Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in silicon valley, CA

5 Daytrips South of Silicon Valley

by bonggamom

July 14, 2009

Nothing says summer quite like a Road Trip: hopping in the car with a picnic basket and blanket and driving off, with the summer sun and breeze and the excitement making the journey almost as fun as the destination itself.  With so many great destinations close to Silicon Valley, there's no time quite like summertime to go exploring.  Today let's make like the birds and head down south for some great day trips.  Here are five great places to spend the day with your little one:

1)  Monterey
When parents plan a trip to Monterey, their thoughts usually turn to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and for good reason.  But Monterey is so chock-full of things to do that you'll get many, many day-trips out of it.  I don't care much for Cannery Row -- not much to do for the kids -- but we do enjoy seal-spotting at Fisherman's Wharf. You'll also find old-fashioned penny candy, clam chowder, fish & chips fried straight off the boat -- and the only organ grinder monkey we've ever seen.   And don't even get me started on the Dennis the Menace Playground and all the things to do around El Estero Park.

2)  Carmel By The Sea
With such a cute name, how could it not be fun?  Just south of Monterey, you can get to Carmel via Highway 101 if you're in a hurry.  Or if you have time (and a DVD player in your car) you can do the scenic 17-mile Drive that begins at Monterey, winds along the coast and ends in Carmel. Head down to the end of Ocean Street to the beautiful, pet-friendly white sand beach (good luck finding parking). You'll need to keep your kids close to you when walking into some of the galleries and craft stores on Ocean Street (the expression really ought to be Like a Kid in a China Shop), but that shouldn't stop you from paying a visit to Kris Kringle, the year-round Christmas store in the equally charming Doud Arcade.

3)  Santa Cruz
Our standard Santa Cruz outing includes a morning on the beach and afternoon on the Boardwalk, a picnic lunch on the sands and a funnel cake by the shops.  Once in a while we head to the Santa Cruz harbor to watch the boats come in while munching on fish and chips.  Or take a stroll up and down the Municipal Wharf.   We always stop downtown for coffee (try the Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting Co. or Lulu's) before we head home.  And we always have a great time.

4)  Gilroy Gardens / Bonfante
OK, I'll admit we've never been there.  But so many parents look at me with such incredulity and pity when I tell them that it's on my list of things to do before my kids grow up.  With its family themed rides and focus on nature, I want to take the kids before they move on to rides with names like MegaTwister and G-Zone and consider themselves too cool for that corny stuff.  Many of my friends love it so much they buy annual passes (it pays for itself in two visits and it's tax-deductible).  On the way home, shopaholics and bargain hunters like me may find the 145 stores at the Gilroy outlets too tempting to pass up.  Just hope that you've tired your little ones out to the point where you can leave them in the car, blissfully snoring away, with your spouse.

5)  Laguna Seca Recreation Area
I know I'm going a bit off the usual kiddie beaten track here, but if you've got boys with nothing but hotwheels on their minds, this one's a winner.  I wouldn't even know about it if my husband weren't such a MotoGP freak, but Laguna Seca is home to one of the most revered racing circuits in the world.  They host several major motorcyle and sportscar racing events throughout the year, and kids 12 and under usually get in free.  I couldn't care less about motorbikes, but I have to admit that watching these bikes zoom past you during live races is pretty cool.  Needless to say, my boys -- the twins and their dad -- had the time of their lives. 

Spring Has Sprung: Baby Animals

by bonggamom

April 28, 2009

Spring is an exciting season on a farm, with all the baby lambs bleating, the baby colts struggling to stand up, and the little chicks peep-peep-peeping out of their shell.  Children love baby animals and nothing brings a smile to a preschooler's face like a fluffy yellow chick squirming in his outstretched palm.  Here are some places around Silicon Valley where you and your little one can stop by to say, “Hello” to the animal world's newest arrivals -- and maybe even pet or feed a few:

1) All 3 major zoos in the region -- the San Francisco Zoo, Oakland Zoo, and Happy Hollow Park and Zoo in San Jose -- have children's zoos with petting areas featuring gentle farm animals.
  
