Batteries to Bluffs Trail

After a grey and quite cool couple of weeks, the weather has really warmed up here in the Bay Area To make the most of the sun and the long weekend (and to celebrate my birthday) we decided to head to the Presidio in San Francisco and go for an afternoon hike.

I'm always a little embarrassed to admit that, despite living here for 6.5 years, we really haven't spent much time in this part of the city at all. This has mostly been due to the fact that we didn't own a car for such a long time, and it takes a long time to get to the Presidio by public transport from Berkeley. Now that we have a car for weekend adventures I'm keen to get out and explore more of this beautiful city as much as possible - especially now that the weather is nice.

Ava and I have been feeling a little under the weather this past week, so while I would've loved to take a long hike along the coast line I figured it was best to take a short hike for now. I checked out the hiking trails in the Presidio and the Batteries to Bluffs Trail jumped out at me straight away. At only 0.7 miles (1.1km) I knew that it would be an easy hike for the kids (they walk further to school each day), and with the beach at the end, there was definitely an incentive to get them moving!

Escaping the Heatwave at Stinson Beach

This past weekend the Bay Area was hit by a heatwave of the likes we've never seen here. Not only did we experience the highest temperatures that we've had in the time we've lived here, San Francisco experienced it's all time highest temperature ever reaching a scorching 106F/41C.

Now, that may not seem super hot to my friends and family back home in Australia where these sorts of temperatures are common in Summer, but here in the Bay Area the weather is usually so mild that it rarely even reaches 86F/30C at the very most in Summer - and as a result hardly anyone has air conditioning in their home (or even in shops and restaurants). We fall into that group of people with a non-AC home, and as the temperatures rose outside over Friday and Saturday, so too did the temperatures in our apartment. Staying inside our 89F/32C apartment to escape the heat wasn't an option so Saturday afternoon we jumped in a nicely air conditioned car and headed to Stinson Beach, north of San Francisco.

As expected the traffic was pretty busy as we approached Stinson Beach. Being a relatively short drive from San Francisco, Stinson Beach is a pretty popular spot for cooling off in the waves. We still managed to find a parking space close to the beach though which was great as it was too hot to walk very far. Ava and Lola changed into their swimsuits in the car while Mathilde stayed in her clothes as she was convinced that she didn't want to swim - of course, this changed pretty quickly once we were on the beach and she was playing in the water!

Glass Beach at Fort Bragg

This Summer has flown by and we haven't taken any big trips like we normally would during the long break. While we've been home for much of the Summer, we have taken a few short trips around the Bay Area with friends and family visiting from Australia. 

Once such trip we took was to Fort Bragg, a small coastal town three hours north of San Francisco with my parents. The highlight of our visit was Fort Bragg's famous Glass Beach, a beach covered in colorful sea glass. I remember reading about the Glass Beach when we first moved to California and I've been keen to see it for myself ever since.   

While the Glass Beach is rather pretty, it's origins are not quite as romantic as one would imagine. All those pretty pieces of glass? They didn't wash ashore from a ship, nor are they the remains of letters sent in bottles. Nope. Between 1906 and 1967 the shoreline along the Glass Beach was used as a dump! All those rounded pieces of glass are the result of sixty years of the town's trash. Various clean up efforts over the decades removed all of the large items and the metal for scrap, while the biodegradable waste degraded over time. What remained after the clean up effort was beautiful glass pieces worn smooth by the waves.

Monterey Day Trip

Here in the Bay Area we're pretty lucky to be surrounded by amazing natural beauty. Stunning beaches, towering redwoods, snow capped mountains, rolling hills, lush forests, natural hot springs... all of these can be found within just a few hours drive of the Bay Area. We're pretty spoiled for choice.

One of our favorite places to visit either for a weekend away or a day trip is Monterey county, located just a two hour drive along the coast south of San Francisco. We've visited Monterey many times and we always find something new to do. Whether it be spending a day at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, taking in a little of California's history at the Carmel Mission, soaking in the views along the Big Sur coastline, playing in the amazing Dennis the Menace Park, or just relaxing at the beach, we always enjoy our visit to Monterey and can't wait to come back.

This past weekend we took a day trip to down Monterey and it was the perfect day out. We spent much of our time at the beach, with the kids chasing waves, exploring tide pools, searching for treasure, climbing on rocks and making sand castles. We also visited the quaint Point Pinos Lighthouse for a little history, and took a drive along the famous 17 Mile Drive.

Keep reading to see more of our adventure in Monterey as well as your chance to win tickets to Monterey Bay Aquarium and MY Museum.

Monterey County for Families

Monterey and the Big Sur Coastline is one of my favorite places for a weekend getaway from the Bay Area. It's a relatively short drive down the coast, yet it feels a world away from home.

The world class Monterey Bay Aquarium is definitely the biggest draw card for our family of sea life loving kiddos, but the beaches and the stunning coastal views are enough to make Monterey County a great destination on their own.

Here's a look at some of our favorite destinations in Monterey County for families...

Spring Adventures with Fruit Shoot

This past weekend the girls and I spent an afternoon at Crissy Field, one of our favorite places for a little outdoor fun in San Francisco..

It was a pretty rainy and grey day, but that didn't stop the girls from having fun on the beach! With their raincoats on and their backpacks full of snacks and drinks they were ready for anything. And seriously, with the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge as the backdrop to their playing, nothing could put a dampener on their spirits.

While it was too cold to actually go in the water (which is almost always true of San Francisco!), it was the perfect day for running from the small waves as they crashed onto the beach. Isn't every day? My girls can entertain themselves for hours running from the waves. With the Golden Gate Bridge in the background in one direction, and Alcatraz in the other, I was happy to just sit back on the wet sand and watch, while listening to the sound of the girls' laughter ringing through the air. Ah, the glorious sound of happy children.

Christmas 2015

Can you believe that it has almost been two weeks since Christmas? Time is flying by (as usual) and here I am a little behind (as usual!) and I haven't shared anything from Christmas yet.

So let's fix that by having a look at our Christmas Day...

Tidal Pools & Sand Castles

There's nothing quite like spending a Summer morning on a Californian beach. White sand, blue sky, scorching sun, beautiful people... 

Oh, wait a minute... that would Summer on a Southern Californian beach. Here in Northern California (or at least around the Bay Area) Summer at the beach means fog, jackets and beanies! Not that I'm complaining, mind you. I'm not a Summer fan at all. I much prefer going to the beach when it's cooler and atmospheric.

On our little trip to Big Sur and Monterey the girls were super keen to hit the beach. They didn't care what the weather was like, they just wanted to run on the sand, wade in the water, explore tidal pools and build sand castles. 

After breakfast we headed down to the beach; a short walk away from our room. For our stay at Asilomar I had booked a family package which came with a bag of beach toys for each of the girls, among other things. The girls were pretty excited about their new beach toys and couldn't wait to play with them.

Flashback Fridays: South-Eastern South Australia

It's been a few weeks since I've posted a Flashback Friday adventure. All of this pregnancy stuff has been keeping me busy and making me feel pretty tired. Only one month to go today!

Time to get back to it. This time let's take a look at a short trip we took from our home city of Adelaide, Australia...

Back in April 2011 we spent a few days in the popular tourist town of Robe, South Australia. Robe is a small town located along the Limestone Coast, a picturesque coastal region in south-eastern South Australia known for its red wines, abundant seafood, amazing caves, rugged coastline and beautiful beaches.

On our drive down to Robe we stopped in Kingston to check out the Big Lobster/Crayfish. If you've ever been on a road trip in Australia you'll know that Australian towns love their kitsch "Big Things". We've had the pleasure of visiting many of these "Big Things" over the years: the Big Banana, the Big Pineapple, the Big Orange, the Big Koala... Apart from their gigantic size the one thing these all have in common is that they are extremely tacky! The Big Lobster may just very well be THE tackiest of them all!

The girls and I with the Big Lobster

A day in Vancouver's Stanley Park

Stanley Park in Vancouver is gigantic.

This wooded piece of land at the end of Downtown Vancouver is roughly 400 hectares. That's pretty much equal to the size of our very own Golden Gate Park here in San Francisco and approximately 10% larger than New York's Central Park.

