Reaching for the ... doorknobs

this is the first time Zach reached for a doorknob and was able to touch it. it was the same morning of the hike to Briones Regional Park. I've got a couple of other cute doorknob reaching shots which I'll get up soon. for now you can enjoy these...

Hiking in the East Bay Hills

Back in March, the three of us went for a hike in Briones Regional Park. The park is in the East Bay hills, about 40 min away. Everything was a shade of emerald from the winter rains, and the gently rolling hills, dotted with oak and bay trees, have a softness to them that's tangible.

We did a short hike that seemed like it was straight up for a bit, but then leveled out along the ridge line. We found a nice patch of grass to rest and frolic in. We'll definitely be going back!

It looks like the trail continues to the right, but it actually takes
a sharp left after those two oaks in the foreground and proceeds
straight up the hill. We then walked along the ridge, from left to
right, down the other side, and looped back to the start.




Zach napped for the first part of the hike.




The view from the ridge, looking back down from where we started.





A "close-up" of some of the oaks and bays on
the hillside.




Stopping to rest and frolic. Guess who's doing most of the
resting and who's doing most of the frolicking.




Not sure if Zach was more interested in the grass or his
mommy's hair. Both are very fascinating.




What a cutie!

photo blastastic - playdate w/ sebastien

Back in late February, we visited our friends Andrew and Isabelle, and their son Sebastien, who I've posted about before. The boys had a lot of fun playing together, especially on the jumper. It was Zach's first time in one, and it took him a while to get the hang of it, but once he did, there was no getting him out. Now I know how the phrase "dragged away kicking and screaming" originated.

Zach likes bouncing

Still photo blasting away ... Buddy Aymeric's 1st Birthday

Here are just a few shots from Aymeric's 1st Birthday. Aymeric is the son of our neighbors, Julie and Yann, and he's about 3 weeks older than Zach.

Zach likes books




Zach likes taking things out and spreading them around




Julie and the Birthday Boy




Yes, that's an empty wine glass Aymeric is holding.
But it's OK, Yann is from France.

Zach likes to snuggle ...

... just about everything, but especially his stuffed animals. Still catching up, this one is also from late February:

more catching up, photo blast 2

These shots are from mid-February.

Zach likes apples








Zach likes being under things




Zach likes putting things in his mouth and
carrying them around ...




... and climbing up the stairs with them. Even if he
can't see where he's going.

Catching up with lots of photos - a preview :)

It's been a while since I've posted. Yes we've been busy, but mostly we've been sick. Blech. But we're finally on the mend (I think). So I'm just going to blast a ton of pics, but I still have to get them uploaded. Here's a teaser to whet your appetite. I'll try to caption where I can. Here we go...

Zach and his buddy Sebastien hanging out while their
parents watched playoff football (yes, that's how much
catching up I have to do!). Sebastien agrees that those jeans
don't make Zach's butt look big at all.



Jennifer and Zach and the Transamerica Pyramid



Jennifer visited us towards the end of January




Zach at playing with some of Emi's toys during their
February playgroup




Zach is trying to get Atti to look at the camera




Zach, Atti & Emi









Mark and Emi; Sara, Atti and Larry; Amy and Zach. Can you tell
it was time for Zach's nap. This is seconds before the meltdown.
He fell asleep the second the car started moving.

Hiking in the Redwoods

In January, we took Zach on his second hike in the Redwoods (the first was our camping trip to Hendy Woods State Park.) This time we stayed a little closer to home and headed south to one of the many parks and preserves in San Mateo county. This one, the Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve, is just a 35 minute drive away.

Zach crawled around on the forest floor a bit, but mostly he just chilled/slept in the Ergo as Amy carried him around.

Playground and Carousel in Golden Gate Park

Back in January, as part of San Francisco's annual Family Day, we went to the newly renovated playground and carousel in Golden Gate Park.

The carousel is 94 years old, and admission was free as part of Family Day. The playground, thought to be the first public playground in the U.S., has a California Coastal theme and is always free :)

Zach was still "army crawling" at the time, so he could only enjoy a limited part of the playground. We've gone to other parks many times since then, and once he could crawl and stand, he could interact with a greater variety of play structures. He does more and more every time we go. So hopefully we'll go back to the playground in Golden Gate Park soon, and he can climb and crawl and swing and slide to his heart's content.

The carousel is inside the domed structure, the playground
is behind it. To the left is the Sharon Art Studio, San Francisco's
largest public community art center.




Closeup of the carousel building.




All the parks in San Francisco have these signs posted.





Man, *I* want to go play on all this stuff, it's so cool!




I'm not sure what this is supposed to be - a tree
maybe? - whatever it is, it's awesome.




Climbing walls in the shape of waves.




Pelican! There was also a turtle and a hermit crab.




Mommy and son having fun on the pelican.




Here we are getting ready for the carousel ride.




Ride 'em, cowboy!





I got soooo dizzy after this ride. I felt nauseous
for hours afterward! Zach, of course, was fine.





What blog post would be complete with out shot of stilt walkers?
It's not everyday that you can see people walking on stilts in
San Francisco ... um, wait ... actually it probably is every day ...
but in top hats and striped pants? That's just crazy.