's a good way to get some "me" time away from the kids
  
• It'll inspire you to get creative
• It's a ton of fun

I like to meet new people. I especially like to meet people who aren't just like me and don't think just like me. Or maybe I hang out with other people who also enjoy hanging out with people unlike themselves...in which case then I do like to be with people just like me. Maybe it's because I know and am happy with who I am. Or maybe it's because I don't and I'm not. I'm not really sure which, but I still like meeting new people regardless. *shrug*

I started a book club several years back, and it's taken off in many ways. We have a diverse group of smart and insightful women who return month after month to discuss life with kids, relationships, politics and religion, which leading man of the hour looks the hottest with his shirt off, gripes, and hopes for the future. Sparked by books that have made us horrified, dreamy, angry, or blissfully haunted we've shared tears and laughs and our most embarrassing moments enveloped by a supportive and warm environment. Oh, we cover it all in our beautifully open minded, fun-loving forum. So far it's been free from insincerity or designs. It's great! It's almost Utopian really...

Anyway, one thing we do to make things interesting is try to bring a potluck item that coincides with the theme of the book we've read (i.e. Suite Française: French food, French wine, French fries...just kidding...no one brought French fries). The gastronomic portion of the evening is one most of us look forward to the most. And while I won't ever give up Book Club I did think it'd be fun to have food be the main event.

This year one of my New Year Goals was to start a Dinner Club because I am a glutton for punishment (I love to cook and eat, and it's taking a toll on my middle regions). I sent out a post into our neighborhood moms group and told anyone who liked to cook and/or eat to contact me. I got a great response back, and we formed a group that would prepare and enjoy foods based on our pre-determined themes once a month.

First, we picked 11 themes for the year so everyone would know ahead. Some themes for this year were Budget Meals, International Tapas, 30 minute meals with 5 ingredients or less. And the whole thing has been fantastic. Again, much like book club it's full of diverse women from diverse cultures and backgrounds with diverse opinions. The one thing that brings us all together each month is a mutual love of food and cooking.

Last weekend we decided to share the fun with our families and had a kid themed (Camp Food) get together for the members of our family that have only heard in whispers of the good time they're missing out on. A member pitched a few tents in her garage and backyard, and her hubby made a campfire complete with s'more fixings. Here's some photos from the night:

Community School of Music and Art

The Community School of Music and Art in Mountain View is by far the most amazing place! I signed Math up for a comic book drawing class last month and he's been digging it big time! The class has some classic components like learning basic anatomy drawing and pen and ink filling, but it's also very fun and laid back. Math is learning a lot, but having a blast all the while. I have a feeling we are going to be here a lot for the foreseeable future.

If you're not sure your wee-one is ready for a full fledged series of classes you can sign-up ahead of time to take part in a One-Day Saturday Funshop class. For $35 you and Junior can enjoy a two part music and art session with some of the finest early childhood education facilities around. The class is broken into two 45 minute sessions with a snack break in-between. Classes are developmentally appropriate, and is wonderful hands on exploration for any youngster.

Here's some photos of Alexander chilling at CSMA while we waited for Math's class to be over.

Fun with Firefighters!!!

Hey, if you live in the South Bay area come to Rivermark's Red Robin this Monday to chill with some Firefighters! They'll have a vintage and giant fire truck for the kiddies to play on. There will be REAL firefighters around to answer questions, show kids their gear, and a raffle to win a private tour of the fire station!

The event is to raise money for a wonderful FF volunteer program, Santa Clara Firefighters Foundation. These amazing men, who's job is to risk their lives on a regular basis, VOLUNTEER to help other local charities in a variety of ways. Some of these works would include Senior Assist programs (like helping older folks clear out their back yards of debris and possible fire hazards), disaster relief, mentoring and leadership programs, and outreach for the disabled.

