Emma's Favorite Bike Ride Route....

Emma's favorite bike ride, as well as one of our favorite runs, starts in Alameda, down to Bay Farm, just north of the Oakland Airport runways and back.

There are spectacular views of the San Francisco Bay and Bay Bridge.

This is the course the Beth and Melissa will be running for the See Jane Run half-marathon in June.

What makes this such a great run, especially for a taper week, is that it is a very flat run.

Myles loves seeing the the airplanes take off, and Sophie loves the flowers, Pampas Grass, and the sea life.

The biggest hazard is the occasional ground squirrel that always finds its way scurrying in front of Beth.

Typically we start off with a snack on the drive over. It is only a 30 minute drive, so we get something light.

The kids really like there croissants. Here Myles is two fisting it.

Emma loves this trail because there is a lot of opportunity to explore and see so many different things. She especially likes to take the lead, which normally means she sets the pace and we having to keep up.

Emma is excited. The weather is perfect. This is one of our last taper runs before the Napa Valley Marathon next week. No wind, blue sky and mid-60's.

Emma finds that she can ride with the adults and really sees herself as a big kid.

When the adults see Emma riding up the bridge by herself (it is a little bit of an uphill) they are impressed she can do it and keep up with them.

While Emma rides her bike, Sophie and Myles try to see how much pampas grass they can capture.

Myles calls it his kite, and Sophie uses it to try to reach Beth as I run behind her.

At the end of the ride, there are some wonderful trees for the kids to climb.

The day ended in a beautiful sunset over San Francisco Bay. The kids were happy but tired. On the way back the moon was full as we came out of the Caldicot Tunnel. It was the perfect ending to a awesome day.

A beautiful 3 day weekend...

So it has been beautiful ten days!! We have gone from the rain and cold to our first 70 degree days this year.

The hills are an emerald green, the mustard is in full bloom, and the trees are beginning to flower.

It is amazing how quickly we have moved from having no leaves on the trees to the wonderful fragrances of late winter /early spring.

Perfect timing for a three day weekend.

So a couple of weeks ago we worked in a territory off of Livorna Rd. in Walnut Creek. We have never worked on the ridge before, and never knew that there was an open space up there.

By the time we were done, it was already 65 -degree day.

We came home, and got ready for our final long run for our marathon training.

It was definitely one of the warmest days we have had and it was a bit of an adjustment to run at 72-degrees, compared to the weeks we have had in the 50's.

It was to be a 24.65 mile run, beginning at Emma and Sophie's school in Concord, running to Lunardi's in downtown Danville, and then returning the way we came.

At the halfway mark, we stopped to refuel, and contemplate the run home.

We began the return home at 4 which meant that we had 2 hours of daylight left.

One of things the kids enjoy on our runs is the different type birds we see.

We saw this hawk, swoop across the trail and then perch itself in the tree, watching us.

The kids were amazed as it turned its head in all directions looking at us.

Along the trail the kids have identified egrets, loons, white cranes, all types of hawks, eagles, and falcons.

At one point of the run, we go under a I-680 overpass and the kids get to see the swallow nests. It is really fun seeing things through their eyes.

So it took 4:50 minutes to cover 24.65 miles, not including the stop at Lunardi's.

It was 68-degrees when we stopped.

I thought it be fun to take a picture of Emma's tail reflector and see what came out.

It looked like a rear tail light. By the way, I forgot to say Myles road the entire way in his Tigger costume as well as his Spiderman slippers.

On Monday, I had the day off with the kids for the President's Holiday. It began with Emma making her breakfast.

At seven, about to turn eight, she is definitely a big girl.

Later in the morning, I played catch with the kids. Never been really good a throwing a football, it is left up to Emma and Sophie to teach me how to throw a perfect spiral. Momma is a great teacher.

That afternoon we were going to meet Micaela for photo shoot in a field of mustard.

It was also a perfect time for Myles and I to do some exploring.

The field was a buzz, quiet literally, with bees and lady bugs.

Again, the sky was a vibrant blue, emerald green hills, contrasting against the yellow flowers.

Myles thought it would be nice to make a mustard bouquet. He had probably cleared half the field. You see him here very upset that we were not going to take his collection of flowers home with us.

The end of a beautiful weekend with the kids.