25+ Bay Area Museums to Visit with Kids

Did you know that today is International Museum Day? It's always something, right? I had no idea about today's special day until I saw it on Instagram this morning but it got me thinking about all the amazing museums and galleries we used to visit when we lived in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

So in honor of International Museum Day today I'm sharing 29 of my favorite museums and galleries in the Bay Area.

Let's go check them out...

 

Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historic Park

Today marks the one hundredth birthday of the National Parks Service's oldest active park ranger, Betty Reid Soskin. One hundred years old and still working to share her wisdom with the community! What a woman!

In honor of Betty Reid Soskin's milestone birthday, I figured today would be a good day to finally get around to sharing our visit to the national park where she works. Do you know which one it is? You can probably tell from the title of this post! It's Rosie the River WWII Home Front National Historic Park in Richmond, California. 

Did you know that there are National Historic Parks as part of the National Parks Service? While many national parks serve to preserve natural landscapes for generations to enjoy, the historic parks serve to share important historical locations and moments in our history. We've been to a few different National Historic Parks including Rosie the River WWII Home Front, San Francisco Maritime, Boston National Historic Park which includes Paul Revere House and the Freedom Trail, and Klondike Goldrush National Historic Park, which contrary to the name, is in Seattle. 

 

Rosie the River WWII Home Front National Historic Park pays tribute to the civilians who worked tirelessly on the home front to support America's troops during World War 2. With men going off to fight in the war it was up to women to keep the industries that supported America's war efforts afloat. Over the course of World War 2, some six million women joined the workforce, many of them coming to work at the Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond where 747 ships were built during the war years. It was here that the iconic Rosie the Riveter character came about. There was no one particular Rosie, rather the character represents the resilience and can do attitude of the women who took on the work in the shipyards and surrounds. Betty Reid Soskin was one of these women who went to work at the Kaiser Shipyards, although due to segregation, as a black woman she was give menial tasks like filing index cards, and never worked on the warships with the white women. Along with other "Rosies" Betty Reid Soskin shares her story of working on the home front with visitors to the National Park.

Cherry Blossom Season in Hakone Gardens

If you live somewhere where Spring is in full effect (ie. not Colorado!) it's cherry blossom season!

When we lived in California one of my favorite annual events was Cherry Blossom Festival in San Francisco's Japantown. We'd go along every year to take in all the Japanese culture, the delicious food, the parade, and of course, the beautiful cherry blossoms. You can see some of our visits to Cherry Blossom Festival here, here and here. This year's Cherry Blossom Festival will be virtual (which means you can attend from anywhere!) but if you're in the Bay Area and keen to check out some cherry blossoms and a little Japanese culture in person I highly recommend visiting Hakone Gardens in Saratoga.

We visited Hakone Gardens a few months before we made the move to Colorado and I've been meaning to share our visit here ever since. It's such a beautiful place, especially in Spring when the many trees and shrubs are in bloom. Of course, Spring is the most popular time to visit, so it was rather crowded the day that we went. In fact, the staff told us that it had been their busiest day to date! Normally when we visit somewhere busy I like to take a little extra time with my photos to try and capture less people in them. This was pretty much impossible the day we visited Hakone Gardens, so expect to see lots of people in my pics. This was pre-covid, of course, so the crowds will likely be a little smaller now due to the fact that advance bookings are required to ensure social distancing.  

Let's take a look at our visit...

10 Years of Little Hiccups

If you're following along on Instagram, you may have seen my post earlier this week sharing that it was my 10 year blogiversary. My 10 year anniversary of starting this little blog. A whole decade of Little Hiccups!

Some of you have been here since the start (ahem, thanks Mum) while others are more recent friends. No matter how long you've been following along, even if this is the first post of mine that you've read, I want to say thank you for being here. I truly appreciate it. 

Today I'm taking a look back through the archives (which you can find in side bar over on the right) and sharing some of my favorite posts from the past ten years. It's a pretty mixed bag as I can't bring myself to focus on just one thing. I have, however, narrowed it down to my favorite topics: travel, San Francisco Bay Area, events & exhibitions, parties, holidays, and crafts & DIYs. Ok, so that's not really all that narrowed down, but trust me, I've covered way more topics than that over the years!

Let's take a look at some posts...

Make sure to click the title above each photo to be taken to the post.

Thanks once again for being here!

Maker Faire 2019

A few weekends back we braved the (unseasonable) stormy weather and headed to San Mateo for my favorite event of the year - Maker Faire!

Maker Faire is always such a fun event - even in the rain! If you've never been before, it's a showcase of the latest innovations in the STEM world with a heavy mix of creativity and imagination thrown in. Cute robots and wacky vehicles, illuminated light shows and science experiments, crafting and upcycling scrap material... there's a little bit of everything at Maker Faire.

While Maker Faire runs for the full weekend (Friday afternoon through Sunday) we were only able to make it on the Sunday. We still managed to cram in a day full of STEM based fun. Here's a look at our day...

Mathilde's Kiwi Bot

If you frequent Downtown Berkeley, or if you've been following along with my Instagram stories you're sure to be familiar with Kiwi Bots, the cute food delivery robots that zoom around Downtown and the Cal campus. If you don't frequent Downtown Berkeley or watch my IG stories, then you're probably wondering what on earth a food delivery robot is!

Kiwi Bots are super cute robots that have taken over the sidewalks of Berkeley. Created by the Kiwi Campus team at UC Berkeley, Kiwi Bots are the cutest way to get your meals delivered from local restaurants. You order through an app, chose a delivery location within the zone and the Kiwi Bot brings the meal to you in its insulated body that keeps food hot or cold. As you can probably imagine, Mathilde is obsessed with them! She loves seeing them on the street when we're out and about and always wants to stop to chat to them - or give them a hug.

