Xmas Shopping in the Rain

With the lovely weather we've been having here in the City by the Bay, it's been hard to keep up with the season at hand. That said, MoR, despite being 13,234 months pregnant, still manages to take Ruth to the Toddler Gym of the Gods in between thunder storms. Ruth, of course, is unpeturbed by mere raindrops. It's not like they're taking her new top. Happy Holidays from FoR and NTTN. We'll send greetings and things to do on the Idaho border before too long.

Clarion Alley

More Alleys with the Ruth to the Truth. This one is next to the beloved Community Thrift, where Ruth picks up much of her much-loved reading material -- Boyton books in particular for some reason get sold a lot, great literature though they are. Not all of the art is as Max-like as Balmy, but the colors and animals are worth the visit, we think.

BALMY ALLEY

There is an alley off of 24th street, south of folsom that fills Ruth with shrieks and giggles. It is, put simply, not just another Mission alley. As seen to my right, Ruth can log time with Max or other wild, storied critters. Overseen by the local, great Precita Eyes (the word eyes, which Ruth pronounces "eeyyeshh" and uses when there are lulls in the conversation is a favorite), purveyors of painting classes for toddlers and tours down the alley. We haven't partaken in the fingerpaint-soaked fun yet, but it is right on the horizon, surely.

In other news, Ruth is learning about Christmas slowly as she still thinks the hullabaloo is for Hallow'een, understandably. The candy was amazing. We will visit the tree downtown tonight, we think.

Alioto Park

We love nepotism as much as the next Mission parent, so we were thrilled to find a mini-park named after the storied Aliotos at the corner of 20th and Capp. The park is tiny and kept meticulously by an elderly White Sox fan, keeping a watchful eye over its four tiny walls. Ruth was thrilled for the respite on the way to Rainbow. In particular, she was enamored of the staircase -- oddly the only one we've found in the city that is her exact size. "up-ah" and "doww." Otherwise, she is learning the ins and outs of "mine" and is a touch insecure in the wake of an unhappy week of -- how shall we say? -- intestinal distress. Rocking now, however.

Randall Museum

While Ruth is still too young to enjoy most of what the Randall Museum has to offer, there was no lack of things for her to see and do. Downstairs houses an immaculate train set complete with mountains, trestle bridges, towns, gas stations and movie marquees. Upstairs there are birds, bees, a chicken with an afro, various frogs and turtles, and fantastic grounds with climb-able sculpture and incredible views. In between are shops for art, pottery and wood working. In the next few months they will be opening an area specific to toddlers, so this place will only get better.

We look forward to the years to come when Ruth desists from saying NO like she has some inane tick, and she can take play-with-clay class.

BAY AREA DISCOVERY MUSEUM

Located at the foot of the Golden Gate in old Fort Baker, the views alone are enough to get you to spend the afternoon here. Ruth conveniently took an early nap in the car which allowed us to park and gaze across the bay, surrounded by giant laurel and gum trees, and eat the pepperoni pizza we brought to picnic on. When she woke up, just as we finished our salads, the fun had just begin.

This is one of the premier kid spots in the entire bay area. Neither commercial nor crass, it has myriad of activities (including an entire tot-land where they can frolic in no less than four distinct play areas, one featuring the ever popular running water with plastic fish). Ruth didn't care about the views, but they are stunning. You must bring a picnic, the place is short on food although they do have a variety of snacks and a $7 grilled cheese. There are picnic benches provided. It is a little pricey if you bring the whole lot of you, $8.50 per adult and $7.50 for kids, but well worth it. We went on a "free" day, surprisingly not crowded given the beautiful weather. (heads up, free day is 1-5 p.m., so don't show up in the morning).

THE NEW DE YOUNG

If you are a city resident of more than five years, then you remember when the old de Young closed. It seemed like five years was far enough away that you may have even doubted that you would still live here, or that you would still be living here and not, by now, be rich. Well, here you are.

