Milkshakes and Margaritas — a blog for the modern mom

Milk Goes Old School

The other day Ilene wrote about a need for more (& better) drive up's. Well, this isn't a drive up, but a drop off that I am going to definitely try... Mr. Moo's milk delivery. Ron La Mariana has been delivering milk for 14 years and will deliver fresh milk to doorsteps in San Francisco, Marin and Sonoma. The milk comes from Straus Family Creamery, fresh in glass bottles. He also carries and delivers other Straus products — yogurt, butter, half and half... Just give him a call to start your orders.1-888-USE-MILK. 

No Drooling Allowed Until the Work’s Done

I don't actually remember berry picking as a child but my parents have all these great photos of my brother and me picking blueberries in a maze of fields in New York. In the most memorable photos I am probably about three years old. I'm carrying a bucket but most of the blueberries had clearly made it into my mouth instead because much of my face is stained blue. Even with the memories manufactured by the photos, berry picking is something that I have always romanticized.

This past weekend, my husband and I took our kids berry picking at Phipps Country Store and Farm to create memories for them.

Cash, being a natural naysayer, complained the whole way down to Pescadero that he never gets to choose what we do. But I wasn't even out of the car with the baby yet when he was yelling to me to hurry up so he could show me around the cute little country store where they sold things like jam and vegetables, and the attached nursery. He discovered a guinea pig and quickly busied himself giving it water. When we got outside the store, there was a small farmyard with a huge variety of birds and a few goats, and some old farm equipment to climb on. Even my husband, who had been complaining to his friend at a bar the night before that he had to go berry picking, hopped onto one. 

Phipps has olallieberries, blackberries and strawberries available for picking in the summer. While the fruit that is available for picking varies around the country, you are likely to find a U-pick farm within a driveable distance from almost anywhere.

At Phipps, you get buckets and pay an entrance fee at the front of the store, $3 for anyone ages 5 to 59 and free for younger children and seniors. The berries are $3 a pound.

As we walked into the berry fields with our buckets, a few kids rode by on ponies on a trail around the farm.

Don’t Call CPS, Call Supernanny

I just saw a posting on my mothers’ group list serve that ABC’s parenting show, “Supernanny” is looking for families in the Bay Area and I'm oh so tempted to apply. But Jo would eat us alive. We do everything that leaves her mouth gaping open when she is living with families.

We fight in front of the kids. We threaten and do not follow through. We give in to whining.  My husband sleeps in late almost every day while I juggle two kids — and I let him. The list goes on and on.

But I yearn for the Supernanny’s help. I’m desperate. I yell so much that I’m afraid my 7-month-old must think that is the only way to communicate. When he tries out his voice in cute grunts and squeals, it is always at volume 11. My six-year-old son, Cash asked me the other day why I was so angry when we rushed out the door late for summer camp. When I said that it was because I had asked him like 15 times to get dressed and he didn’t hear me, he responded, “I heard you every time, I just didn’t listen.” He’s even mocked me — “Cash, don’t even think of getting on the computer,” he’ll say in a falsetto. Clearly we need help.

Eat Until You Puke at the Marin County Fair

I turn into Homer Simpson at the county fair. I basically eat until I throw up. I just can’t resist fair food and consider the fair as a place where all bets are off. At a minimum, I eat a candy apple -- and maybe even a carmel apple too -- cotton candy, soft serve ice cream, and of course funnel cake. Ohhh sweet funnel cake. Cash has taken the “all bets are off” thing to heart and raised me one. This week while we were talking about going to the Marin County Fair, he tried to negotiate trading a candy apple for "Fun Dip" (talk to my husband if you want to know HOW he knows about Fun Dip!). He had a good argument --  that the candy coating probably has just about as much sugar and it has red dye in it. I had to concede that he could have it if he could find it at the fair. What happens at the fair stays at the fair.

Today is opening day at the Marin County Fair and kids 12 and under are free. That is quite a deal for a family of four with tickets normally running $14 for adults and $12 for kids ages 4-12 . But keep in mind that it is going to be incredibly crowded. Lines to get in will be long and you will be standing in the blazing hot sun. So be prepared with your sunblock. You'll pay dearly for water too, so it pays to bring some of your own. 

You can also save $2 per ticket today by printing coupons from the Marin Independent Journal at www.marinij.com

The fair offers all the traditional rides, pig races, crafts for kids, and a expo hall as well as a variety of shows that your kids might not appreciate but that will rock you back to your youth. We saw Pat Benatar a few years ago and this year, the marque act is Sha Na Na on July 4. The fair also has a green theme and boasts the first solar powered carousel at a county fair.

