Our summer adventures have continued with a lot of trips to the zoo. We got an Oakland Zoo membership a couple months ago, and I quickly learned that our boys love going to the zoo, and since it’s less than 20 minutes away, it makes for a nice late afternoon getaway if I leave work […]
Archive for the ‘kids’ Category
TK and childcare
August 26th, 2023 by pleia2
Back in May we welcomed our third au pair. I noted at the time, “it’s a tremendous relief to have an end to childcare troubles in sight.” Well, it’s true that there were none in sight, but it sadly didn’t mean that they didn’t arise. The arrangement with that au pair lasted just a couple […]
Beaches and boats in San Francisco
July 30th, 2023 by pleia2
We haven’t brought the kids to San Francisco very many times. The pandemic put a damper on a lot of city outings, and then we were just juggling a lot and bringing a couple little kids to the city was a bigger challenge than we were prepared for. Things have calmed down a bit now, […]
Summer 2023 by the Bay
July 24th, 2023 by pleia2
It’s been very summer over here with the boys. Living in northern California means that most of the year is pretty great for outdoor adventures, but we still technically have seasons, and with summer break it does seem like there are a lot more events this time of year. Plus, it is a bit more […]
Cars, baseball, and the rest of Father’s Day weekend
June 27th, 2023 by pleia2
At two and four, both of the boys are finally at ages where they can really enjoy family outings for what they are, so it was really fun to go into Father’s Day weekend recently with a bunch of family plans. The first event of the weekend was the Castro Valley Car Show. We go […]
Adventures with my little ones
June 16th, 2023 by pleia2
We’re fortunate to have in-house childcare during my work hours, so when MJ went away on a work trip last week I wasn’t left completely alone at home with the kids for four days. But solo parenting is still tricky when you have built everything up around having two parents participating in the childcare formula. […]
A rodeo, 4 pounds of cherries, and “antiques”
June 13th, 2023 by pleia2
I’ve mentioned before that one of my favorite things about living here downtown in Castro Valley is getting to enjoy the smattering of annual events that take place just a couple blocks from our doorstep. It’s no San Francisco, but they’re charming events that connect us with the area in a way that I thought […]
Childcare, anniversary, trucks, and antiques
May 20th, 2023 by pleia2
We participate in the Au Pair program. It’s an exchange program overseen by the State Department that matches families who have childcare needs with young people who are looking to spend a year in another country and take some classes abroad. We started with it when Adam was just a few months old and have […]
Passover, Tidbyt & TrainTrackr, and gardening
May 1st, 2023 by pleia2
When our flight from Philadelphia landed in San Francisco a few weeks ago, it was cool and very dark. We don’t usually take such late flights, but the timing and cost worked out that way this time. It had been a bit of a rough flight due to the boys missing naps too, but at […]
Crafts, goats, and the rest of our March visit to Philly
April 20th, 2023 by pleia2
I had a delightful time at the typewriter shop while we were in Philly, but unfortunately the two subsequent weeks didn’t go as planned. We all ended up dreadfully sick, with fevers, coughs, and it got so bad that the whole family went to urgent care to rule out some of the most worrisome things […]