March 2021

Spring Flower Kit, MV Bag Lottery and More 
The city of Mountain View has a spring flower kit (registration March 4-26th), as well as a chance to win a MV bag DYI tie-dye (until March 19th).  See below for more details:
https://www.mountainview.gov/depts/cs/events/feel_the_love_mv.asp

Filoli (Anytime)
The spring blooms at Filoli are amazing right now!  Inspired by Michele R.,  who let us visit as guest last week,  are getting a membership and would love to take visitors (Thanks, Michele!).  Let me know if you’d like join us some weekday morning! (We can bring one guest, plus all kids under five are free)

Live Chat with Kate Rubins From the ISS (Wednesday,  March 17th)
Live from the International Space Station, you can learn from Dr. Rubins about microbiology and life on the ISS.  Talk takes place from12-12:30 pm on St. Patty’s Day. Thanks, Wei Lynn, for sharing this cool experience!
https://med.stanford.edu/about/events/stanford-medicine-live.html

Run for Hope (Sunday March 28th)
Menlo Church is hosting another virtual “run for hope.”  On March 28th,  Menlo Church will donate $25 to towards rent relief in the Bay Area for every mile you walk/run.  Registration is free and you can pick up a t-shirt to wear on “race day.”  Jonathan and I are ‘running’ together in our first ‘race’!  Join our team — “Mountain Shadows Kids” here: https://runsignup.com/Race/Register/RaceGroup-1?raceId=104544

Also, looking ahead to April, there is the Ivy and Pearls run to “raise funds to provide education and services to increase the awareness of health disparities negatively impacting communities of color, specifically women and children”: http://www.ivyandpearls.org/ivy-run-5k

Farm and Other Getaways (Anytime)
We’ve done a few local AirBnBs during the pandemic that were super fun and safe.  Since we’re about to enter red tier (woohoo!) and I’ve gotten a lot of questions about these stays,  I thought I would share here:

Farm in Petaluma (chickens, ducks, peacocks, dogs, goats, horses, zebra, emus, alpacas.  Bring carrots to feed the animals!)
Yurt Glamping in Los Gatos (Lovely vineyard views (and delicious grapes) and very nice private bathroom)
Horse Farm in Lodi (No horse feeding allowed,  but very friendly dogs and lots of space for hiking and exploring)
Farm in Carmel Valley  (alpacas, horses, giant tortoises, goats, sheep, donkey) — We haven’t stayed here yet, but it was highly recommended by a friend and we’ve booked a trip for the fall.  (Thanks, Sarah!)

Also, for a short day-time outing, Deer Hollow has goats and a calf you can see from the fence (although you can’t go into the farm) and Hidden Villa you can reserve a farm visit for $10. 

History of Mountain View Talk (Tuesday, March 8th)
Ever wanted to know more about our city? How about this enticing description: “Discover the “Castro” behind Castro Street, the mystery of the vanished graveyard, the connection between Mountain View and Disneyland, and more.”
https://mountainview.libcal.com/event/7549421?hs=a

Parenting Lectures with the Library (via Zoom) (Wednesday, March 9th)
More parenting lectures — I love these!  And this one seems very relevant as we nearing the one-year mark for the pandemic: Developing Social Skills in Children While Social Distancing. https://mountainview.libcal.com/event/7521961

Author talk: Wolf expert Rick McIntyre (Thursday, March 18th)
A leading expert on North American wolves, Rick McIntyre will talk with us about Yellowstone National Park.
https://mountainview.libcal.com/event/7387143?hs=a

Mythical Creatures of the Sea (Thursday, March 25th)
Librarian Alex will be leading us in another talk on mythical creatures.  We loved the first one and this one promises to be just as good!  4-4:30 pm
https://mountainview.libcal.com/event/7333358

Free Flower and Veggie Seeds from the MV Library (Anytime)
One my neighbors recently reminded me of the library’s cool seed program.  You can pick up your packets when you grab your books.  Thanks, Karin!
https://www.mountainview.gov/depts/library/services/seedlibrary.asp

Pajama Dance Parties (Thursdays)
Every Thursday evening join Librarian Sharon for a little dance party in your pajamas (from the comfort of your living room)!
https://mountainview.libcal.com/event/7331492

Distinguished Author Series 
A friend recommended these cool author talks from the Santa Clara County Library District. Thanks, Wei Lynn!
https://sccld.org/authorseries/

Zoos Open
Oakland Zoo and Happy Hallow are now open to the general public, as well as Curiodyssey for members.  They are all limiting the number of visitors, so make your reservations early.  Also, the outdoor area of San Jose Discovery Museum is open.  And the new (well, old but remodeled) Palo Alto Children’s Museum has flamingos, peacocks and a tortoise you can watch from outside for free right now!

YMCA Classes
I’ve been a big fan and evangelist for the YMCA for several years now, and have been so pleased with how they’ve handled the pandemic — from providing childcare for essential workers to creating safe avenues for staying healthy in both mind and body.
https://www.ymcasv.org/schedules/group-exercise-schedule/el-camino-ymca

Kindergarten Warmup (Fridays)
I just love the MV Library (Can you tell?!).  They are having a weekly Zoom session on Friday mornings 10-10:30 am to get preschoolers ready for kindergarten.  This month is all about Social Awareness.
https://mountainview.libcal.com/event/6962396

Mothers Together Mountain View (Thursdays)
Menlo Church Mountain View has been hosting a fantastic mom’s group for many years.   However, with the. conveniences  of Zoom, it is particularly easy to join in right now.   My small group ‘meets’ online at 8 pm on Thursdays (and there is a Thursday morning option too if that works better for your schedule). The format is a short talk from a speaker (usually 30 minutes),  followed by discussion, sharing and prayer. The women in my group are so warm and welcoming,  and would be delighted to have new moms join.  Just shoot me an email if. you are interested and I can give you more information.  Or just sign up to check it out here:
https://menlo.church/mountainview/group/mothers-together-mountain-view

Our last series of talks was about on conflict management by Phillipa Perkin,  and I loved them.  You can see her talks here on our Mothers Together YouTube Channel.

March Parenting Book Club
Shoot me an email if you’d like to discuss this month’s book:
Explosive Child, The: A New Approach For Understanding And Parenting Easily Frustrated, Chronically Inflexible Children by Ross W. Greene PhD

April: Discipline That Connects With Your Child’s Heart by Jim Jackson