Sausalito

We had a very laid back Labor Day weekend.  Doug took the girls to the water park on Saturday and Sunday we headed to Sausalito for the day.  Doug has planned most of the day trips this summer and I thought I'd take a turn.  He's done a great job of keeping us away from crowds and I was hoping to do the same.  Somehow though, I managed to get us there right in the middle of a huge art festival.  It was just too crowded to do a lot of the things I had planned but we still managed to do a ton.  I had read so much about the houseboat communities in that area and was anxious to check them out.  We started the day at Waldo Point Harbor on Liberty Dock.

Jacob had grabbed my keys from the truck and was running all over the pier at 90 mph.  Any time we tried to take the keys away, he screamed like an eagle at the top of his lungs and collapsed in a heap.  We finally let him have them but had to follow him like hawks.  I was sure either he or my keys  were definitely going to end up in the water.  It was almost a military operation between the adults in passing the baby off to one another.  D: "You have the baby."  S: "I have the baby. Check."  Here he is with the tube of chapstick we bribed him with to get the keys back.  Then we had to work on getting the chapstick away as he kept trying to bite chunks out of it.

  The houseboats are all so different; some very ecclectic and others quite elegant.  The docks were covered in flowers and knick-knacks. 

 Anna and Lauren were determined to take some of the knick-knacks home and we had to make them empty their pockets of shells, chalk, and flowers. 

We met one pleasant gentleman who gave us a little tour.  He pointed out several homes called "arks", and from what I could gather they are houses that floated into the area but no longer have a barge and are now on pilings.  Several other houseboats have WWII landing crafts as their base.  He mentioned that those homes without some sort of protective base have to be removed periodically to be checked for teredo worm damage.  Apparently teredo worms are like the termites of the sea.  I kept looking at one home in particular and thinking it reminded me of something.

  It finally came to me.

Do you see the resemblance? :)

We headed into the main part of town but didn't get to wander too much because it was nearing lunch time.  We're always well warned by the little ones that noon is approaching.  We did get to do a little window shopping on the way to our restaurant, however.  Anna found a mermaid Christmas tree and has already asked for one in her room come December.

 They also had a tree that snowed on itself, quite ingenious.  There was a little pipe at the top that spewed snow up and out and it trickled down.  Probably not the best idea for our family currently with our one man wrecking crew running around eating everything he finds.

I had two restaurants picked out for lunch but both had lines out the door.  We decided to wing it and came across a nice little spot with seating out back.  We didn't get the clam chowder I was hoping for but the food was still very good.  While waiting for our dishes, there was a little hand-holding going on...

as well as a little lemon tasting.

We walked out to the water and watched the ferry coming in from San Fran while we shared a little ice cream.

This was the view across the water.  You can see Alcatraz and the San Fran skyline in the distance.

Afterwards we drove out to the Marin Headlands where we visited The Marine Mammal Center.  It's a wonderful place that takes injured or sick animals and nurses them back to health.  They have a small learning center where the little ones can go to see pictures of animals that have been rescued as well as feel pelts and see whale and sea lion skulls.  You can head outside to view some of the current patients from an overlook.  Anna and Lauren were bummed out they couldn't get as close as they wanted.  The folks working with the animals though were going to a lot of trouble to make sure they took the greatest care of the animals.  They wore special suits that they scrubbed down in between visiting pens.  There were also entryway mats in front of each pen filled with a bleach and water solution that the doctor/volunteer walked through each time.  When feeding the animals, they also used a large board to separate themselves from the (in this case) sea lion to ensure the animal wouldn't become accustomed to getting food from humans.

Our last stop (or so we thought) was Battery Mendel around the way.  We passed by the Nike Missile Site, a missile firing battery from the Cold War that has been turned into a museum. There were 280 Nike missile firing batteries built and operated in the US between 1953 and 1979.   This site is the only restored Nike Missile battery in the entire country.

 Doug and I talked about making a return trip this way sans kiddos and trying to make a stop at the Nike site as it is open for touring on certain days.  The kids really liked Mendel Battery and had fun exploring. 

It's such a beautiful location.  Here's the view to the West...

 And the East.

There's a smaller shot in the battery collage up top that shows the southern view across the bay with a fun Golden Gate bridge perspective.  We thought we were going to be done after Mendel but instead we took the peanut gallery to the beach "just to look".  I should know better.

 It is physically impossible to be at the beach and not "fall in".

 There were a lot of accidents that afternoon.  By the time we got back to the truck, both girls were soaked.  Jacob wasn't sure what to think at first.

