Last weekend we decided to drive to Sausalito, thanks to NPR. Apparently the storm had moved over the bay area and it was supposed to be an extremely good visibility day to see the golden gate bridge and also the road down to Sausalito was going to be kept open over the weekend.
So off we drove and had a great time. Got to take some pictures of the bridge, then the kids spent two hours at the Kids discovery museum and we ended up driving around the cute downtown in Sausalito and had some great food at a Nepalese restaurant called "Taste of the Himalayas"
It was an afternoon well spent with something for everyone in the family!
A few photographs from the trip.
Separate posts on the museum trip and tiffin experience later...
It was raining in the morning and outside temperatures were in the high 30's. We had made plans earlier to walk around Berkeley and then go on to the Oakland Zoo by noon. The weather was not something we factored in.
So we whiled away the morning indoors with the kids playing Kinect and then the sun came out! It was warm enough to walk outside without a jacket. It was already 11:30 AM.
With a rush of last minute enthusiasm we declared "even if we get to spend only two hours at the Zoo, so be it! Let us go" and we drove off to Oakland.
The weather was perfect to walk around and we got to spend exactly two hours at the zoo. We knew we were going to cover a small section of the zoo and let the kids go at their own pace till the zoo officials kicked us out at 4PM.
We were in for a treat. The lions and tigers were at their active best as were the macaws! The rest of the cages and enclosures were empty but thanks to the skyride we were able to figure out which enclosures had active animals and go see those.
Here are some pictures, thanks to the 70-200mm lens and the 2x extender which was used extensively on this trip. The wife and kids as well as BB family gave the photos a two thumbs up..
The little one still has the same fascination for the golden lion at the exit after four years!
The kids got their share of "rides"..
Finally for the photographs of the Tigers and Lions. Have never been able to get them like this in any zoo trip so far! Must have been my lucky day..
As far as wild animals go this is what we got to see. So in line with the S.Ve. Sekar joke,
Question : Can you name 10 wild animals?
Answer : 5 Tigers and 5 Lions!
you get 5 photographs of the Tigers and 5 of the lions.
Well, let's make that six pictures of the Tigers as this last one is too good to not post on the blog!
Our short visit in video.. The 70-200 converted to a 140-400 may be great for pictures but it is not easy to shoot video with such a huge lens combination. Holding it steady in your hand becomes quite a challenge.
The next visit might be a few years down the road for all we know. One thing is for sure. If you want a place where kids can have some outdoor fun, the Oakland zoo will always make it to the top 5 in our list!
We spent a day in San Francisco by Pier 39 to take the kids to some place local and have some fun..
Turned out to be a great idea. So far our SFO trips have covered the usual Golden Gate bridge, Crooked street and end with Ice cream at Ghirardelli's..
There have been some deviations in the past to the tour guide routine but for once we decided to explore things we have walked or driven past. In other words get to smell the roses a bit, which was kind of a theme in the family over the last few days.
So off we went to visit the COIT tower..
The base of the tower has some amazing murals. Not posting the pictures of the murals here because they make some money selling prints. Guess that is why they have a sign that says "no flash or tripods"..
We had a nice home cooked packed lunch in our Van and went on towards Ghiardelli's, except this time we parked and went to the Maritime museum lobby and walked along the beach to see the different vessels docked at Hyde Street Pier.
The kids had fun getting on the various vessels. It was a world they had never been exposed to. It was so much fun watching their eyes widen as they read the displays and watched informational videos two levels below the deck of a cargo vessel..
There were great views of Alcatraz and Embarcadero from the ships.
The masts were majestic and we were simply awe struck by the fact that these ships with triple masts have survived the test of time and have been preserved for such a long time.
It was also fun watching the little one trying to steer the ship one handle at a time. The ship was just swaying a few feet and she wanted to control it!
It was also interesting to see how prices have changed over time!
Then we went on our walk to enjoy those things on the sidewalk and displays we usually rush past because we are on a deadline to head back to San Jose..
First we stopped at a window where a couple of bakers were doing a display..
What a display ! Truly magnificent piece of bread! They also had starfish, turtles and crab shaped bread pieces which were very impressive.
The little one had fun interacting with the guys painted in silver and dressed as robots.
