Tilden Park

Last Saturday we got our first gorgeous, sunny day in months. We wanted to do something outside so decided to check out the Steam Train ride in Tilden Park, Berkeley. As we entered the park we saw a sign for the Little Farm and decided to check it out first....and never made it to the steam train. The Farm and nature trail lasted all morning/lunch, we ran out of time.

The Little Farm is a cute little farm (ha,ha) in the middle of this huge park. They have cows, chickens, goats, rabbits, etc...all the important animals. We noticed everyone around us was feeding the animals celery or lettuce which we later found out they brought from home. I guess those in the know, know to bring food with them and make the experience much more enjoyable. Timo really wanted something to feed the cows so he pick up a piece of lettuce off the ground to feed Mr. Cow but was too scared to get close enough to actually feed him! Oh well. Next time we'll bring long celery for him.

Timo thought he was so tough that he climbed this big rock by himself..."I'm king of the world!"

We decided to take a short walk down this nature trail that led to a little lake and waterfall. We started out all gung-ho and the kids were running/walking on their own. You can see the progression as the walk went on and on...running to walking holding Daddy's hands to being carried. The lake wasn't really that far but it seems a lot further when you're carrying toddlers!

But the trek down to the lake was worth it. We saw this family of turtles on a log! Timo found lots of rocks to throw in the water and Cameron got a bird's eye view of the waterfall with Daddy.

It was a trying experience getting Timo away from the water (we had the one screaming kid on this peaceful nature trail) but finally convinced that climbing on the ladder at the playground would be much more fun than splashing rocks in the water.

By the time the we made it back to the playground, it was time for lunch. Because the weather was so nice, we just pulled a blanket out of the car and had an impromptu picnic in the grass. You could tell the kids just loved being out in the sunshine. After lunch, again, it was difficult getting Timo away from the playground and back in the car but he did much better knowing there was a big green field to run through. The kids passed out in the car before we even got out of the Berkeley...what a great morning!