When we were in the process of moving to California we did tons of searches for kid friendly activities and outings in the area. Menlo Park was where we were most interested based on proximity to Chris’s work, but my Google searches were not telling me much about the area at all! I am kicking… Read More What to Do in Menlo Park with Kids
This weekend we had 3 festivals to choose from: The Hungarian Heritage Festival in Belmont, one of the summer Facebook festivals, and the Stanford Powwow. Honestly we just couldn’t decide so we turned the decision over to our 3 year old daughter. She took it very seriously and ultimately we headed to the Stanford Powow.… Read More 46th Annual Stanford Powwow
This is really pushing “rambles” to the limit, since we walked further from our parking spot then we did inside the garden, but I still think it qualifies. The Arizona Garden is a stunning collection of cacti and succulents with dusty walking trails woven throughout. The garden was planted between 1881-1883 and actually predates Stanford, which first welcomed… Read More Hikes and Rambles: Arizona Garden (Stanford)
Sunday was a rough day and I spent 3 hours on the phone with Verizon, so when I was done we really needed to get out and spend a little time in nature. This park was only a 10 minute drive, so away we went! I continue to be amazed by the incredible parks here… Read More Hikes and Rambles: Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge (Fremont)
I’m particularly excited about this hike because of the beautiful views and also because my 3.5 year old walked the whole way! We hiked 2.3 miles with 680 feet elevation change, and she did it! Hidden Villa is a nonprofit educational organization that maintains an organic farm, a hostel, and 1600 acres of open space including… Read More Hikes and Rambles: Hidden Villa, Elephant Mountain Loop (Los Altos)
We are always on the look out for close, easy walking trails that I can walk with the kids during the week. The Pearson-Arastradero Preserve has over 10 miles of trails, but we just walked .4 of them up to the Arastradero Lake and then back. The trail we covered was a mixed use trail… Read More Hikes and Rambles: Pearson-Arastradero Preserve (Palo Alto)
In yesterday’s post I wrote about ways to help encourage our children to be great travelers, even when we aren’t traveling ourselves. The one on the list that I’ve been least committed to was attending local cultural celebrations and I set myself the goal of making a list and marking my calendar for some upcoming… Read More Upcoming Cultural Celebrations in Silicon Valley
So far this has been my favorite spot we’ve hiked here in Silicon Valley. We parked at Piers Gate on Alpine Road and I think that was a very lucky accident. Directly across from the Portola Valley Training Center there was a small parking lot as well as some street side parking. From here it… Read More Hikes and Rambles: The Dish (Stanford)
Los Altos Library has a Mandarin-English storytime on Thursday mornings, so we came early to visit the Redwood Grove Nature Preserve. We followed Google Maps and I was surprised to find the entrance in a residential neighborhood where we parked along University Avenue. Once you enter the park the houses are close enough that you… Read More Hikes and Rambles: Redwood Grove Nature Preserve (Los Altos)