Finally!

I've been trying to find chanterelle mushrooms in the Bay Area for years. I know they come up when the fall rains start, and I know they come up in the parks near us, and I know people who go pick them there, but of course, nobody tells me their spots. So yesterday, while riding Dusty on one of our regular trails (not telling which one!), I spotted the telltale bright orange bump on the ground. I must have terrified a bunch of hikers because I whooped, jumped off the horse, and started digging in the dirt to find this:

Finally! THE CHANTERELLE!

We wandered around a little looking for more, but unfortunately this was the only one we found.  Want to really confuse people? Start walking around the forest leading a horse behind you, and peering intensely at the ground muttering "there's got to be more! where are they? there's got to be more!" Dusty thought this was the greatest trip ever, because he got to eat grass while I looked for more mushrooms.

I fed the chanterelle to Kostadis for breakfast, fried in butter with some eggs. He said it was excellent. I hope we find more soon.

Arastradero Hike

Even through the forecast said rain, we went for a hike. And it only rained a little bit. Goes to show you that you can exercise mind over weather.

Vital statistics. The graph on the bottom is our speed. You
can see the places where Nick walked by himself.

Again you with the hiking. Can't you see it's raining? My Cheerios are
getting soggy. Let's go home and watch TV on the couch instead. Wait,
I remember, I don't like sitting on the couch. Ok, this is acceptable then.

Just the boys today.

Scenic. And not raining.

Chasing Tony.

He hikes!

Leaves

He's all kinds of helpful, isn't he?

Misc

Some random pictures from the last few weeks.

Fascinated with water. What happens when the child is raised with Polly.

Thank you Denise Fenzi for all these awesome books!

With Anders.

Working on pulling up!

This contraption is interesting.

Playdate over Skype. The kids in the computer are in Sweden.

First time trying sushi. Very acceptable.

Goodnight moon!

Hiking

Where are we going NOW? For a hike?
Oh, ok!

At some point Nick declared that he will walk by himself.
He was praised and encouraged in his endeavor.

Deer Hollow Farm. Sheeps.

And chickens!!!

 “O Nikos exei ena katsiki” 

Break time.

Going to the zoo, zoo, zoo

Kostadis has a day off on Monday, so we took Nick to the zoo. He wasn't very impressed until he saw 1) the giraffe 2) the slide. After that, the zoo was declared acceptable.

There's a giraffe in there! It's like my blanket but bigger. I think
I want it. Do you think it will fit in my crib?

Nick didn't care for the pinguins, except they had water in their
area, so he wanted to get in.

The steam railroad ride was found to be very serious business.

Please note giraffe blanket is riding also.

Very large loud bird didn't register either, but
I had fun taking pictures of it.

Now THIS is acceptable.

Go again please. With giraffe blanket of course!