habitot

We had a lovely Sunday in the Bay. Our Saturday was Unlovely(In so many words)...this day trip was a nice way to bring us back to homeostasis. We packed up the kids and hopped on Bart into Berkeley. Habitot is a Children's Museum for infants and toddlers,  where they can explore through simulated play. Avery didn't want to go, she's been on this kick lately where she wants to do the very opposite of what we are about to do. So much so, she will resort to tears and semi-fall outs. On the upside, she loves to take Bart, so she was over it as soon as we left the house. I love to watch her as we ride "the train", her little mind working overtime as she studies people and voices along the many stops. I love that about Urban areas, the multi-cultural influence and easy vibe of city dwellers, biking, living and travelling through the various cities. I love to feel like a local, like I chose this place to raise my family, I'm not visiting, I am apart of what makes this place so free. I haven't been to downtown Berkeley in forever and it was just as cool as I remember. Love the dreads, bright yellow tights, 50's shoe boots and lace skirts, lip rings, CAL sweatshirts, kids in organic fabrics, families biking.

Arriving at Habitot only made me want to live there even more, I was jealous of the very hipster moms with their kids in veggie dyed clothing, membership holders I'm sure. Daddy is always very hands on in places like this, guess it brings out his inner child(not that hard). He helped Av as she went from station to station slightly unsure of whether to break loose and run like the other little hellions. She stayed pretty close the whole time, doing a lot of side by side play, not too much interacting with the other kids. Once Berkely woke up I took her into the Infant Garden, she crawled, cruised, took books out of baskets and talked to other babies and she went through her first tunnel...very proud developmental moment for mommy! When we had seen and touched it all, we went for Pizza at Jupiter's. Amazing Salad and Fries and Pizza and their Hefe wasn't too bad either. We got a window seat, and when Rick took Avery to the bathroom, I had one of those quiet, reflective out of body moments...this is our life. I watched people watch me as they walked by, I felt at peace and I recalled talking about this moment, this peaceful settled feeling that I longed to have and here we are. One of the locals. I can't imagine being anywhere else. They returned to the table and as he gazed down at his mouth watering salad, he said " I still love our life, and I still love it with you." I was still recovering, but I still love my life with him too. We finished up our day window shopping, 1/2 price bookstore, and gelato. We got caught in the rain, and you know what?! We didn't even care... It was a great Sunday.