Cruising down the Del Valle in a paddle boat doing a little fishing, we had a blast!!!! We didn't catch a damn thing but we spent the entire day peddling around and watching our bobbers. It was the perfect day especially during these intense political and economical times. I am finding our weekly nature trips to be a great release from other stressors.

I jumped off the boat all day, another possible reason we couldn't catch any fish.

The back end of our paddle boat. Dan is loving life right about now!

There's Gold up in them hills!!!

The first cast of the day!

Peace...

A crane we managed to spent most of the day annoying, darn thing wouldn't let me get any closer!

My feet LOVE California sun!!!

Mom and Daughter Day, LOL!!! I am blessed with a wonderful and beautiful Mom!! I love hanging out with the girls!!! Spent the day at the Pleasanton Arts Festival with Mom and Aunt Val.

Couple of hotties, we loved sporting our purple bags filled with soaps!

And more hotties with purple bags!!

I think I might be taller than my mom, finally, I'm taller than someone other than my little friend Carol!!!!

I thought this was a funny site for P-town. Yes, its a chicken on a miniature horse.

We live only 10 minutes away from a very cool hiking spot known as Pleasanton Ridge. There are miles and miles to be hiked, we have hit this mountain 6 times so far this Summer, I plan on going again tomorrow. I do love this California weather

Honey is a hippie like her mama, she is muddy and acting like she's at Woodstock. Thirsty, tired and strung out. She slept like a baby after that trip!!!

I love it when walks start to look like this.

I actually live in this mess that you see now. The Mountain ahead of you is Mt. Diablo, once upon a time, we lived on the other side of Mt. Diablo...and we hiked that one too.

There's Gold up in them hills!!!!! Yes indeed, there is Gold!!!

A pretty tree down the road from our house.

Honey in her travel apparel! I just had to share these pictures. We got the idea from Ceasar Milan, The Dog Whisperer. He suggested that Honey work for her food by carrying this back pack, taking on a responsibility that is a daily activity. For the first time in our three years with Honey, I could put on my shoes and walk out the door without getting barked at. And the best part is that she carries her own water. We found these tiny little bottles that fit perfectly in the side pouches and she drinks directly from the bottle. Its adorable, really.

The Privies ROCKED the Mutiny!!!!

Interested in a local San Francisco band? Check out The Privies!

http://www.theprivies.com/

Excellent folk type rock! We checked them out at a local bar called the Mutiny. The place is really cool but has much more potential. "New Crowd Wanted" signs should be posted though. This LA type bar is nestled on a corner just 30 feet from the Delta, a train even runs behind the bar which adds to the rustic feel of this shabby little town known as Antioch. Back in its day, this town must have been Awesome, but again, new crowd needed. But a gig is a gig and The Privies totally rocked that corner of town. Their first CD will be released in a few days, we got a signed copy early. This group is going to be a huge hit someday. They jam out their own music and just to fill the gaps caused by no-show bands, they performed some cover tunes. A couple pictures of me on the back balcony of the Mutiny, truly a gem. The bar, not me...

Park Progress!!!

We are pleased to announce a new park is coming to town!!! Nestled behind our home exist a few old historic buildings and an old gravesite. If you keep up with my blog, you know this place well. On the way to this historic part of town is an ugly little corner of abandoned buildings. This place will be torn down and made into a park, including the addition of 3 more historic buildings which will be moved to this area to expand the Dublin historic sites. One of my neighbors is on the commission of Heritage and Arts in Dublin, she shared the plans with me. I am so excited about this improvement that she filled me in on all the inside scoobies. I am really excited about this project and was more than thrilled to see the fencing go up. This means the real work is about to begin and you can bet I will be there with my camera!

Oakland Zoo is Fun!!!!!

We went to the Oakland Zoo, here are a few of our favorites! Don't miss the flying monkey video down below. The little one above is known as the Meerkat, they love the camera! Dan asked the Zoo if he could buy one, thank God they said "no".

I adore the elephants and giraffes, they simply amaze me. Gentle Giants!

Its me! Another gentle creature.

Piggy back rides anyone?

The Lion picture is not all that great, but I was in a sky cart, if it broke at that very moment, that would be my landing spot. Yeah, I was having a hard time enjoying the sky cart. LOL. Sweet kittie kittie...

This big guy had a healthier breakfast than I did. Hmm, time to move to the Zoo.

Well, I tried to get them to do the Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil thingy but apparently they were on a break. Frickin Chimps! I could do their job better than they can!

Sorry folks, the Meloy Ant Farm recently got out of control. We now have a MAJOR infestation and these suckers are HUGE! That's the last time I feed zuchinni bread to an Ant. Photo taken at the Oakland Zoo, yeah, they made it that far!

Sweet little Honey blogging away on the laptop!

Del Valle Regional Park, we love this place!!!

This is our 2nd trip to lovely Del Valle, which is tucked away in a cute little wino town known as Livermore! Great for fishing, camping, swimming and hiking. A year ago, I found this place for a company picnic I was in charge of. When driving there for the first time, I simply fell in love with how close it was to town and yet are far it seemed.

Recently Dan and I took a 2 hour hike on a trail called the Dog Run. No, we did not take Honey, if she sees this blog, I am in so much trouble! Sweet Honey was over medicated due to shots the previous day, but another time! We hope to take another hike there this week and a quick camping trip. Stay tuned for more, we are going to the Oakland Zoo tomorrow!

Look, I found Dan-Bo!

Its me!!! Oh how I love California!!!

"Wait for me baby! I hear something following me!!!!"

Our Del Valle motion picture show!!!

Meloy Ant Farm progress!!!

These ladies are going to town! Its been two weeks now and they are still kicking, I mean digging!

Meloy Ant Farm Exhibit

Day 1 Video of the Meloy Ant Farm. We have one very large Ant with wings. Typically this is a female, the Queen, or it could possibly be a male, the Prince. We think she could be pregnant as she has a big round belly, walks slow, spends most of her time alone, often tries to escape, drinks a lot of sugar water and she doesn't get involved in the digging. I apologize for the blurriness and odd background noises, we are a young production company. LOL!

3 hours later!!!

8 Hours Later!!!

Dad and Shirley visit the Bay!!!

We love you both so very much, thank you, thank you, thank you for taking the journey to the Bay. We miss you both!!!

Alisha and Dad after a very long golf game...tons of fun!!! I love you daddy!!!

Alisha and Dan with beer and golf, we are a happy couple!

A pretty little picture off of the club house patio. We played 18 holes at the Las Positas Golf Course in Livermore.

We chose this course because it is right next to the Livermore airport, dad loves the planes. A great way to distract his game!

A baby Red Fox plays along side us as we were putting. This creature was terribly cute to see in person. I got to enjoy seeing her play with a little stick just as Honey would do...she had many sweet puppy ways about her, it was adorable!

Bye Bye sweet fox!

And of course a visit to Dublin always entails a journey to the local historic sites just a block away from our home. And we got some exciting news about a park they are adding right next door which will include additional historic monuments and sites to share with all of our weary travelers. It was an extremely hot weekend in the Bay but beautiful as always!!!

Dad enjoying the journey!

Dad taking personal interest in this tree. It has an impressive trunk, smooth to the touch, a very unique tree.

Honey thought it was a rather warm day as well. She loved walking with the pack!

Shirley enjoying a shady tree in the Dublin Cemetery, next to the Dougherty lot. Yes my visitors are always brought to the special grave site...lol.

And for the first time ever in all of my trips to this grave site (there have been many), I found a stone shaped as a heart.