25 Kid Friendly San Francisco Bay Area Hikes

Ever since we moved from California to Colorado I've been dreaming of going back. I miss our life in the San Francisco Bay Area so much, but right now I'm grateful that here in Colorado we have a house and a yard, with plenty of space to spread out. In the Bay Area we'd be finding ourselves on lock down in a two bedroom apartment with no outdoor space of our own, which, as much as I want to move back, isn't particularly appealing right now.

For those of you who find yourself in that same position I'm sharing my favorite hikes in and around San Francisco. They're all kid friendly and area great way to get out and get a little exercise without traveling too far from home. As always, click the bold and underlined title for more information.

Please make sure to follow any and all Shelter in Place orders before heading out for a hike. Keep at least 6 feet away from other hikers and don't forget to pack the hand sanitzer. While parks are currently open this may change, so make sure to check online first.

Cruisin' the Fossil Coastline at Oakland Museum of CA

A few weeks back the kids and I visited Oakland Museum of California to check out their latest exhibition, Cruisin' the Fossil Coastline. 

If you've got kids that love prehistoric creatures, vivid artwork with fun hidden surprises, and hands on fossil fun, then this is the exhibition for you. 

Stomper in the Town

If you're following Little Hiccups on Instagram you would've seen our adventures this Summer finding Stomper statues around Oakland. I figured it was time I shared them all here on the blog as well. We've found quite a few of the Stomper statues so far, so prepare for a lot of fun photos. But first, a little background...

If you're not familiar with the Oakland A's then you're probably wondering just who Stomper is and why there are statues of him around town. Stomper the elephant is the mascot of the Oakland Athletics (or simply the A's) baseball team. This year the A's are celebrating fifty years in Oakland and as part of the celebration they have teamed up with local artists to bring the Stomper in the Town exhibition to the streets. Fifty Stomper statues decorated by fifty artists can be found dotted around Oakland. From the port to the hills, from the northern border with Berkeley all the way down to the Oakland Zoo, Stompers can be found all over. Intrepid Stomper hunters, like us, can download the Stomper in the Town map and checklist (or pick one up from Visit Oakland in Jack London Square) and head off on a city wide treasure hunt. 

We've spread out our treasure hunting over the Summer, and so far of the fifty Stomper statues on display we've made it to thirty four. The statues will be on display until the end of the current baseball season, so we still have time to make it to the rest - fingers crossed.

Here's a look at the Stompers we've found so far. I've put them in the same order here that they appear on the numbered Stomper in the Town map and list.

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. 

Ladybug Migration at Redwood Regional Park

We get some pretty amazing animal migrations happening here in the Bay Area.

There are the monarch butterflies that call coastal areas such as Pacific Grove and Santa home during the Winter months. There is the ever so creepy tarantula migration around Halloween on the aptly named Mount Diablo just east of the Bay Area. Seriously, that's a real thing! There are the majestic grey whales that migrate along the California coast from Mexico to Alaska. And right here in Oakland there is a ladybug migration! Ladybugs! Can you think a cuter animal migration to witness?

Yesterday we decided to go check out the ladybugs for ourselves after seeing a few friends sharing about them on social media. I knew that there were going to be thousands of ladybugs, but I really wasn't prepared for just how many we would see. It really was amazing.

Every Winter huge numbers of ladybugs make their way to a particular spot in Redwood Regional park in the Oakland Hills. They come here in swarms. Thousands and thousands, maybe even millions, of ladybugs all in the one spot. It really is a sight to see.

Kid Friendly Fun in the Bay Area

Here in the Bay Area we are so lucky to live in an area with so many fantastic places for families to visit. Some are obvious and super touristy, while others are a little off the beaten track. If you're looking for a fun outing for a weekend, ideas for visitors or just a staycation over the holidays there's a ton of fun to be had right here in our own backyard. Need a little inspiration? Here are some of our favorite Bay Area places to visit. Want more details? Just click on the name of each place and you'll be taken to a post with lots of photos and information from one of our visits.