We walked by the Hard Rock Cafe and past the Christmas tree at the end of the pier and went to see the Aquarium. The entry tickets were a bit steep but thanks to a AAA discount we decided to go for it. After all it was our "smell the roses" day!
The aquarium was actually worth it. Three levels of well maintained displays with more than 20,000 fishes and marine animals. It was like a compact version of the Monterey bay aquarium which also had two glass tunnels, one for shallow water fish and one for fish at deeper waters in the bay.
The last room was kind of weird. It wasn't exactly related to fishes but was about conservation and sponsored by Pacific Gas and Electric.
They had hedgehogs and
turtles and
Chinchillas which apparently poop 200 times a day. They don't look much but their display cage had more poop than food which amused the kids..
Then it was time to return to Ghirardelli's to have some ice cream and hot chocolate before returning to San Jose...
We started and ended the routine the same way but the detour was wonderful.
Next time we go there are a whole bunch of Art galleries, a Wax museum, a Ripley's Believe it or Not show , etc. etc. and we might just do another one of these wander around trips about a place that we have grown to love over the years!
Friends notified us that yesterday was "negative tide day" and a rare occurrence that coincided with sunset time!
The weather was perfect and there were more than 2000 people in Half moon bay to walk the tide pools and show kids the little critters that are found in the few hours where the water recedes far back (things which were 6 feet underwater come to within a foot of water levels during a 2 hour period)..
We walked 2+ miles with the kids on slippery sea weed, kelp, gravel and barnacle covered rocks to see some amazing little ecosystems!
Here are some photographs..
The pelicans and gulls were enjoying the critters as well, albeit differently! They celebrated tide pool day as early dinner day!
When the water receded there was a 500 feet stretch of sand that was almost a marsh glistening in the sunlight..
Snails and mollusks everywhere in all kinds of colors, trying to hide under the rocks, but not fast enough.
This fish was well camouflaged in a very small tide pool. An older experienced tide pooler?! pointed it out to us as we were asking him "there is nothing there! what are you photographing?"
What looks like an ugly bag is a living creature which shrinks to the touch and supports a zillion other organisms that are piggy back riding on it..
We saw four different starfish, a chocolate brown starfish..
A red and gray softer starfish (softer to touch)..
An orange starfish
and a pink starfish
We also saw some sea anemones that were simply gorgeous!
We made our way back out of the tidepools towards the rocks to enjoy what was definitely one of our best sunsets to date!
When you have a whole bunch of kids on a beach all excited and hyper the energy level of the place is up a few notches and that adds to the experience.
Just wished that the tripod which was in the van had also been lugged around to capture the colors post sunset. Another day, another time!
This is the best I could get with a high ISO sin tripod.. It was too wet and slushy with kids and dogs running around to place camera on anything and try a timer shot.
The time spent at the beach and the tide pools was worth it. It took us an extra hour to get to the beach because of traffic and we also spent one hour getting out of the parking lot to the freeway! So if you do plan on doing this next year (or the next negative tide day), get there at least two hours before the low tide starts and make dinner plans in one of those beach side restaurants and drive home with less traffic later.
If you have kids in the under ten age group, the tide walk is strongly recommended!
Wanted to show FIL at least some local place before his return to India.
Chose Filoli. Promised a 2 hour trip max. Still bad idea.
It was 96+ C out there. The van temp indicator read 106 F!
Filoli gardens are very well watered. The steam sizzles off the floor. The heat, humidity and pollen form a bad combination for people prone to hay fever.
So, this post will be brief...
Two pictures..
Daddy danced with the little one again for a short time and she was ecstatic! We had fun while we were at Filoli. It just had side effects for daddy.
On a side note Jr. was busy making cards.
Me : ???
Jr. : I want to make a yellow card and a red card
Me : ???
Jr. : To give to amma! (mommy)
Me : (thinking.. finally someone in this house dares to give Amma a yellow card or red card ?! this must be some sight) ????
Jr. : That way if Amma feels slightly upset with someone in the house she can show them the yellow card and if she is really upset with someone she can give them the red card!
Me : (very disappointed, but accepting the inevitable fact that the only person who gets carding authority in the house as Amma) Can I give a yellow card?
Jr. : NO. Only Amma!
At the end of the day, we might actually adopt this system. Yellow is warning. Red card means person will have to go to garage for a timeout.
Saturday, April 21, 2012 at 10:45PM 