In the lead up to Mathilde's birthday she kept asking for a pet Kiwi Bot as her present. While a delivery robot of our own would be amazing, they're not really something that's available to purchase - and if they were I imagine they'd be super pricey. What is available to purchase, however, is a plush Kiwi Bot! Perfect as a gift for Mathilde's birthday.

Now, there's only one way to get a plush Kiwi Bot, and that's to order it through the Kiwi app and have it delivered by a Kiwi Bot! How fun is that? 

Lunar New Year Festival 2019

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

It's the year of the pig; Ava's favorite animal and coincidentally, the Chinese year she happened to be born in.

Every year I love taking the kids to the various Lunar New Year celebrations around the Bay Area, but given that this year happens to be Ava's favorite animal of all time, it feels a little more special.
Last weekend we braved the rain and headed to Berkeley's Fourth Street shopping district for the annual Lunar New Year festival.

We arrived just as the lion dance was about to begin. Every year the lion dance is based on a story relating to the animal of the year. This year the lion dance was based on the three little pigs story. Children from the crowd was chosen to be a part of the show - acting as the little pigs. They were divided into three groups, those with a house made of straw, those with a house made of sticks and, you guessed it, those with a house made of bricks.

Chestnut Picking at Skyline Chestnuts

Autumn is the time of year for farm visits and harvests. 

Apple picking and pumpkin picking are definitely the two most common farm activities for visitors at this time of year, and something we thoroughly enjoy. Last weekend we decided to mix things up a little and spent an afternoon harvesting chestnuts. It was such a fun experience and so very different from picking apples. 

Years ago when Kim and I lived in Zurich, I tried roasted chestnuts for the first time and I was instantly hooked. I knew them as "maroni" and at the time had no idea what they were called in English. I'd buy them in little brown paper bags from street vendors in the cooler months and not only did they taste delicious, they instantly warmed me up whether I was eating them or just holding the bag in my cold hands. When we moved back to Australia chestnuts became a thing of the past, but every now and then I'd see them in a greengrocer and they'd bring back sweet memories of our time in Switzerland. 

It's been almost eighteen years since we lived in Zurich (eek!) and since then I've only eaten roasted chestnuts a handful of times at Christmas fairs in the Sierras and when visiting Canada in Autumn. I've missed their sweet, nutty flavor so when I discovered the U-Pick farm Skyline Chestnuts right here in the Bay Area I added it straight to my ever growing "must do" list.

The chestnut picking season is relatively short at just three to five weeks a year, and it falls right at that time of year when we're busy pretty much every weekend with birthday parties, harvest festivals and Halloween celebrations. Because of this, we've missed the season for the past few years, but this year I was determined that we'd make it. I'm so glad we did!

Apple Picking at Apple-A-Day Ratzlaff Ranch

The weather here in the Bay Area is always a little odd. It's technically Fall, and there are leaves falling off trees all over the place, but the sunny days we have had lately have been some of the warmest of the year. Of course, that's nothing unusual here as our seasons are kind of weird!

Despite the warm weather, I've been keen to get into the Fall spirit, especially seeing as Halloween is just over a week away! One of my favorite Fall activities is heading to a farm to enjoy the harvest season. Whether it be pumpkins, apples, pears or even chestnuts, there's just something about the Fall harvest season that is special.

A few weekends ago we headed north toward Sebastapol to visit Apple-A-Day Ratzlaff Ranch for an afternoon of apple picking. It was a hot, sunny day - definitely nothing like a traditional Fall - but we had a great time all the same. So long as we stayed in the shade!

Here's a look at our "not-so-Fall-looking" day of apple picking fun...

Middle Harbor Shoreline Park, Oakland

If you're following along on Instagram you would've seen that the kids and I have been on the hunt for Stomper the elephant statues around Oakland. I have a post coming up next with all the Stomper statues we've found so far (about 35 or so), but today I wanted to share a park that we came across during out hunt for a particular Stomper.

Over the weekend we decided to go for a drive to find a few of the Stomper statues that the girls and I haven't been able to get to on foot. We visited a few, snapped some photos and headed off to the next one. However, when we made it to the Captain Stomp statue right on the waterfront we knew that we had to stop a little longer and spend some time exploring the surrounding park. 

Big Break Regional Shoreline

Recently we've been getting out and about exploring "new to us" Bay Area parks on weekends.

We're really lucky to have so many amazing and varied parks within such a short distance of our home. Beaches, rivers, mountains, cliffs, redwood forests... there's a little bit of everything. With so much shoreline along the San Francisco Bay and its tributaries, there is no shortage of picturesque water front parks to visit. What could be better than visiting a waterfront park on a Summer's day?

This past weekend we visited Big Break Regional Shoreline in Oakley. Big Break is located in the California Delta, a 1,150 square mile area where fresh water from the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers meets saltwater from the ocean. The Delta is the largest estuary on the west coast and is home to a large variety of fish, birds and mammals including beavers, river otters, muskrats and mink. It's also home to cool Delta breezes which were much appreciated on this hot day!

Despite the size of the Delta, the shoreline park is relatively small and makes for a great afternoon destination. There is an informative visitor center filled with interactive displays, picnic areas, an amphitheater, a kayak launch, a shaded sand play area, a small hiking trail and an observation pier perfect for fishing or taking in the views.