Time for a Field Trip!!

May is always the start of 'Field Trip Fridays' for us. Other homeschooling moms like the idea so much that they ask to join us! So from week and week, we may have a group of twenty or so children, or just one other family join us, but it has been extra fun having friends come along to discover the hidden treasures of the San Francisco Bay Area!

If you're in the Bay Area and you're looking for a day trip this summer, try one of these adventures!

First field trip was to Mt. Diablo State Park. We drive by it all the time, but I had always been wary of bringing small children there. This year was the year! It is the highest point in our valley, and from the summit, one can see all surrounding towns, and even the city of San Francisco on a clear day! Before driving to the summit, we stopped at Rock City, aptly named for the giant rocks 'growing' there. We followed a narrow trail to the Wind Caves, where kids young and old found little hideaways to call their own. There was also plenty of poison oak, so cover up and pay attention! The entrance fee into the park is $10/car this year.

The following week I took the kids to Morgan Territory, just north of our town of Livermore. I needed to go somewhere close, and Morgan Territory, a beautiful, little-known park in the hills, was a relatively short twenty minute drive from our house. There were plenty of hiking trails to choose from, and the kids decided to go down to the pond (where we caught and released some frogs) and explore the woods a bit (which was full of poison oak!) I'm sorry I forgot my camera that day, because it was beautiful. We ended our time with a picnic lunch. (By the way, there is no fee to hike there.)

Pictured here is the USS Hornet, a WW2 aircraft carrier that it is now a museum in Alameda. You are allowed to explore almost the entire ship, from the captain's quarters to the engine room. Also on board are memorabilia from the Apollo 11 Space Mission and historic airplanes and helicopters. It's a trickier place to visit with toddlers, so I recommend checking out their website before you go. Here it is: http://www.uss-hornet.org. The Naval Air Museum is also nearby, if you're interested.

Redwoods are my favorite trees, and I would gladly drive ninety minutes to visit some, but I have always been told that redwoods grew in Oakland. I decided it was time to check this out. Redwood Regional Park is right off Highway 13, not too far from the Oakland Zoo. It is a fairly large park, with plenty of picnic areas, meadows, and even a play structure. Local residents were there enjoying the day, while my children and I looked for banana slugs. Alas, we didn't find any, and we didn't hike deep enough into the park to see that many redwoods. Still, it is a beautiful park, and worth going to with the family. The cost at this park is $5 on weekends.

The Oakland Museum, located on Lake Merritt next to the court house, is huge! It has three floors: California history, California natural history, and visual arts. The history floors are maze-like, with plenty for kids to discover and touch. The art floor has mostly modern works, many of which are local and on display for only a limited time. To see the current exhibits, visit https://www.museumca.org. Children will especially love the history floors. We were there for five hours, looking at bones, making a stop-motion film,   and drawing self-portraits, and we still didn't see everything!

My family is blessed to live in an area that has so much to offer. Everyday, we step outside and can't help but say, "Thank God for this amazing and beautiful world!" I hope you have time this summer to explore your neck of the woods with your family!