Mother's Day

Well, I must say that Mother's Day can be an emotional challenge, but I find that focusing my mind and energy on the mother of my children (and my children) brings a lot of joy.

We had a great day today. Slept in until nearly 9am (if you have young kids, you understand how much of a joy that is) and had a leisurely morning: sitting on the deck reading the Sunday paper while the kids did their kid thing in the back yard. We went out for a late-ish brunch and had some wonderful Huevos Rancheros.

After brunch, we went to the California Museum of Oakland. They have a wonderful natural history floor with hundreds of examples of the flora and fauna of California. As my four year-old kept asking, are all these animals real? Yes, Henry, they are all real. Are they all dead? Yes, Henry, they are all dead.

Next up: Starbucks for a little pick-me-up for the adults (and the kids, too). Then it was over to "Bird Park" as my kids call it. Actually, the park at Lake Merritt. A little bird watching/lake staring and then over to the boat docks for a wonderful Mother's Day gondola ride. Thirty minutes of sitting in an authentic Venetian gondola, oared (is that right? oared?) by an authentic Venetian! Ah, like a limousine, only way more aquatic and relaxing and...did I already say wonderful? Our gondolier, sang three different songs (in Italian) and gave a us a quick history lesson of Venice all while steering the gondola with an impressive ease.

Did you know that Venice was a sovereign nation for over 1000 years? It was.

Then off to Pyramid Brewery for dinner and couple of Hefeweizen. Oh, man can they make a Hefeweizen! Then back home and (after a reasonable waiting period) some yoga.

Damn, that was a good day. Why can't they all be like that?