Labor Day Weekend Recap

We had a quiet weekend, starting out with Family Movie Night.  Gabriela and I had some special mommy daughter time to pick up our movie and dinner, and we may or may not have stopped in at the See's Candy store too.  Midway through The Muppets, we took an intermission to visit with cousins Mina, Caetlin, and Wes who were on their way up to Oregon for the long weekend. 

Daddy and Gabriela made pancakes on Saturday, just like they always do. Gabriela was a little fussy and sicky, so we decided to stay home that day. 

Sunday, we went on the monthly Alameda Family Bike Ride.  Daddy got a bike, so all four of us were able to go. We rode around the whole island!  I am pleased to report that this was the second month in a row that we held the last place spot, thank you very much. It was a long ride for some four year old legs.  Thank goodness the bike rides end at Tucker's Ice Cream where we get free ice cream after our rides. 

I only had a mild heart attack on the way to the bike ride. Lane and Gabriela were riding behind me (in the very wide Alameda bike lane), when I heard her start crying.  I turned around to see Lane jumping off his bike. I couldn't see Gabriela, but I could hear her crying. What I did see was a big SUV stopped right by her with its hazard lights on.  I was completely terrified.  She didn't get hit, or even close to it.  The driver just stopped to make sure she had enough space to get up safely.  And, really, she was fine. Four year olds fall down on their bikes sometimes.  Daddy comforted her, I comforted her, and then she got back up on her bike like she always does.   I didn't realize how traumatized I was until afterward, thinking about it over and over again. 

I cried a little on that bike ride.  

We have been to Tilden Park a lot in the last month. We went to Little Farm with some friends at the beginning of August, then we went back to ride the steam trains and carousel with one of Gabriela's preschool buddies.  We went back last week with some other friends to Little Farm, and Gabriela, who is usually terrified of the cows, decided all on her own that she was going to feed them.  By herself.  So she did.  And then she asked if we could go back on a day when Daddy stays home, so she could show him how she feeds the cows.  That morning when we woke up, the first thing she said to Lane was, "Daddy, you are going to be so proud of me when you see me feed the cow".  

And he was. 

 

 At first, Gabriela only wanted to feed the gray cow. Apparently, that one didn't try to eat her alive. But after building up some courage, she decided she could do it.

 There was a lot of fun to be had at Little Farm that afternoon.  Gabriela fed all the leaves from her celery to the chickens and this lovely looking rooster too.

 Gabriela got to pet the bunnies there.

 And grind some corn, which she then fed to the chickens.

 She brushed a goat.

 And then we started feeding the goats.  They are our favorites.  Easton even fed the goats. 

He thought it was amazing.

 So did the goat.

 

See, I told you Gabriela was turning into a farm girl!

 Easton was so happy feeding those goats.  And Gabriela was a good sport about sharing her celery.

 

She really was having a hard time with the idea that eventually, she was going to run out of celery. Toward the end, Gabriela was ripping off the teeniest, tiniest bits of celery for the poor little goats to eat.  See for yourself:

 After feeding the animals, we enjoyed a lunchtime picnic and then headed out to the Nature Area to walk along a gorgeous trail around around a lake at the park. I was surprised we'd never done it before. It was so pretty. We were too busy enjoying the view to take any pictures.  But we had so much fun spotting moss growing on trees, watching the tadpoles swim around in the water, finding cool nature to take home and add to our fairy gardens, picking little berries off the bushes, and spotting turtles in the water. 

When we finished our trail, we came back to the grass, got out Gabriela's soccer ball and played for about an hour - chasing Gabriela, kicking the ball back and forth, throwing it as high up in the air as we could. 

It was a great way to end our long weekend with Daddy. If only they were all three day weekends.