Dining Alfresco!

I love public places that are outdoors. I remember as a kid staring at the cover of my mathbook, which had an illustration of a bustling park in the middle of big city, kids rollerskaing by a fountain with trees and the skyscrapers in the background, and almost bursting with happiness imaging being there. As a result of this, I have subjected many family members and some friends to having to do things outside more than they might like to. On our family trip to Hawaii, I drug the whole group downstairs to play cards on one of the verandas overlooking the pool, our poor were kids were exausted and fell asleep on the tile floor. In college we took the coffee table on the front lawn and played cards in the evening.

One other thing about me, I feel like I spend half my life sweeping my floor after my kids eat (the other half on laundry). My love of being ouside and loath for sweeping leads to one obvious solution: lots of picnics. Everywhere we go we take a picnic. Often we take half a picnic and then take $3 to buy the other half--a six-piece chicken McNugget to share, a slice of Costco or Winco pizza to share, a giant coffee store muffin to share. But we've had lots of great memories this way. I remember watching Kate wander around the giant fountain in Walnut creek after finishing her granola bar, or sitting on a bench outside a consignment store the day before I delivered Danny sharing an orange with Kate and having a great talk, or last December when me and the kids and our giant stroller hopped on Bart and ended up at Union Square in San Francisco for lunch basking in the sun and admiring the giant Christmas tree.

These pics are from the Hawaii card game and the day in San Francisco last year.