adventures outside of Berkeley

Well, I am behind on my postings. So this will probably need to be brief because I should really go to bed or take the dog for a walk or read a book or something other than be at my computer. .  .

Last weekend we got to go on our first (in 5 years) trip away from kids. We went to San Francisco and the kids stayed with our friends the Browns. Maggie and Bodhi stayed at home with a friend to look in on them (maybe she stayed here, i don't know!!) We stayed at the Hotel Beresford on Sutter and it was not fancy but just fine. It was noisier than we are used to but i think some people pay big money to install a white noise machine like the one we had outside of our window!
Our two day mini honeymoon included 2 dinners out (one Thai, one really unremarkable), a great lunch at the restaurant that Panos took us to 2 years ago in Chinatown (best meal of the holiday) and one breakfast at a little cafe which was serving homemade foccacia and playing Italian pop music. It really did feel rather European! We went on 2 walking tours run by Cityguides which was really fun and informative and a great way to see things that you would never imagine were there! I think our highlight was the fortune-cookie factory in Chinatown. Fortune cookies are really yummy when they are fresh and you couldn't get them any fresher than here!! The other tour was the Downtown Deco tour- very good too. We saw the latest Harry Potter movie and we went to the SFMOMA. We unexpectedly ran into an exhibition of the late Robert Cameron's photographs at the Metreon when we were trying to go to a movie on Saturday night. Amazing huge photos. We got home Sunday night and collected the kids but not before we had dinner with the Browns and celebrated a 65th birthday!! Needless to say everyone had a good weekend!

Today the kids and I and Katie needed to get busy doing something- Martin and Mary Anne are busy doing homework these days and the kids don't have any school because of American Thanksgiving. We decided on a BART adventure. We thought we would ride the rails and stop for lunch! sounds like a great plan don't you think?!?! We walked to the BART station and headed out on the Pittsburg line. We only got as far as Walnut Creek before we needed to stop for victuals. We didn't know what to expect in WC but we quickly discovered a free shuttle (in a trolley-like bus) that took us to downtown WC. good thing too. The BART station was not a hive of fine dining!! We decided to go to Mel's - a 50's diner. It was fun. It is always fun to go out for food with the kids. A treat for everyone. I like watching how they are so grown up when they eat out! Ami ordered lunch and Mimi ordered breakfast. Ami's chicken-strips and fries came in a 1950's car box. Mimi didn't seem too upset that her pancakes didn't come with a car (she knew it wouldn't) but was happy to receive a pink T-bird at the end of the meal. Ami was so good to share his 2 Oreos that he got with his meal. HE'S A VERY GOOD BROTHER. The adult meal sizes were in the category of gross excess and so I was very glad to have ordered just off the "side orders"- an english muffin and a fried egg! perfect!!! I also helped Meems finish her pancakes. . .
Then we went shopping a bit- i had forgotten that this is what this day after t'giving is all about. We went to H & M and got Ami (mostly) some new things.
Walnut Creek is really lovely and seems very pedestrian friendly and very active. A bit of a surprise to me, I had assumed otherwise.
Then it was back on the trolley shuttle, back on the BART and then home. K and A decided to take the bus up the hill to our place but M and I walked. I was a bit surprised that Meems wanted to walk with me but she is a really good walker now and we had a lot of fun walking through campus and visiting with squirrels and singing and dancing our way home.
This evening we went to our friend's Sylvia and Donnell's for a potluck (leftovers!) supper which they will be hosting again for the next 4 weeks or so. It will be a fun way to hang out and get festive for Christmas!!

culture

The opera season is over and the final opera in my subscription was The Makropolus Case. I was thinking how great it was that I was getting to see all the best loved/most produced operas and I wasn't sure that I would really love Makropolus Case. In fact it was a really good thing that I had a ticket already because i wouldn't have ventured out if i hadn't already ponied up for the ticket. I can't believe that i almost didn't go. I think it was my favourite opera of the season. It was such a great design, great singing, crazy plot, interesting themes... And Karita Mattila is a SUPER STAR!!! ( i will try to find some video to link here so you can see what she is all about)
It was opening night for MC and there were a fair number of empty seats. I took advantage of this and for the second half gradually made my way down to the bottom of the balcony. I can see why people value sitting closer- it really does make a HUGE difference!!


Yesterday our family went for a walk in the afternoon. It was a "game day" (Cal football- Go Bears!!) and there were lots of people around the neighbourhood. I wanted to show my family the new place I discovered to go walking. I found a place to walk in the woods away from cars and on the REAL DIRT!! It is just minutes from our house. It is also the hill that is above the Cal Football Stadium. Others were walking there too as it gives non-ticket holders a little peek-a-boo view of the game. We decided to join in the "culture". As well as hearing/seeing the band and the huge and loud crowd, we got to experience firsthand the hillside cannon firing. Perhaps not the best for our ears. . .  :(  We didn't last too long. The sunset was SPECTACULAR when we were heading home. i just wish i had a little carry-everywhere camera. i think i might get one this week...

Today I went to Sacramento (1.5 hour drive each way) to see a friend I met at Banff in 2002. She is in the ensemble of the touring production of Broadway's In the Heights. It was great to catch up with her and to see the musical. It was also interesting to see Sacramento and to go on this adventure by myself. The GPS continues to save the day.

