Father's Day Activities in the San Francisco Bay Area 2011

Looking for things to do in the San Francisco Bay Area this Father's Day? Here's a list:

Roaring Camp - Steam trains from the forest to the Santa Cruz beach (or around the mountains), live country music, BBQ, handcar races and hiking.

Michael's Arts and Crafts has a number of father's day craft activities:
Tuesday, June 14 from 6-8 pm.. Decorate a mug (free with mug purchase)
Friday, June 17 from 6-8 p.m. Make a father's day card (free)
Saturday, June 18 from 10-noon. Make a key chain (free)

Dad gets a free yogurt at TCBY on Father's Day.

Arrrgghhhh! Talk like a pirate at the Northern California Pirate Festival in Vallejo next Saturday and Sunday.

Stern Grove opens for the season this Sunday, on Father's Day. You'll hear Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings (classic R&B). It starts at 2:00, but of course you'll need to get there early to get space on the lawn!

Free National Park Entrance Day. Okay, so it's not on Father's Day, but it's a few days later on the first day of summer, June 21.

San Mateo County Fair - Father's Day is the last day!

Visit a museum.
-California Academy of Sciences - if you live in these zip codes, get in free Friday through Sunday: 94102, 94103, 94104, 94105, 94107, 94111, 94124, 94130, 94158. Family crafts for kids 4-8.
-Family Sunday at SFMOMA 11-3 with a family tour at 1:00 - kids get in free. 
-Drop-in art at the Jewish Contemporary Museum from 1-3.

Picklewater Free Circus - performance 2-4 at Union Square.

USS Hornet - Living Ship Day on Father's Day

Chabot Space Center - BBQ and Solar Car Challenge

North Beach Festival - Saturday and Sunday from 10-6

Hidden Villa - Cheese Class and Banana Slug Band. Two separate events. One for adults, one for families. Both sound fabulous.

Juneteenth Festival in SF- parade, car show, basketball tournament, health fair - June 18-19

Our new favorite books

We've been reading a lot at home lately. Our new favorite author is Roald Dahl. Sure, he was a favorite in my youth for James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. And I recently saw the movie Matilda, an oldie that I can't believe I hadn't seen before (comes from the book Matilda). The movie features Danny Devito and Rhea Perlman, and was delightful. We thoroughly enjoyed George's Marvelous Medicine, where a boy makes his own concoction for his evil grandmother, from all kinds of things found in the house, garage and barn.

But Dahl has written a bunch of other books that we're plowing through. My favorite so far was Danny the Champion of the World. There's just the right amount of wickedness and fun with a boy living with his dad in a little trailer behind an auto shop. Dad's love of catching pheasants illegally leads to trouble. I love that Dahl's characters are not black and white, and even the heroes have vulnerabilties and quirks. Since we finished that, I'm reading BFG to my son now - Big Friendly Giant. The giant's voice is so much fun to read aloud. We are only a few chapters in.

After visiting our school's used book sale, we now look forward to Fantastic Mr. Fox (we haven't seen the movie yet) and The Witches.

Our other favorite author is Louis Sachar. I was introduced to him when my mother-in-law send Sideways Stories from the Wayside School. The stories are original and funny. And we loved loved loved Holes, which was also made into a movie (on our list). It's about a middle-school age boy who gets sent to a work camp for a crime he didn't commit. And a mystery follows.

As a reminder, there are a few summer reading programs out there.

Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program - Your kids can join Barnes & Noble summer reading program, and read 8 books and get one free.

Scholastic Summer Challenge - encourage the kids to read and win prizes through the 
Scholastic Summer Challenge. 

Check with your library for other free summer reading challenges

Coming Up: Tarantulas!

The San Francisco Zoo has a fun exhibit coming up...if you like tarantulas. Their exhibit starts tomorrow, and goes through Labor Day.

Here's the description: "zoo guests will see a unique collection of tarantulas, all of different shape, size and color. They will move through an interactive and educational exhibit, flip through a giant tarantula anatomy book and explore “Tarantula Town,” a special kid’s area with a stylized tarantula burrow that doubles as a photo spot."


As part of the opening on June 11-12, Spiderman will be there!

