Mai Fest

We are having a nice, easy weekend here in Alameda.  Yesterday we went to a flea market and this afternoon, we walked over to Spiesekammer for Mai Fest.  They had a german / polka band, fest foods, and a bounce house and slide.  O was loving the bouncy house!  He pretty much did not want to get out, at all...

Climbing up...

Ready to slide down...

We did convince him to take one short break to dance with Daddy.  He would not stay away long, though, and headed right back to the bounce house!

Weekday Picnic

The weather was so nice and sunny earlier this week (always really) that O and packed a picnic dinner and took the bike and trailer to a nearby park for a picnic dinner and fun on the playground.  

We had a nice time, and it was a good way to break up the weekday evenings.  

Happy Mother's Day

O and I had a very nice Mother's Day weekend.  On Friday, his school had a little Mother's Day event and he gave me a card and a little bag that they decorated.  It was a gorgeous weekend here, so we spent a lot of time outside in the garden, riding bikes and at the Spring Festival on Park Street both days.  O had a great time listening to the bands, dancing and people watching.

Other than that, we had a nice relaxing weekend at home.  O is doing really well on his balance bike - I will have to get some video of him this week.

Happy Mother's Day to all of the wonderful, loving and talented Mothers I know!  Especially Grandma (Mom) and Nan (Marian).  Thank you both for making special and lasting memories with Olin.  He talks about you both so often, and is very excited for July.  Specifically, he wants to do painting and crafts with Nan and make cinnamon bread and chose his costume pattern with Grandma.

Mom, thank you for teaching me by example how to be a good mother.  You may not have ever set out to teach the lessons, but your love and the care you put into everything you do for us kids taught me how to do this.  If I am half as good a mother to Olin as you are to all of us, he is a lucky kid.

Mount Diablo

We had another great weekend here.  Yesterday, we drove out to Mount Diablo to spend the day hiking and camp for the night.  O has been anxious to go camping again (since last weekend!), and since Tom is leaving for a couple of weeks, we decided to camp Saturday night.

Mount Diablo is just over an hour away, so it was a quick trip to get there.  Once we claimed our campsite, we headed to Rock City to check out the caves and limestone formations.  It was a lot of fun.  O did great climbing and scrambling around on the rocks and boulders.

Here we are perched in a little wind cave:

O and Daddy, scrambling up a rock formation:

One of many great views:

"Hyabob!"

After breaking down camp in a little sprinkle this morning, the sky cleared, and we went back to a different section of Rock City.

This next rock looked like too much fun for the whole family to resist.  O did a GREAT job climbing up (and back down after some sunning at the top).  He is a real trooper!

Here he is at the top of that long climb...

We found more neat little caves and formations to climb around in.  By the time we finished today, O was a pro at keeping both hand down on the rocks for stability when climbing up.

Before heading home, we drove up to the summit of Mount Diablo.  The view is amazing from up there, 360 degrees around the bay and delta.  Best view anywhere in the area!

Next camping trip is at the end of May.  We are looking forward to it already!