Goat Rock

Ok so last year (or maybe the year before :) I tried to this blog and with a lot of things in my life it got thrown to the wayside.  Usually my New Years resolution I try to lose weight and exercise more not this year, my resolution is to get out more on the weekends and visit the beautiful parks in my backyard.  Even though my blogging fell to the wayside visiting parks didn't.  My son Andy and I still made it out not as often as I would like but we did visit some of our favorite places. 
Today my husband Ed, Andy and I took a ride out to Goat Rock on the beautiful Sonoma Coast Highway just about 40 minute drive from our house.   I do love Goat Rock I think it is one of my favorite beaches.  There is so much wildlife to be seen there and I can sit and watch the seals all day.   We pull into the parking lot by the river side of the beach around 10:30.   It was a beautiful sunny day not a cloud in the sky no lingering fog, I would say it was in the low 70's.  Winter should be in full swing right now but this weather is very eerie and I must say I am really missing my winter.  I love summer and spring but I also love the rain and thunder storms!  I even love going out to the beach when it is overcast but that was not the case last Saturday.  
We walk down the little path and veer to the right to walk along the river.  We didn't  get all the way to the river when we hear and see 5 seals coming down the river in our direction barking making a whole bunch of commotion.  This little gang was so entertaining to watch I could of sat there all day.   This time of year the mouth of the river is closed due to the nature of the beach, but that didn't stop the waves from crashing over the width of the beach into the river, only had to run out of the way a couple of times.  Come around March - April the beach near the mouth of the river turns into a little nursery, we did see 4 little pups on our trip today though.   

 The above seals were so fun to watch, this shot is of the Russian River and below is a seal peaking out of the waves in the ocean.


 

HALLOWEEN TIME!!!!

This is my favorite time of year.  The air starts turning crisp outside and pumpkin patches are in full swing.  Andy and I love going to pumpkin patches.

Adobe Pumpkin Patch: http://www.adobepumpkinfarm.com/

 On the 3rd we went to one of our favorites Adobe Pumpkin Patch in Petaluma on the corner of Adobe and Washington.  We have been coming to this one since Andy was about 2.  It was on a Wednesday and early in the month so they were not fully set up yet, but still a lot of fun things for the kids to do.  There is a decent size corn maze that the kids kept running in and out of, a bouncy house, cows, goats and chickens.  Nice thing is they didn't charge us for going in and out of the corn maze or playing in the bouncy.  On the weekends there is train rides, hay rides, usually a couple more bouncy's, slide and rock climbing wall.  Plenty of food vendors to wet your palate, bbq, hot dogs, polish dogs, hamburgers, kettle corn, slushies and my favorite is the taco stand (they are the best tacos I have every had).  Not sure if we will make it back to Adobe again this year, there a couple other pumpkin patches I want to go check out this year.

Alicia (A) Park, Rohnert Park, CA

I'm going to be a little lazy this weekend.  Today my son Andy had a play date and we went to A Park in Rohnert Park.  I said I was going to try to visit a park every week and this is a park so I'm going to use it :)

Description off of Rohnert Park's website:
ALICIA PARK (300 Arlen Drive) 5 acres - playground and horseshoe pits. Group picnic area with 10 tables and barbecue and 9 individual picnic tables. Night-lighted youth baseball field and 1 unlighted multi-use softball/soccer field. Adjacent to John Reed School play and soccer fields. Restrooms.

Don't let the last word on the description above fool you there have been cut backs and the restrooms is a porta potty.  Other then that this park is truly a great little park for kids to play at.  They have two swing sets one for older kids and one for babies/toddlers.

There is also a seesaw well I guess the term now would be teeter-totter.  I can see why teeter-totter is the correct term now.  Hearing the word teeter-totter I envision little toddlers rocking slowly back and forth giggling and enjoying the sensations of going up and down.  Where as in my day playing on a seesaw is all fun until you get that one little A-hole that jumps off and your butt slams into the ground with such force you feel it through your whole body up to your teeth!  Okay I'll admit it there were times that I was that little A-hole :)

I should of taken Andy to this park more often when he was younger but I'm not going to kick myself to much over it.  When he was younger he was so shy that if there were other kids at the park he wouldn't go and play.  I will be taking him back again really soon since it is only 3 minutes from our house!

Andy's Review of the Park:

I liked the monkey bars the best.  I liked the swings but they were a little slippery.  I would give the park an A.

Visiting Parks In My Own Backyard

Ok I'm a little behind in the times when it comes to blogging so this will be a learn as I go kind of project for me.  This morning while mindlessly stumbling on the internet (by the way if you haven't discovered stumbleupon.com I strongly suggest you check it out) I looked out the window and noticed what a beautiful day it was outside.  I didn't want to be sitting on my butt stumbling on my computer all day saving all different craft projects that in all honesty I have good intentions of doing, I just don't know when (maybe once I retire 30 years from now).   The sun was shining and not a cloud in the sky so I switched from stumbling the searching for parks to visit in my area, then and idea hit me.  Every weekend I'm going to try to visit a different park in Sonoma County, CA. Lets face it being a parent and wanting to go places that the kids will enjoy is not always a easy task to do.  So this is my way on contributing for the good of all parents by Andy and I reviewing our beautiful parks in Sonoma County along with a bunch of pictures.

Today I took my 7 year old son Andy to Riverfront Regional Park in Healdsburg (closer to Windsor) http://www.sonoma-county.org/parks/pk_riverfront.htm.

Riverfront Regional Park

Location

Located at 7821 Eastside Road in Healdsburg (closer to Windsor).

What You Need to Know

Hours	The park is open daily. Most Sonoma County Regional parks open at 8:00 a.m. and close at sunset.
Parking	$7.00 per vehicle for day use. Special rates apply to buses or trucks carrying more than 9 people.
Dogs	Permitted on leash no longer than 6' in length. Rabies certificate required.
Facilities	Two group picnic areas with BBQs, volleyball court and horseshoe pit. Individual picnic sites. Drinking fountain, flush toilets. Fishing access, trails.
ADA Access	Good accessibility to parking, restrooms and group picnic area.

Located adjacent to the Russian River, Riverfront Regional Park is just minutes west of downtown Windsor. The main attractions in the park are two former gravel pits which have been reclaimed as lakes offering bass fishing. No swimming is allowed in the lakes. Amenities include two day-use picnic areas, a two-mile multiuse trail around Lake Benoist and a half mile long trail over Redwood Hill. Dogs are allowed on 6’ leash (this description is straight from the county site)

My thoughts on the park:
The park was absolutely beautiful. I thought the trails were nice and easy to walk.  There were a couple of different trails around Lake Benoist you could stay on the main trail which is big enough to have a car drive on and pretty even all the way around.  Or you could take the little trail that is closer to the edge of the lake, we took the majority of this trail.  The trial was narrow in spots, but I didn't find it being hard to walk at all.  The views of the lake were gorgeous.  There are benches in spots all around the lake to sit and soak in the views.  A picnic area is settled among the redwoods, which I should of packed us a lunch instead of hitting McDonald on the way home!  I will being going back to this park.  I think the next time I go will be in the winter so we can see the little stream filled with water.

Andy's thoughts:
The park was really good.  Favorite thing was dipping my feet in the water.  Trails are ok, didn't like the trails that are curvy. Rating it an A.  -Short and straight to the point!

Pictures from today: