Photos taken May 5th, 2013 UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley In celebration of National Public Gardens Day Related articles Gorgeous! Cactus Flowers (anaturemom.com) This Friday! National Public Gardens Day (anaturemom.com) Continue reading »
Tag Archives: Berkeley
Gorgeous! Cactus Flowers
The cacti in the the New World Desert Collection of the UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley are in stunning bloom. How have I missed this in past years? The flowers are gorgeous! All these photos were taken during my visit on Sunday, May 5th, 2013. If you live in the San Francisco area, I recommend … Continue reading »
Play! Blake Garden
Blake Garden in Kensington may be the best botanic garden in the Bay Area for nature play. A favorite feature for my son is the Create-with-Nature Zone, which is stocked with sticks, rocks, flowers, and other nature items for kids to play and build with. The second best feature here is the bamboo tunnel sculpture. … Continue reading »
Play: Lawrence Hall of Science
No visit to the Lawrence Hall of Science is complete without a bit of playtime on the massive DNA Sculpture and on Pheena, the life-size model of a fin whale. Photos taken April 2nd, 2013 Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley, California Continue reading »
Keeping things in perspective… a kid and a cactus
I think it’s important for kids to see how tiny humans can be compared to other living things on this planet. Here’s my boy contemplating a saguaro… Photo taken December 30th, 2012 UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley Continue reading »
Have a beautiful new year!
Wishing you all the best in 2013! Looking for color on a winter day. Photos taken December 30th, 2012 UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley Continue reading »
Western Grebe, Shorebird Park
Photo taken November 27th, 2012 Shorebird Park, Berkeley Continue reading »
Building Forts! Adventure Playground, Berkeley
The Adventure Playground in Berkeley… the only place I know in the San Francisco Bay Area where kids are encouraged to get creative with saws, hammers & nails, and paints to build forts. And play on their creations! Photos from our school field trip to the playground yesterday… For more information, check out this post … Continue reading »
Jewel Lake Trail, Tilden Nature Area, Berkeley
The Jewel Lake Trail in Tilden Regional Park is a great hike to do with little kids. The loop is about a mile, is mostly flat, and has a fun variety of things to see and do. I like to take my son on this walk whenever we’re in the Tilden Nature Area, usually to … Continue reading »
Weekly Photo Challenge: Green
Photos taken November 18th, 2012 Tilden Regional Park, Berkeley *** Weekly Photo Challenge: Green Continue reading »
Feed the Animals! Tilden Little Farm, Berkeley
The Tilden Little Farm, located within Tilden Regional Park in Berkeley, is a favorite destination for just about every little kid I know. For over a week now, my five-year-old has been begging me to take him there to feed the animals, so we headed over today. Here’s a little history of the Farm, from … Continue reading »
Prickly
Photos taken Sunday, October 21st, 2012 UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley Continue reading »
Flowers (October)
Photos taken Sunday, October 21st, 2012 UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley Continue reading »
Kids ‘n Carousels
What is it with kids and carousels? I’ve given up trying to figure out what children love about them. I only know they do. Does your child have a favorite? Do you have a favorite memory of one from childhood? Please share! *** Links to carousels in the San Francisco Bay Area Creativity Carousel, San … Continue reading »
Climbing the DNA Structure, Lawrence Hall of Science
No visit to the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley is complete without reserving some time to climb on the DNA sculpture out front. We love museums, but after all that indoor time, it’s fun for kids to get outside and move their bodies. This one is a favorite! Have you been to the Tony … Continue reading »
A Beautiful Day!
Another beautiful day at Blake Garden with friends… Related articles Create With Nature Zone, Blake Garden, Kensington (anaturemom.com) Continue reading »
Wow! Adventure Playground, Berkeley
Bored of the usual playground facilities? Then check this one out! The Adventure Playground in Berkeley is a special place, unlike any other park we’ve experienced. The structures are all built by children (with parental and staff supervision), using provided tools (hammers, nails, saws, and paint). This place encourages serious creativity! It’s best for kids … Continue reading »
Create With Nature Zone, Blake Garden, Kensington
Take a child out into nature, and what are they naturally drawn to play with? It’s pretty universal… sticks and rocks. So this is the perfect playground for a child… an area filled with sticks and rocks, inviting the child to stack, build, and create. Imaginations went wild this day. In additional to the simple … Continue reading »
Tunnel Play, Blake Garden, Kensington
We visited the Blake Garden in Kensington (near Berkeley) this week with a group of friends. This garden is not only lovely for adults, but is kid-heaven! The children had a blast playing in this tunnel! My next post will be about the “Create with Nature Zone” at these gardens… awesome! Continue reading »
Swim in a Lake!
The weather is heating up here in the San Francisco East Bay. Take a break from the local swimming pool, and cool off in a nearby lake instead. Del Valle Regional Park in Livermore has two swimming areas, East Beach and West Beach. Swimming is free, but there is a $6.00/vehicle park entry fee. Is … Continue reading »
Flowers, Blake Garden, Kensington
Photos from visit to Blake Garden, Kensington, August 1st, 2012 Continue reading »
Butterfly Walk, Botanical Garden at UC Berkeley
I couldn’t resist this! Butterfly walks are offered by Sally Levinson, aka Caterpillar Lady, the 4th Tuesday of each month at the Botanical Garden at UC Berkeley, March through October. The website said children were welcome, so we decided to check it out this month with friends from my Nature Time! playgroup. This was a … Continue reading »
Flowers!
Yesterday… a hummingbird. Today… flowers. Tomorrow? Butterflies! Taken at the Botanical Gardens at UC Berkeley, July 24th, 2012. Continue reading »
Hummingbird!
Taken July 24th, 2012, at the Botanical Garden at UC Berkeley Continue reading »
Celebrating the Summer Solstice, Part 1, Shorebird Park, Berkeley
We celebrated the Summer Solstice yesterday with two awesome nature outings. The first? Beach play with friends at Shorebird Park in Berkeley. I’ve been wanting to visit this park for a while now, as this is where the famous Adventure Playground (considered by National Geographic to be one of the top ten playgrounds in the … Continue reading »
Tony Hawk Event, Rad Science Exhibit, Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley
Yesterday we had the opportunity to see Tony Hawk and other professional skateboarders perform, as part of the opening festivities of the new Tony Hawk Rad Science exhibit at the Lawrence Hall of Science (LHS). All I can say is… it was awesome. Here’s the event description from the LHS website… “Watch Tony Hawk, along … Continue reading »
“Awesome”… “Wow!”…
Quotes from my son while viewing the solar eclipse last evening at the Lawrence Hall of Science in the Berkeley hills… I figure he’ll be seventeen for the next solar eclipse… have to experience these moments while we can!! Related articles 40 Awesome Photos Of The Solar Eclipse (buzzfeed.com) Trans-Pacific ‘ring of fire’ eclipse wows … Continue reading »
Rainy Day at the Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley
Any trip we take to the UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley also includes a visit to the Lawrence Hall of Science. My four-year-old loves this science museum, and we can’t even think about visiting the area without stopping in for an hour or two. If you saw my post from yesterday, you know our plan … Continue reading »
Explore the Botanic Garden at Tilden Regional Park, Berkeley
Our planned visit today to the UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley wasn’t meant to be. Today was free day, and, as a result, there was absolutely no parking. We waited and waited for a spot to open up, but no-one was coming out of the gardens to leave, even though it was raining pretty heavily … Continue reading »
