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. 

Oakland Zoo

A few weekends back we took the girls to the zoo. Oakland Zoo that is.

We're really lucky here in Berkeley to be surrounded by so many fabulous places to take the kids. There really is just so much to see in the Bay Area. And we don't just have one zoo within easy access, we've got two. Well, at least two that I know of. Every day a new and exciting place to take the kids pops up on my radar.

For Christmas last year my parents organised a membership for Oakland Zoo for our family. I love the idea of giving experiences as gifts so I was really excited about this particular present. As we live on the opposite side of the world to our family and have a relatively small apartment experiences really are the best gifts. No expensive postage costs from Australia, no extra clutter in the apartment and a great day out for the entire family. Perfect!

Ava climbs on a frog statue in the Children's Zoo

Bay Area Discovery Museum

This past weekend the Bay Area was blessed with absolutely beautiful weather so we decided to make the most of it and get out and about.

Our destination on Sunday was the Bay Area Discovery Museum in Sausalito. Now I know what you're thinking, why would we spend a beautiful day indoors at a museum? Well, that's just it. Much of this particular museum is outdoors. And those parts of the museum that are housed indoors are filled with the most wonderfully fun activities that you don't mind that you're missing out on the beautiful day outdoors.

So what makes the Bay Area Discovery Museum such a great place? Well, first off you could not ask for a more picturesque location. The museum is located at Fort Baker right near the northern end of the Golden Gate Bridge. The museum, surrounding picnic area and even the car park award stunning views over San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Lookout Cove - a playground with a view

But it's not just the fantastic views that make the Bay Area Discovery Museum special. The hands on exhibits capture the imagination of young visitors who learn about the biodiversity of the Bay Area. Ava and Lola had fun playing with all sorts of exhibits including making boats and watching them float, checking out sea creatures such as starfish and sea urchins up close, creating artistic masterpieces, pretending to be fisherman on a wharf, building with foam blocks and lots and lots of playing.