Whatever you think about the copper-clad tower and green roof, whether or not you think it looks like a cheap space barn or the perfect architectural representation of a 21st century American depository of treasures, you gotta go see it. Ruth particularly enjoyed the sculpture garden. First Tuesdays are free.

NOE VALLEY HALLOWEEN

This is our second Halloween with Ruth, her "first" that she participated in that she will not remember a shred of but one that her parents will chuckle over for the rest of their lives. The place to be, bar none, is the commercial district of Noe Valley, 24th street between Church and Castro. You can go all day, you can go all night. It is one long stretch of spazzed out toddlers and friendly merchants with buckets of endless candy. For the older kids, go down the hill to Fair Oaks, where they block off the entire street and hold one big party. Everybody decorates their house and haunts their garage. A little scary for those under 5, fantastic for everyone else (including adults, the party extends into the night with music and dancing).

CHINATOWN

First, take a walk down Washington to Ross Alley and hang a right where you'll find the Fortune Cookie Factory. Look at the ladies folding the hot cookies around the fortunes, enjoy the samples, note the sign that requests .50 for photos and oblige with your pay phone money. After all, they just gave you free cookies. Chinatown is like another country, complete with complex labor laws and hidden sweat shops, buckets of chickens and frogs for sale and truly bizarre dried "food," not to mention fantastic shops full of the wonders of mass production. Proceed to Stockton and note the lunch specials, on our visit we saw frog legs featured with green veg for $4.95. Hang a left on Sacramento and plan to spend a good amount of time at the playground across the street from the Y, it is fantastic. Don't forget to go inside the rec center to check out the ping pong players (no smoking, chewing tobacco or spitting sunflower seeds).

GARFIELD PARK

The playground at Garfield (26th and Harrison Streets) is stellar, as you can see. Excellent toddler structure, plenty of trees to climb as well as a bigger jungle gym for the older kids, picnic tables and even bbq grills. There is also a pool, great soccer field, plenty of space to roam and run, but there is also a downside. Immediately next to the playground is a housing project. Thug life hangs out in all its glory within a couple hundred feet of the kiddies which is a big fat drag. Will these pathetic toughies bother you? Of course not, they are interested in their own doings. Will you be worried about thug life spill over (mis-directed beer bottles, stray shots, ugly fighting and shouting)? Depends on your constitutional make-up. We will continue to use this park, but we will also make sure to come in the mornings.

PERFORMANCE ART AND THE TODDLER

Epiphany productions put on their annual Trolley Dances this weekend, which marked Ruth's first adventure in performance art. She was impressed by the cable strapped, yogic statement on sleep, and just a little scared of the drums at Civic Center when the distraction of the piece of cheese she had been gnawing on was gone. She enjoyed the trolley rides, but by the time the F made it to Duboce where we all walked to the back of the Safeway, Ruth called it quits. When somebody lays on the pavement and screams, they really mean it. But enjoying two of four abstract performances on a day that turned out warmer than expected leaving us overdressed in a large crowd riding a packed trolley seems to us like good first timer success rate.

ST. FRANCIS FOUNTAIN

Ruth loves this old-fashioned ice cream parlor and diner for one simple and straightforward reason: she gets to eat as much ice cream as she can. (and it's Mitchel's ice cream at that). Located at 24th and York, they also sell trading cards from the 80's -- Mork and Mindy, Tron, Duran Duran -- and bubble gum cigarettes. The food is very average, and a little expensive for what it is, but who cares. They have ice cream sundaes, malts, and "clowns." And if you find the somewhat hip service reminiscent of something, (hmmm...I've seen that torn teeshirt on that skinny frame somewhere...) the place is owned by the folks at Bugoolos. (which also explains the average food that is a just a little too expensive and despite that fact is strangely crowded). But, we love it anyway.

KALIFLOWER GARDEN

It may not be way up on your list of things to do, but taking Ruth to a commune was the highlight of her afternoon last Saturday. We have noticed this block of high fencing along 23rd Street by Shotwell as it is on our way to Parque Ninos, and one day, lo! we noticed the fence was open.

