Autumn has always been my favorite season. I love pumpkin spice, the cooler weather, and Halloween. There are always a lot of festivals and fun things around, and we always find a handful of Halloween activities to go to with the kids. It’s also a busy time since we also observe the High Holy days […]
Archive for the ‘rails’ Category
Niles Canyon Railway Train
October 28th, 2024 by pleia2
On Sunday, October 13th we made our way over to Niles Canyon Railway for my birthday present: tickets on the steam train! The weather was beautiful and we arrived right on time to line up to board the train. The train leaves from Sunol and you take about a 90 minute journey south through lots […]
MUNI Heritage Weekend 2024
October 4th, 2024 by pleia2
Last year we missed MUNI Heritage Weekend due to the whole house being taken down by a COVID-19 infection, so with everyone feeling well this year, we made sure to make our return to the festival I love! This year marks the first time MJ and Aaron have attended, with me having gone a bunch […]
Our first visit to the Western Railway Museum
August 31st, 2024 by pleia2
I’ve wanted to go to the Western Railway Museum for years. They do a ton of restoration work and have various rolling stock that you have the opportunity to ride on if you visit the museum. Most recently, they bought one of the old BART cars that were recently retired and are adding it to […]
California summer adventures with my sister and nephew
August 30th, 2024 by pleia2
A couple weeks ago my sister Annette and my 12 year old nephew flew into town for a visit. We saw them over Thanksgiving, but that was at the townhouse in Philadelphia so it had been a full five years since they last came to our place in California. So much has changed! The family […]
Library fun, critters, and a final Philly train ride
August 5th, 2024 by pleia2
Over all we had a good summer in Philadelphia, but a round of COVID, canceled Florida trip, a sunburn, and a few days of MJ coping with an injury definitely made for some challenges. I joked with a friend that “we had a phenomenal Instagram summer!” because of all the activities and fun we had […]
Please Touch Museum and trolleys in Philadelphia
July 24th, 2024 by pleia2
Last Saturday we headed down to Philadelphia for some weekend adventures. Our first stop was finally visiting the Please Touch Museum. It’s a Philly classic in terms of children’s museums. We also discovered when making the plan to head down that it’s now located in Fairmount Park, having moved in 2008 from the location on […]
“Just ride around in buses and trains and cable cars”
February 17th, 2024 by pleia2
Aaron and I recently went to San Francisco to see an aunt who was in town visiting, and he was really disappointed about not being able to go on a cable car. Adam was at school at the time, but hew knew that we went and that planted a seed that made him beg to […]
Aaron’s 3rd birthday and a lot of trains!
December 21st, 2023 by pleia2
On December 3rd we had a little birthday party to celebrate Aaron’s third birthday, a day after his birthday to make sure our au pair could join us, and so not to have it on the same day MJ returned from an international work trip. I decided to decorate on Friday night so he’d get […]
COVID-19 came home again, but not for long!
October 26th, 2023 by pleia2
When I returned from my trip to Las Vegas, I tested negative for COVID-19 and happily re-joined my family. The next morning I had a cough, headache, and the general fatigue that were all too familiar. A second line on a COVID-19 test confirmed my fears, I had it. At that point I had already […]