Pedalfest 2017

A few weekends back we spent the day at one of our favorite local festivals: Pedalfest at Oakland's Jack London Square.

If you're not familiar with Pedlafest, it's a whole day dedicated to bike riding fun. There are all sorts of crazy bikes to try out, fun rides for the kids, tasty food, amazing stunt shows, markets, a bicycle powered stage and a ton of other bike related fun.

Museum of Children's Art, Oakland

The rainy weather is back in the Bay Area and that means that indoor play is on many parents' minds. There are so many great rainy day options here in the Bay Area, and today I'm sharing one of my favorites for fun arts and crafts.

On a recent rainy day off school the girls and I met up with friends for open studio time at MOCHA, the Museum of Children's Art, in Uptown Oakland. This was our first visit to MOCHA and judging by how much fun the kids had it definitely won't be our last!

Oakland Women's March

Today 100,000 people took to the streets in Oakland for the Women's March. I'm proud to say that our family was among them.

Worldwide millions of women, men and children marched peacefully in solidarity for women's rights. It was a such an amazing moment that will go down in history and I so glad that my girls got be part of it.

I took a ton of photos as we made our way through the streets of Oakland, so today I'm sharing my favorites. I usually write quite a lot with each post here on Little Hiccups, but this time I'm going to let the pictures do the talking. Enjoy!

A Ferry Trip to San Francisco

Last week the girls and I took a ferry trip from Oakland to San Francisco with friends. Despite the fact that we've lived in the Bay Area for almost five years now, this was only the second time I'd taken the ferry, and the first time in this direction. But I can tell you, after this little trip, it won't be the last! There just really is something special about travelling by boat. 

When we lived in Sydney I would catch the ferry from our apartment on the lower north shore to my office near Darling Harbour every now and then and it would always make for a great start to the day. It wasn't the most practical way for me to get to work, but it was certainly the most scenic. And the most fun! The same goes for taking the ferry to San Francisco for us now. It certainly requires a lot of planning as the ferry doesn't come all that often, plus we have to take BART to Downtown Oakland and then walk to Jack London Square to get to the ferry in the first place, but it is definitely more fun than taking the train under the Bay!

Pedalfest 2016

This past Saturday we spent the day at Oakland's Jack London Square for our favorite annual bike festival, Pedalfest. We watched BMX riders do amazing stunts, we helped provide pedal power to the pedal powered stage, we rode around on crazy bikes, the girls decorated their bikes with ribbons and stickers, we ate tasty food, and the girls took part in the kids' bike rodeo to learn bike safety skills.

Jack's Night Market

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Jack London Square. All opinions are my own.

Summer is almost upon us. 

The kids only have a few more weeks left at school, the weather is starting to warm up, and the fun Summer events have started.

A few Fridays back the girls and I celebrated the imminent arrival of Summer at the first of many fun Summer events at Oakland's Jack London Square. Jack's Night Market is a fun monthly event held at Oakland's premier waterfront location over Summer. A mix of local artisan vendors, tasty food, music and quirky entertainment, Jack's Night Market has something for everyone. 

 

Holiday Circle of Lights

Saturday night we took the girls to go see a beautiful Christmas light display - at a cemetery!

I know, I know... It sounds kind of morbid and such an odd place to have a Christmas light display, but trust me, it was absolutely beautiful.

52 Weeks: Week 49

Week 49: Jack London Square Tree Lighting

I'm a little behind with my weekly post so this one is almost two weeks old. Oops!

A few Fridays back the girls and I got into the Christmas spirit by attending the annual Christmas tree lighting festivities at Oakland's Jack London Square.

We arrived a little late thanks to BART delays leaving us waiting on the platform for quite some time in Berkeley, but the girls enjoyed the night even though we missed the official "lights on" moment.