 He contemplated the situation for a few moments, noticed the girls picking up sand and decided that must be the "thing" to do while at the beach.

 He developed a routine.  It went something like this: Grab sand...

Run to the water...

Throw sand into the water...

Wait for the water to get closer...

And run away as fast as possible!

Repeat over and over and over.  We were very impressed with Sausalito and would love to go back on a day when the crowds aren't so thick.  The kids enjoyed themselves too but their favorite was of course the beach (Rodeo Beach) at the end of the day!

Holy Tomales!

We have new pets. Their names are Clammy and Pearl. They are oysters. It’s a long story with lots of pictures but I have a moment if you do.

We had the most wonderful day trip on Friday to Tomales Bay. We drove out Hwy. 37 to Lucas Valley Road and then on to Nicasio Valley Road. The scenery was just so beautiful and the drive there was almost as good as our time spent on the bay.

Once we arrived, we visited the Tomales Bay Oyster Company.

There are picnic tables and grills right there along the shore.  You can schuck your own oysters and barbecue them up with no waiting. We already had made plans to have lunch elsewhere but I love oysters and the idea of having fresh ones right out of the bay was quite tempting. 

I love this picture of Doug and Jacob.  It reminds me so much of a shot I have of my dad when he was probably about 2 or 3 standing alongside his dad.

Doug told the girls we were going to buy a dozen oysters to take home. Anna had a worried look on her face and said, “We’re not going to eat them, are we??? I don’t want to eat them. I want to keep them as pets.” Lauren immediately chimed in with the same sentiment and so Doug agreed they could keep two of the oysters for a few days as their new pets. They spent the rest of the day thinking up monikers. You’ve already heard the final names….

The scenery along the bay was quite lovely also.  

Afterwards we headed into Point Reyes Station for lunch at the Station House Café.

The kids wanted grilled cheese but Doug and I thought it would just be wrong to leave without having any oysters. I had the Po’ Boy while he had the fried oysters.  All three kids were enjoying themselves. Lauren was in a great mood, Anna kept singing songs, and Jacob decided to break out a few kisses. As these are few and far between, not to mention quite precious, we all jumped to take advantage of the windfall.

Once he graced each of us with a few, he decided he’d had enough. Anna didn’t get the memo and tried for another but was rebuffed.

He then plugged his ears to any further requests.

Point Reyes Station is so cute and eclectic. I fell in love with Toby’s next door to the café. It is a family owned and operated general store and working feed barn. They seem to offer a little bit of everything, from flowers to organic fruits and vegetables to honey and baskets.

I wish I could have brought all of the flowers home with us.

In the back they host the Gallery Route One Artists in School art show.  Toby's even had a kids' section.  There was something for everyone.

We also stopped by the Cowgirl Creamery. They were making Red Hawk cheese while we were there. I’m sure their cheeses are just amazing. I thought perhaps we could get a little ice cream and maybe some cheese to taste but the girls decided the creamery (i.e. the cheese) was just too stinky and wanted to leave.

The kids wanted to go swimming and as Doug initially thought there would be crowds he had planned to take us to Shell Beach. We drove out that way and it was just beautiful. However, since we hadn’t encountered any crowds at all during the day, we decided to give one of the bigger beaches a try. We headed out to Heart’s Desire but once we arrived we thought it would be fun to hike the ½ mile trail over to Indian Beach. The trail was so beautiful, thick, and luscious.

 We emerged from the trail to this sight:

As soon as we hit the beach, the kids started making plans….so much to do and so little time.

The girls headed in for a swim

while Jacob opted for a little castle making time.

Afterwards Anna convinced everyone to bury her in the sand.

Everyone was having a good time until Jacob pulled out the big stick. He walked right over and whacked Anna on the forehead with it and that was the end of being buried in the sand.

Once Anna dried her tears she came over and hunted for shells with Mommy.

We were amazed at how much wildlife we encountered. There were stingrays and fish, and lumpy little sluglike things that appeared to turn their stomachs inside out to display a flower for (I guess) some type of filter feeding. Here's Lauren trying to catch one.  She did catch a baby crab earlier in the day at the Oyster Farm (see the picture at the top)!

The girls also found a baby seal skeleton. There were birds everywhere and Lauren discovered a chipmunk she named “Pop”.  Finally, we decided it was time to head back and so we packed up and set out on the return trip.

It was such a great day and I highly recommend taking a trip out that way if you've never been!