You can get your fireworks fix even if you don't go on the Fourth of July because the fair offers a pyrotechnic show nightly at 9:30 p.m.

And if you don't want to go the Homer Simpson route, the fair boast a wide variety of food, including vegan fare.

Hours are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and parking is $6. Check out the fair website for information about alternative transportation to the fairgrounds.

photo: © Ingrid Taylor

Round Up - Things To Do In The Bay Area This Weekend

This is their last weekend so don’t miss the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival at the Palace of Fine Arts in SF. 37 companies, 20 countries. Children under 16 are half price. Shows are Saturdays at 2 & 8p.m. and Sunday at 2p.m

 

Swazzle Puppets presents River Otter Circus at the Golden Gate Valley branch of the SF library, Saturday 1:30-2:15p.m., and at the Mission Bay Branch at 4p.m. Cost is free. 

Perhaps more of an event for mommies... Maison Reve is holding their french flea market, Brocante, this Saturday, June 27th from 8a.m. to noon. You’ll find all kinds of vintage treasures abound in their Urban Farmhouse Garden. Maison Reve is in Mill Valley, check their website and blog for more information.

Read until you drop

One of my favorite moments as a parent was when we were on a long drive last year and Cash started giggling to himself in the backseat while reading a Mrs. Piggle Wiggle book. Reading has always been my favorite way to spend free time. In elementary school, my babysitter would kick me off the porch where I was reading to force me to go play. In middle school, I volunteered at the local library and would take out towering stacks of books. And even as an adult, if I am reading a good book, I will walk down the street with my head buried in the book because I don't want to put it down. Cash now does the same. And I love that he is enjoying some of the same books I read as a child.

I started reading to him when he was just a few weeks old, and we still cuddle up in his bed every night for a at least a half hour of reading time. It will break my heart when he doesn't want to do that anymore. It is always one of my favorite times of the day. And he loves it when I'm so tired that I fall asleep while I'm reading and say something silly as I drift off into a dream. Once instead of "bull fighting," I read, "snake fighting." He likes to recount the story and say, "...and then we laughed our heads off." Our reading time is a special bond that we share.

So Cash was very excited to sign up for the San Francisco Public Library's "Read it and Green It!" summer reading program. Children up to age 13 can sign up for the program (there is a separate program for teen-agers), which rewards any kid who has read for 15 minutes a week with a chance at prizes such as tickets to a Giants baseball game, the zoo or the Academy of Sciences in a weekly raffle. Those who read eight hours total during the summer earn a grand prize. They can choose from a variety of rewards, include tickets as well as books and a hand-powered flashlight. Youngsters who hit 16 hours qualify for a raffle of a bicycle, a family pass to the California Academy of Sciences and a gift certificate for a music store.

 

To sign up, you have to go to a San Francisco library branch. The program started in June and runs through Aug. 8. For more information, go to the website or stop by.

If you don't live in San Francisco, check with your local library. Chances are it offers some sort of summer reading program.

In Marin, go to http://www.marinlibrary.org/

In Alameda County, go to http://www.aclibrary.org/

In Contra Costa County, go to http://ccclib.org/

And in Santa Clara County, go to http://www-lib.co.santa-clara.ca.us/

You can also find reading clubs online, such as the Super Why Right On Read-a-Thon where you can download a chart to keep track of your child's reading progress and then print a reward certificate.

 

Shake Your Booty at Stern Grove

My good friend Vicki founded and leads an incredibly talented dance troop called Dholrythyms. The 3rd Saturday each month, she and DJ Jimmy Love hold a night at the Rickshaw called Non Stop Bhangra. The mix of a traditional Indian harvest dance and music will mesmerize you, while familiar elements of Hip Hop, Reggae and House music work into the mix. It is great fun for grown ups. 

Vicki also teaches classes to children and you and your family can join in the fun at the Stern Grove Festival this year. My boys love to shake their booties. No kidding. Music comes on and they start a shaking. So this year I am registering early. Don’t miss out. The classes fill up fast and they are super fun, and a fantastic workout. (And they are free).

 

Give Daddy a puffy shirt and head to the Pirate Festival this weekend!

Ahoy Mateys! Grab your baby daddy and the kiddies and head to the Northern California Pirate Festival on the Vallejo Waterfront for Father’s Day Weekend. You can’t go wrong with pirates and beer — something for the whole family.