Our hotel in Vancouver was located close to the entrance of Stanley Park so it was the logical place to visit on our first day in this beautiful city. We had planned to just spend the morning going for a short walk in Stanley Park before heading on to another location. Quite a few hours and 10kms later we found ourselves walking the entire length of the seawall around Stanley Park. Ava was pretty proud of the fact that she walked the entire way. No mean feat for a six year old.

Vancouver Rowing Club at the start of our walk 

Along our walk around Stanley Park we took in the beautiful views over the city and stopped at various landmarks and attractions.

Enjoying the sun

Half Moon Bay

On Sunday we headed down south for Ava's cheerleading competition. Seeing as she was finished around 11:00am and we had a Zipcar for the whole day we decided to head to the coast and play tourist for the afternoon. Our destination: the lovely beachside town of Half Moon Bay.

Half Moon Bay

Road Trip California

After our recent visit to Disneyland we took a road trip along the beautiful Californian coast back to San Francisco.

Here's a little look at some of the sights along the way.

We started our road trip in Carpinteria, near Santa Barbara. We had driven there the night before to avoid Los Angeles peak hour on a Monday morning. After a delicious bagel breakfast in Carpinteria we headed to the beach at Santa Barbara where we spent a short while splashing about in the waves. The girls, Ava in particular, were super excited to spend some time at the beach. Back home in Australia we would go to the beach quite regularly however here in San Francisco the beaches are just a little cold so we've only been once or twice.

Two excited kids

Christmas Cards 2010

Our Christmas photo shoot from 2010 seems like a world away from this year's Christmas. In fact it was half a world away and in a completely different season.

Last year's photos were taken on the beach in Glenelg, Adelaide. It was a beautiful sunny November day and we were at the Bay for the Glenelg Christmas Pageant. After the pageant we headed down to the sand for a little photography. 

Lola was only about 6 or 8 weeks old at the time so trying to get her to pose was a *little* tricky. I think we ended up with a pretty good result though. 

I liked the colouring of the photo but it was just missing a little something. I gave it a vintage look with a vignette which darkened it up reminding me of photos from my early childhood.  

The final result

New shoes

I love receiving parcels in the mail and the parcel that arrived this week was doubly nice as it was full of shoes! If only I received more parcels like that :)

Summer may be gone and the weather is getting (ever so slightly) cooler but I decided that Ava and I needed to try out Saltwater Sandals. I'd been coveting a pair of Saltwater Sandals for quite a while now (for both Ava and myself) but had never gotten around to buying them. At $65.00 a pair for the children's sizes they just seemed a little too pricey for fast growing feet. Like most things however, Saltwater Sandals are a fraction of the price in the US - that fraction being a little less than 1/2.

As much as I'd like to support local stores I just can't bring myself to pay the extra money when I know how cheap an item is overseas. Even factoring in the international airmail charge the shoes were still only around half the price they are here. So an order was placed with meandmyfeet.com and within two weeks a box full of shiny new shoes arrived.

Ava and I in our new Saltwater Sandals

Now that Ava and I have our Saltwater Sandals I know first hand what all the hype is about. First of all they are so comfortable. Ava usually complains that her shoes rub or hurt her feet and always wants to wear socks - definitely not going to let that happen with sandals young lady! She has been wearing her Saltwater Sandals all day for the last two days and I haven't heard a single peep out of her about her feet. I too have been wearing mine non-stop and my feet feel great. New shoes and no blisters? That never happens!

We haven't tried them out at the beach yet but from what I hear Saltwater Sandals are supposed to be super repellent to the leather-shoe-trashing properties of salt water - hence the name, I guess. I've inadvertently trashed more than one pair of leather sandals at the beach in my time so it's good to know that my new sandals are not going to suffer the same fate.

My favourite thing about Saltwater Sandals though is the fantastic range of colours they come in and their cute retro styling. Aesthetics triumph over all!  I couldn't decide which colour to buy for myself so decided to go for two pairs - one red and the other black. At USD$35 for the adults sizes I figured, why not? Ava of course didn't have to think twice about the colour she wanted - pink, of course!

Come next summer we'll be stocking up in all the colours of the rainbow!

Mummy & me shoes

Matching shoes - we just need extra tiny ones for Lola :)

Ava's sandal's in the colour Fuchsia