Growing up for boys

Ami is also doing all sorts of new things these days although they might be harder to spot than those of Mimi's.
Ami is doing tremendous reading. He is a very polite boy (to him Mum anyway) and I am still astounded by it sometimes. I think he has figured out how being polite can get you things that you might not get otherwise! He is very helpful to me and looks after his little sister very nicely (at least on occasion...)
He is having lots of scary dreams these days and his imagination is very vivid. We have to make sure we don't read books that cause bad dreams (The Hinky Pink) or watch scary movies.... What is "real" and what is "not real" blur a lot these nights....

Ami decided to be a school bus for Hallowe'en this year. I decided that I wasn't up for making a big costume like last year's "bulldozer" ....

 

 ....or the year before's "excavator".

I thought we could change it up a little as in the previous costumes we encountered difficulties in ascending and descending stairs. I suggested we make a bus "hat" which would adorn Ami's head. He agreed that this sounded like a reasonable idea and so I set forth to create said hat. A hard thing about making a hat of this sort is that the boy is small and the boy wants that bus to be big.The hat does have the effect of making Ami look very penitential.

I made the box out of a box that Katie sourced for us. Ami hated to see it get cut down to the final size but I think that he now understands now why we had to do that! I ended up cutting the hole for his head a touch too large so we had to implement the use of the ball-cap to make his head a little more difficult to poke through the hole. I bought some awesome yellow paper to cover the box with (we have plenteous amounts of yellow paper now..) and Ami set about to decorate it. It is, of course, a Berkeley Unified School District School Bus. It came as no surprise that he was the only one to be a "BUSD school bus" at the Washington Elementary School Hallowe'en costume parade.


Even though I was just extolling the virtues of my little boy, Ami's adventures today included cutting off Mimi's bangs. It is hard to be too mad though. It is just too funny.

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growing up

Mimi is really growing up these days. Going to school 3 days a week has moved her into all sorts of new levels of development. She is learning to whistle, she does representative paintings of people, and she is no longer my little "ok" girl - she has her own opinions and is ready to stick to them.
Today she and Ami were playing bus and she told him that she wanted to be let off at ballet class at a location name that I can't recall. She clarified that it was in India. She is saying all sorts of hilarious and cute things these days. At dinner tonight she was using a "wath-cloth" to wipe her face and, like Ami did, she calls the first meal of the day "breakstets". She is increasingly interested in the alphabet and is using the fridge magnet letters to form words.

She has moved into a twin sized bed and it is GREAT!!! We got it from CDSP so it didn't cost us a thing. We gave our toddler bed to them in case another international family comes in the future with a child who needs it. She spends the WHOLE night in it!! This is probably the best part of the whole deal. I like sharing my bed with ONE other person! She is having "issues" with having her picture taken so here is peeking out of her new bed. I caught her!!!

Mimi doesn't like to climb the stairs, she'd rather take the cliff!

She is a great climber and very adventurous which, in turn, gives me the jimjams. These photos are from Indian Rock.

She decided to be a faerie for Hallowe'en and Auntie Babba and Gran will be happy to know that she has fully embraced her birthday presents from last year! It only took 11 months!! Here she is with Alexandra at the Washington School costume parade today.

Operas

Like last year I decided to get a subscription to the opera. Last season I didn't go to all of the fall shows and I really don't know why I didn't seize the opportunity. So far this season I have seen Aida, The Marriage of Figaro, Madama Butterfly and Werther. They have all been filled with excellent singing. I have been struck by why these operas are produced so often. They are really good!!! :)

I sit way up in the "gods" of the opera house and that affords very good acoustics but not always the best view.  I have been fortunate to have been at the opera when they have used their upper balcony screens. These are screens that descend from the ceiling and project close up views of the opera. This was particularly excellent for Figaro since I forgot my binoculars!! I am a little bit mixed about whether I like them or not but i think i do mostly.

Going to the opera is fun for a number of reasons. I take the BART from Rockridge station (so I don't have to transfer). It means parking in a potentially scary parking lot but I think it is probably quite safe. Taking the BART also means that I get time to listen to podcasts and learn all sorts of new things. I am particularly liking the TED Talks these days. I am also listening to ABM and Feldenkrais related podcasts which are very enlightening.

I will be going to Cyrano De Bergerac this week with Placido Domingo!! Well, actually he will be singing and I will be in my seat. We will meet after for decaf!! The last opera this fall for me will be The Makropulos Case. After I finish my commitment to the opera season I will rejoin the Angel Band at church. I figured that I could only do so much. . . . .

Mum-time

Having Mimi in preschool has meant that I have designated times to do things for myself! I am super fortunate to make a connection with the folks at the church that is beside the preschool and I have arranged to practice in the sanctuary on Monday mornings. This has meant a few things. I don't have access to the space until 10 (Mimi starts preschool at 9) so I have an hour to find things to do. I have been going for coffee on Solano Avenue most Mondays which is fun and a different slice of Berkeley than the "Gourmet Ghetto" area that I live closer to. A couple of Mondays ago I was walking back to the church and I saw a little sign on a path (Berkeley specializes in neat walking paths) that said "Indian Rock". I had wondered where it was as a friend and I wanted to find it to watch the sunset last summer. I still don't really know where it is other than from that little path!! I didn't have my camera with me so had to find these pic online. I think the rock must be very hard to take pictures of because it is so HUGE and there are houses and trees all around it.

the path to Indian Rock

Indian Rock

stairs carved into the rock

The view from the rock