The vast array of entertainment will include “demos of all things pirate and nautical,” sword-fighting, cannon battles, magic and comedy by Capt. Jack Spareribs, a scavenger hunt and of course a pirate and his parrots.

Admission is free and the festival runs Saturday from 10 a.m. to dusk and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. You can take the ferry to the festival, which is next to the Vallejo Ferry Terminal.

One man’s trash is his wife’s babysitter

My 6-year-old son Cash and I are constantly battling my husband over trash. We set aside yogurt containers, egg cartons, berry baskets and the like for art projects. And half of them disappear.

“What, I thought that was trash!” is my husband’s befuddled defense. But Cash can turn anything into art. Give him an empty tea box, two toilet paper rolls and a styrofoam mushroom container and he’s made a castle, complete with a draw bridge. He’s obsessed with the British kids’ craft site and television show, Mr. Maker, and some days he even entertains himself for hours with a string of projects. A bowlful of fake ice cream scoops from an old sponge, a pencil-shaped pencil holder from a paper towel tube, fake books to hide stuff in from cereal boxes...it goes on and on.

So when a friend gave me a San Francisco Chronicle article about a showing of Don Carlson’s metal sculptures, welded from recycled materials that were described by writer Regan McMahon as mesmerizing even for kids in strollers (I have one of those too), as part of the Pro Arts East Bay Open Studios this weekend, I knew we had to go. It was just a bonus that some of the pieces look like robots (another one of Cash’s obsessions), including what McMahon described as a “mock-monstrous creature whose pointy teeth are clenched closed” that is actually a functioning barbecue with smoke venting through its nostrils.

On his Rude Designs website, Carlson says his work reflects the concept of infusing life into trash.

His showing, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., at 674 35th Street in Richmond is part of the Pro Arts East Bay Open Studios that will feature more than 400 artists at locations from Oakland to Richmond on Saturday and Sunday.

Check out the full schedule and map at http://proartsgallery.org/ebos/pdfs/EBOS2009Directory.pdf

Things To Do In San Francisco This Weekend

San Francisco’s Botanical Garden Society presents Nests, a photographic exhibition by SF photographer Sharon Beal. Helen Crocker Russel Library at the SF Botanical Garden. The gardens are also a great place to have a picnic and discover “secret paths”. It's one of my 5-year-old son's favorite places.

The Exploratorium is offering a free interactive exhibit where you can learn things like how to use the Golden Gate Bridge as a thermometer. The exhibit is located at Fort Mason between the SF Aquatic Park and the Marina District.

Kids can learn to make fabulous flowers from recycled paper and share a story. June 13th, 11am, Park Brand Library. Call 415-666-7155 to find out more.

And of course the Farmers Markets. A bevy of color, people watching and delicious goods. Great place for a scavenger hunt. Saturday there is the Alemany Farmers’ Market (starts at 6 a.m.); the Ferry Plaza Market (starts at 10 a.m.); and Sunday there is the Marin County Farmers’ Market at the Marin Civic Center (starts at 8 a.m.). 

As always, check the venue's website or call to confirm time, cost and location. And if you have an event you’d like to share, please email us at hello@baby-bot.com

photo credit: www.ojinaga.com

Turn your one night stand into a sitcom!

Mary Pols, author of the book Accidentally on Purpose is giving a reading Thursday June 11th, 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloway’s Bookstore, 2904 College Avenue, Berkeley, CA. 

You gotta read Mary’s “Accidentally on Purpose,” recently released in paperback. This book is funny, poignant and above all, Mary is absolutely fearless in how she walks the reader through this chapter of her life. And what a chapter it is. Mary is 39 when she hooks up with a guy for a one-night stand. He’s much younger, cute — hey, what the hell, she was unattached at the time. But whoops — she gets pregnant. She decides she wants to the baby — and tells Matt (the guy)  — that he doesn’t have to stick around. But he does, in a mellow way, and they forge a very 21st century parenting duo that is by turns exhilirating and frustrating. CBS is launching a sitcom based on the book this fall starring Jenna Elfman and former “Melrose Place” stud Grant Snow, so come see Mary before she becomes the next Diablo Cody.

If you just can’t get away from the kids, bring them with! She’ll provide homemade cupcakes to bribe them to be quiet!

Mary has offered our readers a signed copy of her book. Please comment on our giveaway posting and we’ll pick a winner at random on July 1st.