Rivermark Moms and The SC Firefighters have partnered with Red Robin, who will be hosting this event. All proceeds are tax-deductible, and will go to the Firefighter's Foundation! So come enjoy the trucks, eat some dinner with the fam, and support a great cause!

Mancala Love

I remember playing Mancala in middle school. We made a board out of egg cartons, and I fell in love. It was simple, yet addictive. Then after burning out on it, I totally forgot about it. While recently shopping for last minute Easter gifts, you guessed it...I saw it! You can buy Mancala boards made from all sorts of materials, but I bought a simple one from the Toys R Us' exclusive line that was made from bamboo (a sustainable resource). It's actually pretty nice, and entertaining me once again.

Hubs and I come from a long line of board game lovers so it was no surprise that Math was quite taken with the game. He and I were playing today (for the millionth time). He's getting good...so good he beat the pants off me twice! Maybe we should move on to chess soon?

Cal Day at UC Berkeley

This is a shame, but for the past three years I'd yet to set foot in Berkeley. It's not that I wasn't interested, it's just that I've been busy exploring all other aspects of the Bay Area, and the opportunity just hadn't presented itself yet.

Then, prompted by the homeschooling thing, I saw an add through the Society for California Archaeology that UC Berkeley would have a "dig day" through the Archaeological Research Facility. This sounded great since I have a budding archeologist/Indiana Jones wanna be under my roof. Little did I know, that this "dig" was in conjunction with Cal's largest annual event of the year. Cal Day is a collection of activities, lectures, events, and open exhibits for the whole public, and reportedly drew in more than 35,000 people (now I feel like it was a small miracle I even found a place to park!).

We arrived promptly at ARF at 9:00, and were greeted by a really sweet PhD student who explainted to Math all the ins and outs of grid system mappings, excavation, and why archaeology is important. He also made a clay pot, and had a great time learning about what it takes to be a "real life" Indiana Jones.

After that we went around exploring the rest of the campus. I had some major nostalgic moments surrounded by all the old buildings, nerdy undergrads, and excentric professors. Since it was an event day the public was free to wander into all the museums, buildings, and labs. We had some majorly good tailgate chicken kabobs while we waited for my friend to arrive. Math picked up a stuffed tiger with the "Cal" logo emblazoned on a little blue shirt from the school store. Why a tiger was even availiable for purchase is beyond me, but I went with it (it was Mom and Me time afterall). So desipite the massive crowds, and the fact I have no ties to UC Berkeley at all (and kinda felt like a fraud for lapping up the school pride)...it was a really nice morning!

Learning the ropes

Inside the Anthropology Museum

I love collegiate gothic buildings

This is the kind a thing you see in college towns

Alviso Bay

This weekend we took a little walk around Alviso Bay. The marina is a 5 minute drive from our home. As you approach Alviso, crowded industrial tech buildings give way to cute little beach houses and small owner-run restaurants. It's a place that time forgot in many ways, but has a very East Coasty, Cape-Cod feel to it. Alviso was once a booming port that shipped agricultural products all over The Valley, but then in 1864 a new railroad line was put in. Alviso's become a veritable ghost town compared to it's micro-chipped neighbors over the years, but is listed on the National Register as a historic gem.

Alviso now attracts nature lovers and health enthusiasts from all around. One can capitalize on the miles and miles of dirt trails surrounding the bay. There are thousands of acres of marshes and salt ponds. Wildlife is dense, and bird-watchers would probably find this place paradise. There are informative plaques explaining more about marshes and indigenous species of plants and animals, too.

We had a nice time walking around the desolate, windy bay. After exploring a bit it got sortof creepy how devoid of human life the place was, but in a beautiful way. It seemed strange to find so much nature right in the backyard of the largest tech community in the country. But, it was a lovely way to spend some weekend family time apart from the computers and video games and televisions and iPods and iPhones and AppleTVs and DVRs and DVDs and CD-ROMs and Facebooks and Twitters. Apparently my camera was spared such neglect, though ;0)