The Great Houdini Escape Room and Half Moon Bay beach

We started off the weekend with a picnic dinner at the last movie in the Menlo Park outdoor movie series, Cinderella (the new live action version). HUGE success. I saw the movie in the theater when it came out and I wasn't sure how Valerie would do, since it seemed a little dark and sad for her, plus it's pretty long - but she LOVED it and she sat riveted to the screen the entire time. She got a little scared when Cinderella was escaping the ball and the magic spell was wearing off - I think it was a little too loud and chaotic. And when Cinderella ran into the stag in the woods, she made a loud outburst about a "MOOSE!" and the girl in front of us laughed. But overall I was really impressed. For a 2.75-year-old, she does great watching movies!

Rich, on the other hand, was appalled by the Prince-Charming-will-save-you message and the focus on appearance. I tried to convince him we can still teach our daughter to be her own woman even if she loves Cinderella and I think he came around. On our way home, I asked Valerie if she wanted to marry a prince. She said no. I'm not too surprised though. The prince really does not interest her. She just wants to get her hands on that sparkly blue dress and glass slippers. OOoohhh I hope she grows up to be the next Vera Wang or Jimmy Choo! Yes please!!

Saturday morning we did our usual workout shuffle, cleaning up the house and napping, and then our new babysitter came around 4:30 and we headed up to San Francisco to celebrate our friend Angela's birthday.

What a FANTASTIC time! Angela's husband booked The Great Houdini Escape Room at the Palace of Fine Arts for our group of 11. We had 80 minutes to solve all the puzzles and riddles and unlock all the keys to escape the room, which apparently only 25-30% of groups succeed in doing - and we made it out in 66 minutes! We were all feeling pretty proud of our skills and starving for our 8:00 dinner reservation, although not as desperately hangry as we thought we might be since they kindly provided some pretzels, almonds and snack mix in the room.

Dinner was also excellent. We ate at Sessions at the Presidio and had to refrain from licking all the plates. These cheese dumplings with cilantro pesto were especially tasty! As were the desserts and cocktails. The meal was perfectly paced, too. We loved our server, who made great recommendations and kept the beer and cocktails flowing, and enjoyed getting to know Angela's friends. It was such a fun group and the night flew by!

The only downside to driving up to San Francisco is.... driving through San Francisco. If given the choice between driving through San Francisco and having burning coals jammed into my eyeballs, I might choose the coals. So many people and cars and stoplights and endless frustration. Luckily, the drive home around midnight was much nicer, and luckily Rich was driving because I couldn't keep my eyes open. Much like Cinderella's coach, I turn into a pumpkin at the stroke of midnight.

Sunday morning we met Rich's biodesign group at Hanahaus in downtown Palo Alto for breakfast and a working session which ended up lasting til almost 1:30. We had planned to drive to Big Basin for a hike afterwards, but by the time they finished we needed to head home for naps and knew we wouldn't have time for Big Basin.

The naps were definitely needed for all of us. We woke up around 4 and still wanted to squeeze in a small Sunday adventure, so we decided to head to Half Moon Bay for dinner and some beach time. It worked out perfectly. We got to the beach at Half Moon Bay at 5:30, with an hour and a half of daylight remaining, and Valerie got to chase the surf up and down the sand to her heart's content. We kicked ourselves for not bringing towels or a swimsuit for her, but we let her run around in her diaper and managed to get her sufficiently dry and sand-free for dinner.

Dinner at Half Moon Bay Brewing Co. was a highlight of the weekend. We sat outside on their lovely patio under heat lamps, overlooking the harbor, and ate delicious shrimp, truffle fries, ahi tuna, clams and mussels, with refreshing beers and cocktails. We had a clear view of the lunar eclipse from our table, Valerie was on her best behavior, and we got to dance to the live music. The most perfect family night out. We can't wait to go back there again.

A+ weekend, California!