Coming Up: Marvels of Nature event - free

Hillsdale Shopping Center’s monthly Kid’s Club is hosting a Marvels of Nature event where naturalists from Tree Frog Treks will offer children an up-close look at amphibians and reptiles. Children will also learn about the role these colorful creatures play in the ecosystem, participate in hands-on activities, crafts and more.

What: Marvels of Nature: Amphibians, Reptiles, Crafts and more
When: Saturday, June 11, noon to 2
Where: Hillsdale Mall, San Mateo (60 31st Ave., San Mateo) - near Macy's
Ages: 12 and under
Cost: Free

Coming Up: Sunday Streets - Free

Sunday Streets  is coming up on June 12! This one will be on the Bayview Route, 3rd Street from Mission Bay, Dogpatch, to the Bayview Opera House. Streets will be closed to auto traffic from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

They need volunteers. If you can spare 3 hours (no kids!) you get a t-shirt, lunch and other prizes. Sign up here.

Here are the remaining ones for 2011:

• July 10: Great Highway route #2;
• August 14: Civic Center/Tenderloin route;
• September 11: Western Addition route, including North of Panhandle, Alamo Square and Fillmore and Japantown neighborhoods;
• October TBD; Mission route #2

4 Free Movie rentals

Free Blockbuster movie rental codes! Get 4 free movie rentals at Blockbuster Express (kiosks) using these movie codes: 25ASJA9, 29BACC2, 25JBHS7, and 26RRAP8. Expires June 13, 2011. Find a location here.

Thank you Bargain Babe for the tip!

Being a Tourist in San Francisco with Kids

A friend from New York recently asked for recommendations on what to do with her kids in San Francisco, while her husband is in meetings. Here’s the quick and dirty list I came up with. What did I miss? Add your comments below!

MUSEUMS

-Zeum (now known as the Children's Creativity Museum) is a hands-on technology museum in Yerbua Buena where you can make your own stop-action animation movies and more. Outside it is a great carousel. and a playground.

-The Exploratorium is a very well-known hands-on science museum (near Crissy Field and the base of Golden Gate Bridge). 

-The Randall Museum is a city-run environmental kids’ museum – great view of the city. It may be hard to get to without a car, though you can take the bus and walk part way there – it may be a trek but the houses you’ll pass are worth it.

-At Golden Gate Park, there’s the California Academy of Science  with an aquarium, walk-through rain forest dome, and lots more. Across from there is the deYoung Museum (art) which often has kids’ programming. The Japanese Tea Garden is right there too – that would be fun. And there’s a botanical garden you can also walk through near there. If the weather is nice, you can rent a paddle boat in the park.

FISHERMAN'S WHARF

Touristy, but fun stuff at Fisherman’s Wharf: 

-watch the sea lions on Pier 39. 

-Ice cream sundaes at Ghirardelli Square. Yummy. 

-Here are cheap Fisherman's Wharf attractions

-Musee Mechanique is fun with old-fashioned quarter-games.

-Boudin’s has fabulous soup in a bread bowl (and sandwiches), and you can watch them make bread from the windows (not just bread, but loaves shaped like crabs, turtles and alligators). See pictures here.

You have to take the cable car with the kids. If the line is too long for the wharf cable cars, there’s a line that goes down California Street that should be less crowded. The Ferry Building is fun for its gourmet food – you can reach it at the end of the California line. There’s a farmer’s market there one or two days a week, outside.

ZOO 

The zoo is good – and Ocean Beach is right there too – if you want to freeze your tush off in the sand there (too cold to swim). Once we were walking around Ocean Beach (after the zoo) and found hundreds of sand dollars on the beach.

NEIGHBORHOODS 

Chinatown if fun to walk around – there’s a fortune cookie factory which is overrated but worth walking into if you’re there. The stores in Chinatown have all kinds of chatchkes the kids like this.

And Japantown is great too – some funky stores and good restaurants. 


North Beach for Italian food and coffee drinks is a must. And if you're into the hippie scene, head over to the Haight Ashbury area to walk around. Not my scene. The Mission is great for Mexican food, and a funky kids' store called Paxton Gate's Curiosities for Kids. I love walking on Fillmore Street (between Geary and the top of the hill), and walking down that street to Cow Hollow and the Marina. Great buildings, great views.