The link is http://www.kayakconnection.com/. It serves two kayaking sites---Santa Cruz and Moss Landing (Elkhorn Slough). I did both and strongly recommend Moss Landing, which is much more pristine and isolated. They have several kayaking activities of which I only did the sunset paddle. It starts ~2 hours before sunset and finishes shortly after. You paddle around when the wind dies down, the birds go to sleep, and the entire estuary becomes very serene and quiet. After kayaking you can have dinner at Phils’ fish market nearby, which (contrary to what the site’s look and feel might suggest) is very loud, democratic, and unpretentious

Water polo for boys: http://www.stanfordwaterpolo.com/

Gymanstics for girls: http://web.mac.com/crsgymnastics/iWeb/Site/Classes.html

Cafe's:

Looking for a cafe that is open late at night in the Bay area? good luck finding one ...

Barefoot café 5237 Stevens Creek Blvd, Santa Clara, CA 95051

has great coffee, and is open till 10pm every day.

Café Society open till 11pm, free internet

Bean Scene open until 10pm on Saturdays (earlier in other days).

The Los Altos Bakery closes at 6pm.

In Palo Alto, University Café and Coupa Café close at 11pm.

Panera Bread http://www.panerabread.com/ store in Cupertino (morning and afternoon only)

And of course, there is Café Netto on Castro Street in Mountain View, a branch of the famous Israeli network.

Restaurants:

www.mings.com Ming's (Chinese, all-day dim sum)

straight's cafe (one in Palo Alto, one in Santana Row in San Jose), fusion vietnamese/malesian food, slightly upscale

Fuki Shushi in Palo Alto, best (upscale) sushi

Tamarin, on University Ave in Palo Alto, fusion Thai/??, slightly upscale

Il Fornaio, on Cowper near University, Italian-American, solid and always has room

Pasta ?, one on University in Palo Alto, one on Castro in Mountain View, solid Italian, small place

Cheescake factory chain -- solid fusion America/Mexican/Italian/everything, lots of locations, open till late, can come for dessert only

Shopping:

used cars - Buggy Bank http://www.buggybank.com/index.html

furniture (besides Ikea, of course) -

http://www.scandinaviandesigns.com/ chain, European-style furniture, not too up scale (for good and for bad)

http://www.danishconcepts.com/ European style, somewhat more up scale

(Both of the above carry the **extremely recommend** line of recliners/sofas by Ekornes)

Parks and hikes:

Meta site for great information on local hikes: http://www.bahiker.com

Ardenwood park http://www.ebparks.org/parks/ardenwood (historic farm, kids activities and animals)

Pinnacles State Park “mini Bryce”, two hours south of the Silicon Valley, hikes are about 10-12 miles, too hot in summer, great in spring and fall

Peaks in the vicinity:

- Mission Peak,

- Mt. Diablo,

- Mt. Tamalpais just north of SF, great views, hikes go all the way down from/to ocean (shorter hikes available)

Point Reyes National Park the closest national park to the Bay Area. National parks are usually there for a good reason, as is this one. This one is a favourite hike, gets to a waterfall that ends at the ocean beach, spectacular.

Castle Rock State Park, natural rock formations, nice waterfall, and rock climbing (you’ll see some even if you do not climb yourself). Great place for a picnic, the rock formations are a “natural playground” for kids, full of little caves and place to climb and hide.

Doctors:

Opthamologist: Susan H. K Ryu, M.D.

Summer camps:

Cooking:

http://www.youngchefsacademy.com/

(Sunnyvale location)

Sur La Table holds summer camps for youth, Los Gatos location: http://surlatable.turnstilesystems.com/ProgramDetail.aspx/1180620

http://www.partiesthatcook.com/ has several locations in the Bay Area, mostly hold single events and cooking parties

http://www.draegerscookingschool.com/ holds single day workshops

General:

Palo Alto enjoy http://enjoyonline.cityofpaloalto.org

Sleep away summer camps:

Camp Miriam on Gabriola Island.

http://www.campmiriam.org/

Camp Gilboa, near LA,

http://www.campgilboa.org/

music camp: Cazadero

http://cods.org/ (Coloma)

http://www.internationalgymnastics.com/

Stanford Girls Gymnastics Camp http://gostanford.cstv.com/camps/gymnastics-camp.html

camp Campbell http://www.scvymca.org/redwoods/index.html (YMCA in the woods)

Meta links for Parents:

* Golden Gate Mothers Group (http://ggmg.org/)

* The Parents Club of Palo Alto and Menlo Park (http://www.pampclub.org/).

• Stanford Park Nannies

• Town and Country Resources

http://theapna.org/nannies-CA.html

Dayscares and preschools info:

(1) Heffalump, where the enrollment policy is to register in the March
prior to the Fall you
plan on enrolling your child. The only thing you can do to get
priority for the Fall is try and register mid-year if there is a spot
available.
For children ages 2 years - 5 years, no potty training required
- School session is 9:00am to 2:00pm
- Enrollment open for 3, 4 or 5 sessions per week
- Parent participation once per month
- School year is September through mid-June
http://www.heffalump-preschool.com/

(2) Montecito on Grant Road in Los Altos, which "has a great
environment (amongst trees, lots of animals, and VERY LOVING teachers)."

(3) Childrenâ€™s Corner and itâ€™s in Los Altos.
http://www.lamvchildrenscorner.org/

I also received one recommendation against Hobbledehoy, which is off
of Rengstorff near the Monta Loma elementary school.

(4) WesternMontessori (http://www.western-montessori.com/)

(5) Montecito (http://montecitopreschool.com/)

(6) Mitiko's Family Child Care has openings for children ages 2 to 3½ years old. We are a mother/daughter team, both college graduated with credentials in early childhood education. We provide quality childcare, age appropriate activities, healthy food, a preschool program for ages 2 and 3, and lots of fun. We are located in the Mountain View/Los Altos area. For more information, please call (650) 917-9501 or email us at mitikos@hotmail.com.