 
2) Ardenwood Farm in Fremont has pigs, sheep, goats, horses, cows and a henhouse with Araucana hens that lay the most beautifully-colored eggs I've ever seen (think Martha Stewart shades of blue and brown).  To get up close to all of your farmyard favorites, join us for Afternoon Animal Feeding every Thursday-Sunday at 3:00 pm. Meet at the chicken coop and help check the henhouse for eggs and bring hay to the livestock. You’ll learn all the animals’ favorite foods as you help shut the farm down for the evening.

3) Emma Prusch Farm Park in San Jose has a poultry area and livestock barn.  They also have a small animal area where children see their favorite farmyard animals.  For a fee of $3.00, they can also help feed the ducks, goats, chickens, rabbits, geese, sheep and miniature pigs one Saturday morning each month (limited to 20 children). 

4) Hidden Villa has cows, sheep, horses, goats and pigs.   You'll need to join one of their educational guided tours in order enter the pens and pet the animals, but anyone can enter the chicken coop and be surrounded by flocks of hungry, hopeful free-range chickens.  And anyone can open up the big green "learning boxes" near each animal's pen containing information about the animal and all the products we get from it.   

5)  Just one exit south from Hidden Villa on Highway 280, Deer Hollow Farm keeps a stock of chickens, rabbits, goats, sheep, pigs, and a cow.  The buildings and pens are closed to the general public, but their last Spring Farm Tour is coming up this May 16.  Take advantage of this opportunity to tour the farm from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm, 45-minute tours.

Finally, it's not your typical farm, but Shoreline Lake at Mountain View is once more swamped with ducks and geese and their young hatchlings.  Pack up your stale crusts of bread so your preschooler can throw some to the wildlife and find out what it's like to be a celebrity chased by the duckarazzi.  Just be prepared to navigate through all their dropping!  Not that your children would even notice -- after all, baby animals are baby animals wherever they can find'em!

Enjoying the Oakland Zoo

by bonggamom

March 30, 2009

Last Friday, we took advantage of our spring break and the spring weather to pay a visit to the Oakland Zoo.   It was our first visit to the zoo, and I was curious as to how it would compare to the other zoos in the area.  As much as we love the San Francisco Zoo and San Jose's Happy Hollow Park and Zoo, after spending a day at the Oakland Zoo I'd have to say that it's my favorite of the lot.  Unlike the San Francisco Zoo, it's small enough to see practically all the exhibits in one day (barely, I'll admit, especially if you have children who love to linger at exhibits and at the children's playground).  Unlike Happy Hollow, it boasts an impressive array of wildlife from all over the world. 

Despite the plethora of information and educational programs for adults and older kids, the zoo still pays special attention to the little ones.  They have a children's zoo with a petting area featuring the usual farm animals, some cool animal exhibits (the giant tortoise and alligators are fascinating), and fun areas featuring animal sculptures to play on, scattered throughout.  I love this zoo's attention to detail. the wildlife safari theme prominently featured at the entrance is echoed throughout the zoo, in the design of each exhibit, fence, restroom and cafe.  And the concrete paths have animal tracks stamped onto them, so even walking from one exhibit to another presents an opportunity for discovery. 

All in all, the Oakland Zoo gets a big Thumbs Up from me as a place to take your preschooler for the day.  In fact, we loved it so much we're thinking of getting a zoo membership so we can come back whenever we want.  We hope to see you there!  And because it's always nice to get advice from someone who has been there before, here are five tips to help you make the most of your visit:

1)  Be prepared for hilly terrain; if your little one is too little to walk the up-and-down paths leading from one exhibit to the next, make sure you bring a stroller (or rent one near the gift shop). 

