Heart Walk 2012

On Saturday June 9th, Jose, Joaquin and I participated in the Congenital Heart Walk. The walk, put on by the Adult Congenital Heart Association, took place in Oakland and was a 5K that took us all the way around Lake Merritt. Not only was this a fun event, it was a great way to spend a Saturday morning, and the weather could not have been more perfect!
Our team from Mended Little Hearts of Silicon Valley was definitely the largest there, and I am so proud to say we raised over $16,000 for congenital heart research! There were plenty of other teams there as well, overall it was so wonderful to see so many people come out to walk and support CHD research and awareness.

Our team!

Co-coordinators: Myself, and "Heart Mom" Heather <3

My little man, modeling our lovely shirts

Speaking on behalf of our team before the race starts. Cue the nerves!!

So happy to always have my little family by my side :)

Memorial Weekend Outings

One of the reasons I love living in the Bay Area is there is always something to do... Whether it be an event, museum, theme park, sight-seeing, you name it... and being able to enjoy it through the eyes of a child makes just everything that much sweeter (even if it is a huge production just to get out the door when an 18 month old is involved).
On May 27th, the Golden Gate Bridge turned 75 years old. Naturally, there was a big festival thrown so Joaquin and I met up with Heather and Rob, and headed down to Fort Mason/Crissy Field to say "Happy Birthday" in person.

I am slightly obsessed with the "toy camera" effect on my new Canon

Soon to be Mr. and Mrs. Batzloff

Go Niners! (even though I am forever surrounded by Raiders fans!)

Me and my little man at the Golden Gate Bridge :)

The following day, we were lucky to have a day to spend with Jose, and decided to check out the San Ramon Wind Festival. Growing up, the Wind Festival was one of my mom's favorite events, and we used to go every year. I was very excited to share this little tradition with my own family.

Train ride #1

Big Slide!! The boys went on this ride as well

Train ride #2 (that little girl talked my ear off the whole time. So cute:) )

xxoooxxoo

History Lesson

Wow, what a busy couple of weeks it has been! Summer is definitely kicking off to a great start, with lots to do and tons of fun things filling up my calendar. I realize I'm a little late on finishing up blogging about my trip to Dallas, since it happened almost three weeks ago, but there is just one more thing I HAVE to tell you about, and that is pretty much the only site-seeing I did. We had our Friday morning free, so a bunch of us girls decided to walk down to Dealy Plaza and the Texas School Book Depository. Sound familiar? That is because it is the site of one of the most significant moments in US history - The assassination on JFK. Dealy Plaza is what the motorcade was travelling around, and the book depository is where Lee Harvey Oswald sat as he shot the president (the last window on the sixth floor, to be exact). Now the book depository acts as a museum on JFK and the events surrounding the assassination. We went up to the sixth floor, which is the main part of the museum. Just being up there was so eerie yet fascinating. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take pictures inside the building, but I did manage to snap photos of the outside, where it all took place.


Texas School Book Depository

Closer view of the sixth floor window, the top one in the picture, with the window slightly opened

The "Grassy Knoll". Also, if you look close enough you may be able to see the X's on the ground. There are two of them, marking the exact spots where JFK was when the bullets hit him.

Dealy Plaza

Other side of Dealy Plaza, with the book depository in the background

JFK Memorial

I also feel like I need to mention a wonderful book I read that is about the JFK assassination. It's a little bit science fiction, a little bit historical, and a whole lot of amazing. The book is 11/22/63 by Stephen King. Although this is a fictional novel, King did a lot of research about the assassination and even traveled to Dallas to make it as factual and realistic as possible. Having read it a few months ago, it was that much more fascinating to actually be there after reading so much about it and building my own version in my imagination. While I don't really have a desire to go back to Dallas, I am so glad I got to experience this and would very much recommend it to anyone wanting to see a truly historical, emotional, and important place in America. xxoo