Ode to Fall on an 80 degree day

Warm weather has hit the Bay Area like it does every October. Yet, as we enter Fall we crave the inevitable Fall weather not expected until Wednesday. This weekend we overlooked the incredible poolside weather and instead sought out some rites of Fall.

Yesterday we took the boys to the pumpkin patch Rodini Farms, north of Santa Cruz near the town of Davenport, Calif. After years of going to popular "get there early" pumpkin patches with trains and pony rides, or braving the traffic over near Half Moon Bay, it was nice to go to a low key but large pumpkin patch.

The boys had a lot of fun -- playing on bails of hay and climbing through tubes. All very low tech, low stress and the right note for this year's pumpkin patch visit.

Today, we continued our Fall traditions with a pumpkin pancake breakfast at Buck's of Woodside, Calif. Buck's is very kitsch -- in the very best sense of the word. The restaurant -- with its alligator farm carpeting, and collections of odd finds, including Mona Lisa in a cowboy hat and the Statue of Liberty holding an ice cream -- is a blast. Each Buck's visit isn't complete without a treasure hunt through the restaurant. And by the way, the pumpkin pancakes are great!

Now having checked off two Fall traditions, maybe we'll go to the pool this afternoon, before the weather breaks and we can finally don our Fall wardrobe.

Kids Eat Free: Sunday Breakfast at the Hayes Mansion

My five-year old, Xander, loves breakfast. It is his favorite meal of the day. His favorite foods? Eggs, bacon and toast, washed down with a yummy cocoa. So when we find a great brunch where kids eat free, we get excited.

Two weeks ago we tried the Hayes Mansion brunch for the first time. The historic landmark is a conference center and hotel here in San Jose... it is the last place you would expect to have a family friendly and inexpensive, but delicious breakfast. Did I mention the Hayes Mansion is a very nice hotel? Places like this I imagine are pretentious, expensive and not a good place for kids... but I'm very wrong.

The before 10 am on Sunday's kids eat free offer gets you an all you can eat breakfast buffet for a family of four for just under $25. With kids, buffet means different things depending on your kid. Xander eats breakfast like an adult (the kid loves breakfast), and Caleb has a bowl of corn flakes and a few strawberries.

Xander loved the breakfast so much that he begged to go back today, which we did. 

The other appeal is the vicinity of Hayes Mansion to the Edenvale Garden Park.  The park used to be a Frontier Village amusement park that closed in 1980. It now has a lovely woodsy trail, and a great playscape including a rock slide. So, after breakfast we walked to the park for an hour or so of play.

Vicinity to a park is an important criteria for us. It gives us something to do after breakfast, and a way to burn off some energy outdoors before we start our day.  I'm certain we'll become regulars at the Hayes Mansion on Sundays this summer.