2)  Pack your own snacks and lunch.  When you're at one end of the zoo, it's a long walk back to the zoo cafe at the entrance -- and at lunchtime, the line goes out the door. 

3)  The gondola sky ride gives you a great birds' eye view of the zoo, and it's not to be missed -- but it's closed on weekends for most of the year (it's open every day during the summer, call before you go to check).

4) Dress in layers and bring water, sunscreen and hats.  The zoo is nestled in the Oakland hills and you'll be walking through the trees, so it can get cool in the mornings, but by mid-day the sun can be burning hot.

5)  Adjacent to the zoo, just beside the zoo exit, is a small amusement park with a carousel, train, and several other kiddie rides.  It's almost impossible to sneak past this area without your child seeing or hearing the rides, and asking if he or she can catch a ride on one or all of to get on one or all of the attractions; if your time and budget allow for just one ride, I would recommend the train.  For $2 per person, you get a fairly long ride on cabs pulled by a cute vintage-style engine, .   There are zoo animal statues scattered over half of the route, and the train chugs through a portion of the zoo for the other half of the route. 

Pint-Sized History Lessons: The USS Hornet

by bonggamom

March 23, 2009

Like most little boys (and many little girls), my sons often dream of soaring up in the skies in a jet plane.  They let their imaginations take flight with nothing but a plastic airplane and visions of dogfights, 360-degree loop-the-loops, and landing their planes on a huge aircraft carrier at sea. 

Fortunately for them, and for all other pint-sized fighter pilots in Silicon Valley, we've got a real aircraft carrier moored just a hop, skip and a jump away:  the USS Hornet.   It was once a working vessel and participated in World War II, the Vietnam War, and the first manned space mission, Apollo 11.  A national treasure, it's now peacefully moored at historic Alameda Point on the San Francisco Bay, and is a museum open to the public.

Last weekend we took our three kids there and they had a blast.  From the moment we drove up beside the gigantic vessel and boarded her gangplank, their jaws dropped and stayed that way for the next three hours.   The huge aircraft hangar is filled with various warplanes, helicopters and exhibits related to the Apollo 11 mission.  There's also a flight simulator where, for an extra $6, you can hop into a flight simulator and pretend you're flying an F-15 over land and sea.

Much of the ship is open to visitors; some areas require joining a guided tour.  It's free with admission, but it's a 45-minute tour and it does get techinical, so it may be difficult for preschoolers to follow.   Popular explore-on-your-own areas include the rooms where officers and crew ate, played, worked and slept.  Our kids were delighted at the sight of rows and rows of uncomfortable-looking bunk beds in the crew's quarters; they didn't like the small jail cells in the brig quite so much!  The whole place is run by volunteers who know the history of the vessel inside out.  Many served on similar aircraft carriers -- and all of them are more than happy to regale you with tales of life at sea. 

Unfortunately, we got there too late to experience one of the highlights of the museum: the "fighter jet elevator".  Every 3rd Saturday of the month is Living Ship Day, when visitors get to experience the aircraft carrier "in action":  meet former crew, participate in "mission briefings", and sit in the cockpit of a fighter jet.   Best of all, visitors get to stand on alongside a fighter jet and hitch a ride on their "aircraft elevator", as it is lifted from the lower hangar decks onto the flight deck and placed into launch position.  We arrived just as the elevator was making its last trip, so if you want to avoid looks of disappointment on your little ones' faces, make sure you get there before 2PM .  Then again, the whole experience is extremely noisy, so if your little one is sensitive to noise, you may want to avoid it altogether.  No worries -- whether you catch that elevator or not, there's certainly enough to experience at the USS Hornet to feed your child's sense of history, and fuel his imagination, for many fantasies to come.