52 Weeks: Week 38

Week 38: Walls

I'm a little behind again with my "weekly" 52 Week Project posts. Technically I should be posting Week 39, but I'm only up to Week 38. And here's the thing, I'm a little behind in my photo taking too. So, in an effort to play catch up I'm mixing up the weeks a little. Some of the photos below actually are from week 38 while a few of them are from week 39 but continue with the theme.

This installment of my 52 Week Project is all about the fun walls that we find around town. When we find walls with murals, great colors or interesting textures the girls like to pose for photos. Sometimes they stand in a line and look quite serious. Other times they jump and do crazy dance moves. And about half of the time there's duck face!

Pedalfest 2015

A few weekends back we attended Pedalfest, one of our favorite local festivals.

Pedalfest, held at Oakland's waterfront Jack London Square, is a day full of bike related fun. We watched BMX riders do tricks, made pedal powered smoothies and art, decorated our bikes, took part in a parade, learned bike safety skills, powered a stage with our pedaling, rode crazy bikes, and took in the atmosphere of the festival.

First up Ava and Lola took part in the kids' parade. We've always missed out on this in the past so the girls were pretty excited to join in. They decorated their bikes with ribbons, stickers and pipe cleaners courtesy of Oaklandish and then followed El Arbol the Bike Tree, through the festival.

52 Weeks: Week 7

Week 7: Fairyland

This past weekend was a four day one for Ava with Friday and Monday off school for Presidents Day. It was also some of the warmest and sunniest weather we've had all year. We made the most of the beautiful weather (and no school) by spending much of the long weekend outdoors.

On Saturday Kim took to the water and went sailing on the Bay with a friend, while the girls and I headed to one of their favorite places: Children's Fairyland in Oakland.

Pedalfest 2014

It has been another busy weekend for our family.

Not one, but two of our favourite local festivals were held this weekend. The 4th annual Pedalfest was held in Oakland on Saturday and the Berkeley Kite Festival was held on both Saturday and Sunday.

We started our weekend by spending the day at Pedalfest. In past years we've gone on a nice long family bike ride to Jack London Square where Pedalfest is held. This year that proved a little tricky with Mathilde too young to ride on the cargo bike. Instead Kim and the big girls rode on the cargo bike while Mathilde and I took Bart and walked the rest of the way. It pretty much took the same amount of time and we arrived within minutes of each other. Perfect!

Pedalfest 2013

Time for a little break from the Canada trip posts - trust me, there are loads more to come!

Before we headed off on our trip to Canada we enjoyed a day of two (and three and four...) wheeled fun at Pedalfest in Oakland's Jack London Square. We had taken the girls to Pedalfest last year and they absolutely loved it so we knew that they'd be keen to go back. 

We jumped on our bikes and set off on the 11km ride from our place in Berkeley. This was the first time I'd ridden the bike in months (I didn't ride while I was pregnant) so I was a little worried that I'd be out of breath half way into the ride. I'm pleased to say that I made it there and back with no problem - although of course, I did make Kim ride the big bike with both girls on the back while I rode on my own!

Our first stop at Pedalfest was to check out the crazy handmade up-cycled bikes. Some of these we'd seen at last year's Pedalfest, some we'd seen at Maker Faire and some were completely new to us. The girls loved riding on what we called the "Bomb Bike". The girls and I sat on the bomb part of the bike which swung around as we took corners. They also rode the bomb bike with Kim. You can hear Lola's reaction to the back swinging around in the Vine clip below. 

Riding the bomb bike

Children's Fairyland

Last Monday Kim took the girls to a Bay Area family institution - Children's Fairyland in Oakland. 

This got me thinking about the fact that I had a half written post about our first visit to Children's Fairyland back in March. Time to get around to finishing it and posting it I think!

So here it is. A little delayed, but better late than never. A look at our first visit to Children's Fairyland...

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Pretty much every person who has grown up in the Bay Area has spent many a fun day at Children's Fairyland and I'm pleased to say that our kids can now say the same.

Ava at the entrance to Children's Fairyland