Tag Archives: oakland

walk around the lake

August 21, 2014Postsemma clover, lake merritt, oaklandsusan

The other day we decided to take a walk around the lake. We had loose plans and enjoyed a slow pace.

Emma was hungry as soon as we left the house. Luckily she found a bag of dried fruit in the stroller. Its hard to keep up with this growing kid!

Snow Geese, like the fellows with their popsicle carts, are never too far away when you visit Lake Merritt.

I like to think that this is what one sees when they look through. Emma is short so she only sees the sky.

We stopped at a thrift store and bought Em a dress and me pants and a wool coat (that I tried to hand wash—story for another day). Also shopped at Lucky’s for lunch and more yeast packets to make bread!

Our picnic consisted of almond butter, rice cakes and carrots. Yum!

lunch date

August 12, 2014Postsemma clover, maiki, oakland, ratto's delisusan

We had a family lunch date at Ratto’s deli today. We like it there because there is something that each of us really likes. maiki likes the hummus sandwich and greek salad. I like the lemon tuna and potato salad. And Emma likes the mozzarella/tomato/grape salad and the bean salad. We had a feast!

Ratto’s Deli is a fourth generation owned place that was established in 1897! I love visiting as so do many others as it always packed. ^_^

Emma Clover loves when maiki goes with us anywhere. She was especially silly as we meandered through Old Oakland.

petting zoo

August 3, 2014Postsemma clover, library, oakland, petting zoo, rabbitssusan

The Lakeview library hosted a petting zoo yesterday afternoon so we walked down the hill for a visit. Emma was way into it and after five or so minutes had to be taken out so the little furry creatures would continue to live, safely away from her clutches. And yes the libraries are the place to be in the summer. I heard one librarian say that pretty much their whole budget is spent on these summer activities!

Emma loved all of the animals but was excited about funny aspects like the ducks drinking water. She ran up to them and excitedly called “puddle ducks!” This kid loves Beatrix Potter. ^_^

Temescal adventure

August 1, 2014Postsemma clover, library, oakland, susan magnolia, temescalsusan

Yesterday was a busy one for us. We woke up and jumped on a bus to go and see and puppet show. It was showing at the Temescal library as part of the Oakland summer reading program. It was a riff off the Three Little Pigs and we loved it! Temescal children’s library is the most fun to visit because they have the amount of toys and manipulatives that a pre-school would offer. Clover likes the kitchen toys best and pretended to be a little mama.

For lunch we had a taco with rice and beans at Cholita Linda. Delicious food at a cute patio table covered with oilcloth. We visited some of our old favorites on Temescal and some new ones. I love Book/Shop but going in their with Emma makes for a brief visit. We found a secret garden and a apothecary shop as well in the Alley. Lastly we went to the East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse and bought more blocks. We gave them a good bath when we got home. ^_^

rose garden afternoon

July 28, 2014Postsemma clover, Morcom Rose Garden, oakland, susan magnoliasusan

I am sure I have taken pictures similar to these every time I visit because I love it at the Oakland Rose Garden. It was perfect weather, in the low seventies, and we set up a picnic in the grass. Today we ate nectarines, string cheese, grapes, pretzels and goldfish. Emma climbs all the stairs, today in her yellow rain boots. She knows all the colors and gasps, commenting that everything is beautiful. I am right there with her. Everything is beautiful.