Sledding and Snowplay in Silicon Valley? You Bet!

by bonggamom

March 10, 2009

We're done with the first week of March, so I thought I'd better get a move on and talk about the one thing kids love about winter, before it melts away -- Snow.  We see it about once in a blue moon in Silicon Valley, but the Bay Area is surrounded by mountains on three sides, which is just high enough to get an occasional dusting of snow during cold snaps.  Which means that if you look hard enough and are willing to jump in your car for a drive, you'll find a spot or two for your preschoolers to play in the snow.  Here are some suggestions:

1)  Skyline Boulevard.  Head for the parking lot at El Corte de Madera Creek Open Space Preserve or  at Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve (both on Skyline Blvd), or Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (Saratoga Gap, Russian Ridge)

2)  Summit of Hwy 17.  Head east on Summit Road to a ridge called Mt. Bache. 

3)  Mt. Hamilton.  Just head up Highway 130 to the University of California's Lick Observatory; at 4,200 feet, they've got a great view of the stars above and the world below.  A word of warning: the road does close due to snowfall so you have to content yourselves with some roadside snow.

4) Mount Diablo State Park.  Snow may cause rangers to close the gate at Summit Road at the Junction Ranger Station, but some intrepid visitors hike in about 2 miles toenjoy snow on the mountain.

If that's not enough snowplay to satisfy your little ones, deeper snow is just a few hours away from Silicon Valley.  There's the Lake Tahoe area, of course, but the Sonora area in the High Sierras and the Truckee/Donner Area on the way to Lake Tahoe are close enough (3 to 3.5 hrs drive) for a day trip (A Snow Day Trip, that is).  Here are some great destinations for a snow sledding day:

1) Leland High Sierra Snowplay area, about 3 hrs drive from the SF Bay Area, is a full-service snowplay facility with lots of sledding and tubing.  Now that they've installed a tow rope on their hills, parents can actually have fun sledding down hilss with their children without dreading the walk back up.

2) The California Department of Parks and Recreation operates 19 SNO-PARK sites around Northern and Central California (if you're lucky and the traffic on I-80 is light, you could get to the one at Yuba Gap in just over 3 hours).  A sno-park permit costs just $5, making this one of the best deals around for sledding, tubing, and all-around fun in the snow.  A word of warning:  not all the sno-parks sell permits on site (go figure!), so you may want to purchase your permits before leaving home.

3) There are several snowtubing spots off I-80 that offer tow lanes and equipment for fuss-free sledding and tubing.  Older kids will love Tubes R Us and the Kingvale Tubing and Sledding Center, but I've got to say, Soda Springs is the Disneyland of I-80 sledding sites.  With two tubing carousels, a moving carpet for first-time skiers, gentle tubing runs and sleigh rides, my little ones adore it -- and yours will, too.

99 things you must do with your child in Silicon Valley before they grow up

by bonggamom

February 24, 2009

It seems like only yesterday that The Pea was just a little pea.  Now she's 7 and there are still so many things we haven't done together.  I really have to hurry, because some of the best experiences in the Valley have use-by dates:  I want my kids to first experience them while they're young, before the magic fades and they retreat into the solitude of their bedroms and their iPods.

With that in mind, here's a list of must-do activities for parents and kids around Silicon Valley:

Good Eats
 1) Taste garlic ice cream at the Gilroy Garlic Festival.
 2) Chew on saltwater taffy at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
 3) Pick berries at a local farm.
 4) Eat fish and chips at Princeton-by-the-Sea.
 5) Get a sugar high at the Jelly Belly Factory.
 6) Have a pancake breakfast at Hobees.
 7) Slurp clam chowder from a sourdough bread bowl at Fisherman's Wharf.
 8) Have an ice cream sundae at Ghirardelli Square.
 9) Burn your tongue at Palo Alto's annual Chili Cook-off.
10) Enjoy berrylicious treats at Watsonville's Strawberry Festival.
11) Go on a tasting tour -- cheese tasting, that is -- around Napa and Sonoma Valley.