The garden, which is being opened MWF and Saturday afternoons to the public from 1-3, is maintained by one of the communes of San Francisco's hippie heyday, the Kaliflower Group. They are also associated with The Free Print folks, and have been around since 1967. A visit to the garden doesn't involve any of that creepy, dianetic-esque soliciting. Nobody will ask you to take a personality test, and on Saturday there was incredibly complex, well executed and beautiful music. You wouldn't know it was a commune unless you asked someone or read it here, but now, since you know, as you walk through the gate think to yourself: "A flower will grow out of the ashes of this current age of destruction."

JURY COMMONS

We have been using this tiny walk-through park quite a bit lately, and believe it has undergone a change for the better. It is a couple blocks from the house, is generally very clean with gorgeous flower beds maintained by the friends of Jury Commons. The playground is tiny, only good for tots, not kids. It used to be pretty sketchy, never particularly threatening but sometimes unpleasant with the occasional junkie or creep. Sometimes there still is. Ah, San Francisco.

Big news: Ruth is entirely weaned. The first night, tears. The second night, tears. The third night, no tears. Even with the tears, bedtime each night only took an additional ten minutes. Once again, she has proved that worries about babies are often only in the gulag of her parent's imaginations.

CAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, FREE!

It is free fall days at the California Academy of Sciences . Look up your zip code and save some lunch money while your tot freaks out at the fish. Just for the aquariums alone it is well worth the trip, but upstairs there is also a play area where they can build and smash blocks, take apart puzzles, and, if you are lucky and the Academy has a volunteer that day, they can play in the water. When you have had your fill, go a block down to Yerba Buena gardens, have a picnic, ride the carousel, sit down on the magic bench and watch the skeleton man on top of the world stand and sit for you. You'll know it when you see it.

Big heads up from Ruth: don't sit your precious baby girl on one of the chairs in front of Zeum because the back slats are too high and she will fall right out on her head.

LAFAYETTE PARK, OH MY

It's how the other side lives, the side where the hills are too steep for the bums to climb and all the trash blows down. Get on the 1 and ride up to this absolutely gorgeous park (Sacramento btn. Octavia and Gough) with views of the entire world, plus outer space, and a fantastic playground to boot. National Light Up the Night is approaching and this park is putting on a proper Pacific Heights "gala" to celebrate. We are tempted to go. Bring your own balloon.

FERRY PLAZA PARKLET AND CHICKENS

A Friday afternoon drop-off in the financial district with too much time to go back home and argue but too little time to have a proper adventure led us down Market Street to the Ferry Building. Full of luxiourious things to eat, we picked up some clobbered cottage cheese (what exactly is clobbering?), oat biscuits, and five pounds organic hamburger (on sale! we haven't had hamburger in ages!). Not a very remarkable trip, afterwards we wandered around and found a small parklet at Clay and Embarcadero with a winding path, beautiful trees and flower beds. No playground. Pleasant, but again not remarkable, except for a rare chicken sighting. Andalusian chickens we suspect, although we are not breed experts and were stunned to see them pecking around the fallen leaves in the first place. The city is not known for its feral chicken population, so we suspect they are pets. If anybody has lost some chickens, we know where they are.

CHEAP THRILLS

Remember those dumb coin operated machines that wiggled and lurched and used to be outside of grocery and drug stores? Well, they are still around, and still a big hit for toddlers. In front of what used to be the 99 cent store on Mission between 22nd and 21st, now called "Giant Value" and not nearly as much fun as was shopping for dollar items, is a collection of these machines. They rotate them too, with new attractions showing up every couple of months. We miss the horse, who was reminiscent of Silver, the Lone Ranger's loyal steed, but then spied him a few blocks down in front of another junk store.
Phase two of weaning is progressing much better than expected. The first night witnessed some screaming, the second night, only a few complaints. An interesting side effect, Ruth is now sleeping until after 8 instead of her clockwork 7 a.m. We don't know why, maybe she always needed 11 instead of 10 hours but was too distracted by the call of the tit.

