Berkeley's Tilden Park and a visit with Ben's friend

This afternoon, after four hours of a demanding lecture and three hours of studying, I was treated by an impromptu visit by Paul and the boys. Together we explored Tilden Regional Park just north of Berkeley over the hills. We first took the little steam train, an old-fashioned miniature train that winds through 1.2 mile of the redwood forest, with beautiful views and a lot of thrills for the kids. Every time the whistle blows, the steam puffs, or the train crosses a bridge or tunnel, Ben's eyes glisten with delight and awe. I love watching them when they are so excited. They are simply in heaven, and that's quite a happy sight for anyone to witness :)

We then went for a walk around Lake Anza in the middle of the Park. Paul was not aware of the vastness of this park, and we were delighted to find the many trails and picnic areas worthy of exploration. The lake view was beautiful, and the trails around it was very interesting, requiring some climbing, which is much fun for the kids. Next time we'll have to explore the carousel, the small zoo, and the botanical garden as well as some of the trails. Paul reminds us to keep up our hiker's spirit and stamina since we did so much of it in Taiwan. It's so relaxing taking a good long walk. We talked about the ducks, the trees, the swimmers in the lake, the fishing guy, and of course, we constantly had to review all the details of the steam train (as well as all the known trains in the world, including the Amtrak, the Shinkasen and the Taiwan High Speed Rail). There's no better way to momentarily forget about the calculations for a two-sample t distribution and the power of a statistical test!

After the walk, we bought the famous Cheeseboard pizzas and joined Yong-yong's family for a picnic and playdate. Yong-yong, a lovely three-year-old girl, was Ben's classmate in Hsinchu. She just arrived in Berkeley with her parents as her dad is attending Berkeley this year. The kids had a wonderful time playing together. Little Yong-yong was so happy to have someone to play with that she was weeping when we had to leave. I could tell she was so excited to have Chinese-speaking friends finally (she's been here for just three weeks and doesn't have friends her age yet so it's been quite lonesome), and we really felt sad seeing her cry while saying "I like so many people to be together!" We need to get the kids together more often.

At 9, the all-washed and pajama-ed kids are taken in the car and driven back. I really had a fun time with these "visitors". On the way to my place, Ben kept asking, "Mama, are there a lot of toys at your place?" Unfortunately, the only "toy" I have is the alarm clock with a night light and paper planes that I make out of magazine papers. I need to come up with a few more entertaining items for their next visit.