The Animal Kingdom
12) Pat a llama at the Happy Hollow Zoo.
13) Join the Los Altos Pet Parade.
14) Milk a cow and feed chickens at Hidden Villa.
15) Watch for whales at the Point Sur Lighthouse.
16) Feed the ducks at Shoreline Park.
17) Spend the day at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
18) See the Monarch Butterflies in Pacifica.
19) Listen to the sea lions barking at Pier 39.
20) Ride an elephant at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.
21) Go on safari at Santa Rosa's Safari West.
22) Visit the elephant seals at Ano Nuevo State Reserve.

Events
23) Do the Dragon Dance at San Francisco's Chinese New Year Parade.
24) Welcome springtime at Cupertino's Cherry Blossom Festival.
25) Celebrate Cinco de Mayo at San Jose's annual parade.
26) Watch 4th of July Fireworks from Shoreline Ampitheater.
27) See the Tall Ships and Blue Angels at San Francisco's Fleet Week.
28) See the world's biggest pumpkins at the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival.
29) Go trick or treating at Santana Row.
30) Watch the San Francisco Ballet's Nutcracker.
31) Drive through the Vasona Fantasy of Lights display.
32) Meet Santa Claus at a train station during Caltrains Holiday Train.
33) Enjoy holiday scenes at San Jose's Christmas at the Park.

Sporty Stuff
34) Watch a baseball game at San Francisco's AT&T park.
35) Sail a boat on Shoreline lake.
36) Surf (ok, boogie-board) the waves at San Gregorio State beach.
37) Go rafting on the American River.
38) Ice skate under the stars at Palo Alto's Winter Lodge.
39) Run Bay to Breakers with the little ones in a stroller.
40) Bike the Los Gatos Creek trail.
41) Sink a mini-hole-in-one at Golfland.
42) Take your child for a spin at Redwood City's Malibu Grand Prix.
43) Row, row, row your boat at Vasona Lake County Park.
44) Catch some fish at Ed Levin County Park.

Museums
45) Explore and learn at the Children's Discovery Museum.
46) Scare yourself at the Winchester Mystery House.
47) Play tag amongst the artwork at Stanford University's Rodin Sculpture Garden.
48) Marvel at the California Academy of Science's Living Roof.
49) Count the Pez dispensers at Burlingame's Pez Museum.
50) Walk like an Egyptian at San Jose's Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum.
51) Geek out at the Tech Museum.
52) Take a class at the Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo.
53) Play and pretend at Oakland's Habitot Children's Museum.
54) Let your imagination take flight at the Hillier Aviation Museum.
55) Follow the toy trains at the Edward Peterman Museum of Railroad History.

Seein' the Sights
56) Watch an IMAX film at The Tech Museum.
57) See the circus trees at Gilroy Gardens.
58) Enjoy the view from the top of Stanford's Hoover Tower.
59) Watch a space shuttle launch at the NASA Ames Visitor Center.
60) See the stars up close at Lick Observatory.
61) Drive across the Golden Gate Bridge.
62) Check out the local bikers at Alice's Cafe in Woodside.
63) Watch a play, for kids and by kids, at Palo Alto's Hotdog Suppertime Shows.
64) Watch the airplanes bound for San Francisco airport take off and land, from Coyote Point park.
65) See where the San Francisco Bay ends at Palo Alto's Baylands Park.
66) Count as many of the Livermore windmills as you can while driving through Altamont Pass on Highway 580.

Nature
67) Hike through the redwoods at Henry Cowell State Park.
68) Hike up to The Dish at Stanford University.
69) Build a sandcastle at Santa Cruz beach.
70) Find serenity at San Jose's Japanese Friendship Garden.
71) Paint the roses red at San Jose's Heritage Rose Garden.
72) Wade in the creek at Los Altos' Shoup Park.
73) Save the earth on California Coastal Cleanup Day.
74) Pick apples at Gizdich Ranch.
75) Explore the tidepools at the Natural Bridges State Beach.
76) Say hello to the wild turkeys at Deer Hollow Farm.
77) Camp overnight at the Big Basin State Park.