PANHANDLE PLAYGROUND

A pretty day begged the side trip down the panhandle (between Oak and Fell) rather than the usual and sometimes depressing trek down Haight Street. We found and enjoyed a playground about halfway down that is the first we have seen with handicap ramps. Nice, clean, purple, Ruth had fun. Phase two of weaning (no nighttime feedings past bedtime) begins in T-10 hours. Phase one was interrupted by a cold, which Ruth took advantage of by staging a hunger strike, gaining her prize and thus wiping out the progress made from the week before. She is also taking advantage of a weak moment in which she was allowed on the forbidden kitchen table. For the past three days she has been testing this territory, with each attempt at recapture beginning with just one butt cheek sliding up next to the butter dish. If unnoticed, the other haunch joins the first, then a five second pause, and suddenly there is a baby on the table. You can't give an inch with these people.

NOE COURTS

We have been visiting this little parklet on 24th and Douglas since before Ruth could sit up. An almost exclusively local crowd, it is also used as a popular place to run the pooches or shoot some hoops. This weekend Ruth sported her first pair of sneakers, a reward of sorts for surviving week one of phase one of weaning. Turns out coaxing a baby off the tit is eerily similar to quitting smoking. There are the endless proactive distractions, change of daily habits, craving for sweets, snacking and irritability not to mention the feeling of loss for a habit that was so comforting. With weaning, there is the added bonus of laying on the floor and screaming, or maybe that is just Ruth's way.

SF SWIMMING

After poking our heads out this weekend and feeling the unusual and welcome summer weather, we spent part of Saturday and Sunday afternoon at the Mission Pool. Ruth is pictured here stuffing her fist in her mouth to muffle the shrieks of delight brought by the mere prospect of getting in the water. There are Parks and Rec pools all over the city, and the modest $3 fee for adults and .50 for kids makes for a cheap and easy toddler pleaser. Check the schedule for "family swim" or lessons if you are the commitment type. With the coming super storms and the encroachment of the sea upon our shores, everybody should know how to swim! Course, you don't have to scare the kiddies with that tidbit.

Pasta Pomodoro

Everybody knows Pasta Pomodoro, there are seven of them in SF alone. It's cheap, fresh, tasty, and fast fast fast, which is key when you are more than a little cranky and don't want to walk back down the hill to make lunch for your very spicy toddler. The green on Ruth's chin is the basil dipping oil, she loves it. They also have a quick lunch menu that comes served with a salad or soup and a kid's menu that comes with a chocolate sundae. On this outing, Ruth got her first potty chair from Peek a Boutique. She isn't using it yet, but is demonstrating that she knows it is for her by putting her toys in it.

Oakland Athletics!

Despite the tears pictured (who can blame her -- giant elephant making squeaking noises?) Ruth had a great time at yesterday's game. The A's encourage young fans with a club and activities for older tykes as well as have a playground (Little Stompers, across from section 219-220) for when somebody gets bored. On a crowded day as was yesterday, you may be stuck wheeling around enjoying the game through the portholes since you can't really get a stroller up that many stairs. Course, this was a solo trip for Ruth and her dad, might be easier with two guardians.

K-Rod dropped the ball in a breathtaking finish to a game that will surely send us to the series. Perhaps somebody else cried like a baby...

Civic Center Plaza

We have begun combining our Wednesday rabbit food outing with a visit to the nearby playground. There are actually two fenced play areas, we presume segregated by age, but kids and parents seem to enjoy both. The bums steer clear which alleviates some of the worry about flesh eating diseases (this is Civic Center after all). One plus, the structures are pretty easy for parents to chase their toddlers around on. You will recognize this as a bonus after you have played the twist in a panic on those tiny little walkways trying to keep your 18-month-old from flinging herself off the monster slide.

Le Soleil in the Richmond

We finally broke our jalopy and had to replace Ruth's ride which entailed a visit to City Kids (3rd and Clement), the only full service stop for baby wheels in the city. Great store, great staff, best quote of the week ("we should send lawyers to China, maybe that'll slow em down") and tons of strollers you can test drive with your critter. When you're about to plunk down that many dollars, you best make sure your feet aren't cracking into the frame. Across the street is the excellent Le Soleil Vietnamese restaurant. Delicious, affordable, baby friendly. They only have one high-chair, so Ruth sat in her first big-girl booster seat. Were it not for the noodles (which the waiter brought out upon request in about 18 seconds) she may have wiggled out. But she loved it and so did we. Yesterday we received a good farmer's market hint from Apartment No. One. If you visit the later in the day, you not only get great organics but they are discounted. That's news as good as free beer.

Civic Center Farmer's Market

Wednesday mornings find us on the BART headed not to our usual Montgomery stop but to Civic Center to buy our bag of rabbit food. If it weren't for this market, we would have had to take out a loan by now to pay for the organic produce that, in regular stores, costs MORE THAN MEAT FOR CHRISSAKES. But, Ruth still has that surface to volume ratio that demands to be kept relatively pesticide free and one day someday sometime, the prices will come down. Do we buy exclusively organic? That's nuts, like trying to get through the night with cloth diapers. We just shy away from the more heavily doused crops and feel like we are supporting a revolution at the same time. You can also pick up a bouquet of flowers for less than five bucks, bedding plants at amazing prices, olive oil, nuts, and cheese. Wear a hat, it is always sunnier than you think.

NIMBY

Ruth experienced her first playground injustice a few days ago while innocently standing next to the bouncy horse. Another little girl approached, and pushed her a bit to get her away from bouncy horse. Ruth, not knowing what to do, stood there and her assailant, not satisfied, grabbed her by the cheeks and bit her in the face. Poor Ruth! The shock that the world contains people that would do such a thing! Hurt feelings, scratched and bruised, she recovered in a few minutes and continued to enjoy the playground. It took her mother several hours, however, to feel right.. We stuck to the backyard the next day.

Tyger's Coffee Shop

Five dollar burger? Yes! We have been wanting to come here for some time, not only because we like coffee shops but also because of the storefront's inviting green tile facade. Greasy spoon, but good old fashioned diner food. Ruth loved it. Diamond and Chenery in Glen Park, we would link you to their page but it is the most irritating, amateurish thing we have suffered on the web in some time now.

Dolores Park

We are lucky to have such a park within a fifteen minute walk. On a clear day, you can see downtown in its entirety as well as the bay. It is a well used park, which can turn the playground into something similar to a catbox, so no barefoot kiddies. The equipment is old fashioned and fun, put in during the 70s, swings, slides, plenty of grass shaded by palms and magnolias. Added bonus, depending on your tastes, are the sunbathers. Many of the leatherettes are the same you would find at any sunny spot anywhere, but being San Francisco, the upper terrace is the designated Castro beach where men (to our general embarrassment) wear gold lame pouches, and nothing else. Ruth took her first big-girl solo swing on this visit.

Haas-Lilenthal House

No, a historic Victorian house tour isn't the best choice for a Sunday afternoon outing with a baby, but we had to go (it's not worth explaining here). Our original plans stated we arrive at opening, enjoy the tour with a fresh and happy Ruth, then join the Pacific Heights walking tour at 12:30. We missed a bus, missed another, then tried to find this house on Jackson when it is actually on Franklin, and no amount of "all those president's names sound alike" made up for the fact that A: Franklin, well, obviously, and B: Ruth was only interested in getting at the stairs, of which there were many tantalizing flights. All that said, the tour was fantastic, the docent took us behind all the roped barriers, allowed Ruth to explore at will, and we were accompanied by the ever patient and upbeat Mr. Myers, who Ruth has yet to rattle. We will return again, next Sunday for the walk.