Spend the weekend (or week!) at....
78) ...Yosemite National Park...
79) ...Sequoia National Park...
80) ...Lake Tahoe...
81) ...Napa Valley...
82) ...Sacramento...
83) ...Strawberry...
84) ...Gold Country...
85) ...Carmel-by-the-Sea...
86) ...Big Sur...
87) ...Solvang, or...
88) ...LA

Just Plain Fun
89) Ride the Caltrain up and down the Peninsula.
90) Ride the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad.
91) Chug through the redwoods on the Roaring Camp Railroad.
92) Catch a cable car on the hills of San Francisco.
93) Hop on the Bill Mason carousel at Oak Meadow Park.
94) Enjoy the rides at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
95) Get stuck on stickers at the Mrs. Grossman's sticker factory.
96) Splash around at the Morgan Hill Aquatics Park.
97) Meet storybook characters at Oakland's Fairyland.
98) Splash through the fountains at the Plaza de Cesar Chavez.
99) Watch a movie at the San Jose's Capitol Drive-In Movie Theater.

My family has done quite a few of these items, but we're nowhere near done.  We (and you) had better get cracking on the rest of this list before the kids grow up!

If you have other activities that simply must be on this list, email us at beingsavvysiliconvalley@savvysource.com. 

Pumpkin picking at Lemos Farm

by Bonggamom

October 17, 2008

Pumpkins, pumpkins, we love pumpkins Pumpkins, pumpkins, Halloween pumpkins Pupmkins, pumpkins, we love pumpkins In the pumpkin patch -- Barney Much as his singing grates on my nerves, the purple dinosaur is right. Who doesn't love pumpkins? They're healthy, yummy and fun. You could plan a whole October's worth of kids' activities around pumpkins. Bake'em, cook'em, eat'em, decorate'em ,  Read more...

Weekend Outlook: October 17th-19th

by Shawn Burns

October 15, 2008

Looking back at my Weekend Outlook entries for the past few months I notice that we are really and truly privileged in this area to have almost weekly street fairs of some kind or another. I keep highlighting them because I love to walk them, to experience my town, or my neighbor's town, in full spectacle. But perhaps you aren't the street fair type. Perhaps you've been crying out for me to  Read more...

Apple Picking at Gizdich Ranch: Introducing Ana Picazo

by Shawn Burns

October 02, 2008

Being Savvy Silicon Valley is very, very proud to introduce Ana Picazo, a writer, blogger, and mom from the Silicon Valley who will be teaming up with me to form the new Being Savvy Silicon Valley Super Squad . In the next few weeks Anna will begin posting regularly in this space, offering up her Savvy knowledge of the Silicon Valley to you, the loyal Being Savvy Silicon Valley readers. Her  Read more...

Cooling Off

by Shawn Burns

August 26, 2008

How do you cool off? Our national editors have some great ideas for cooling off in the heat. With a heatwave moving into the Silicon Valley this weekend Erin and I will be trying to cool off almost constantly. I love their suggestion to just drop an ice cube down your kid's shirt. I think I'll go do that now... Ok, but today is List Day, which means I get to tell you how to cool off. And I'm  Read more...

Just down the road

by Shawn Burns

June 02, 2008

Living on the Peninsula means that there is always something to do. Like mowing the lawn, or attending a neighborhood don't build a reservoir in my park meeting, or figuring out new and exciting ways to give money to Stanford University. Luckily, whoever invented the Peninsula also invented places like Half Moon Bay, San Francisco, Monterey, Santa Cruz, and Fairfield. What you  Read more...

A green thumb? Not a chance

by Shawn Burns

May 30, 2008

My wife and I are really really good at killing plants. From Christmas trees that die an early death to the herb garden I tried to plant at our last residence, we haven't been able to figure out how to keep other living things alive. This worried me a little bit when we decided to have a baby. As it turned out, though, babies are way easier than plants. Babies cry when they  Read more...