Hayes Green

The pagoda at Hayes Green is temporary, as we suspect will be the relative feeling of serenity this small new park imparts. This is our second visit, which confirmed our sense that this space won't best serve toddlers. Located on Octavia, some sort of revitalization project the city decided upon after tearing down a freeway to build another freeway in it's place, as soon as traffic opens back up this little green will sit in the middle of a swirl of cars. The lack of fence will keep parents on their toes. Hayes Valley is a strange neighborhood itself. We found several opportunities to purchase $100+ tennis shoes in various shades of green, and some lovely, gauzy slips and camisoles that apparently serve as outerwear for some demographic here. And then, if you walk up the wrong street, you are in the projects. This week Ruth learned how to exploit a new word, "up." From the sweet, arms extended request to be carried, this is now an all purpose command, often delivered with a surprising amount of fierceness.

Chenery Park Kids Night

It's Tuesday and time for dinner. There's good reason to have anxiety about taking a baby or toddler out to eat, sometimes they scream. At Chenery Park your kid may still let out a holler, smash their dinner to bits, or generally embarrass you, but this restaurant has reserved Tuesdays just for such an occasion. Have a glass of wine, eat their bbq special, enjoy dessert. Ruth had spinach and French fries, thumbs up to both. She made a racket playing drums with her spoon, but otherwise enjoyed her night out. One table of ladies near us seemed exasperated (they, apparently, did not know it was kid's night) as I overheard one huffing and puffing "I just want to tell parents..." Located in downtown Glen Park, a block off the BART, several buses run by, we have no idea about parking.

Yerba Buena Gardens

On the way to the Steinhart Aquarium we stumbled upon the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival. We stopped for a picnic and listened to some music, went and looked at the playground but didn't play, listened to the sound of bowling but didn't bowl, rode the carousel twice. Walked into Zeum. As school has let out, the city's attractions are teeming with children wearing brightly colored and matching t-shirts, which is why we skipped the Aquarium and did more gazing than participating. Although Ruth (who made another developmental leap last night by discovering she could twirl in circles until she fell down) would have loved to have thrown herself in with the big kids, her parents are not yet brave enough. The music on the Esplanade was great, and the calendar lists a month of free puppet shows next month. We'll be there.

Parque Ninos Unidos

We actually like calling this park "Parque de los Ninos Unidos" just because it rolls of the tongue a little easier. Love this place, but it has odd hours. Usually open till 6, we wish it was open till 7 since Ruth prefers her evening stroll to not end before 6:30. We can always go home early, but it just adds another half hour of screaming if she is having trouble with the gloaming, which she often does. When do they outgrow this? Dinner time is fun, naked play time is fun, bath is always a chuckle, bedtime is never too problematic, but getting to these evening activities can be like trying to toast fingers.

How We Ended Up at the Zoo

A goat!

The trick is to come very close to tears at breakfast, "you don't appreciate the level of anxiety this schedule change has created for me." Add other modifiers to suit individual needs. By lunch you can look forward to the offer of "do you ladies want to go to the zoo? I can take a day off." Remember to stipulate ice cream before agreeing.

SF Zoo

Ruth has made some impressive cognitive leaps lately, including noticing things like large animals.

Maritime Park

It is closer than Chrissy Field, and would be a shame to waste one of the few truly warm days we get by not going to the beach. Ruth enjoyed the surf so much she had a tantrum upon leaving it. The tourists gave us dirty looks as Ruth screamed and pointed at the water while trapped in her stroller, covered in sand, wet, wearing only a diaper. These same tourists blankly starred at us like we were a TV while we struggled, without any offer of help, to get on the F line. At the end of the park there is a green spot out of view of the water where we gathered ourselves, put on clean clothes, shared a banana and some goldfish. The 49 bus begins its line right up the street which we were pleased to board, not wanting deal with the F on the way home. We got off at 21st and Mission, and a Mexican woman, without prompting of course, helped us disembark.

Golden Gate Park

Once you get past the guardians of the Gate, those toothless teenagers who are sometimes menacing, sometimes threatening, most times just pathetic, it is just a few minutes stroll to the playground. Jackson's dad mentioned the other day that the homeless in New York weren't nearly as haggard as the homeless in SF, but he didn't know. It's not the cheese, it's the crank!

The merry go round is .50c for kids, $1.50 for adults, manned by another teenager, but just an extremely bored one. Ruth could not get enough, left crying. Another successful outing.