A New Hat

Chris decided that his Berkeley hat was looking a bit shabby. I decided that if he was going to go to Berkeley for a new hat, then I was going with him. And if both parents were going, then it seemed prudent to take the kids. And, if you have to take a trip with both kids, it really is wise to take Rachel along.

Of course, it seems silly to take five people to Berkeley just for a hat, so we stopped off to see these guys:











After we wandered around Berkeley for awhile, it was time to leave "educational" behind us and move on to "dangerous". It was time for
We'd found it on Google, along with the following parent reviews:

"How can this place stay open with all that liability?"
"Only send your child here if they have closed-toed shoes and a tetanus shot."
"Remember that junkyard where Fat Albert and his gang used to hang out?"
"As if Lord of the Flies was set amidst the happiest shanty town on earth."

So of course we were going, and we weren't disappointed. Here is the sign that greeted us on the way in:
Basically, on arrival you had to scrounge around collecting old nails and splinters from the ground until you had enough to exchange them for tools. Then you could essentially do whatever you wanted. Want to paint that piece of playground equipment? Go ahead. Want to build a ladder and then nail it to a tree? Fine. Feel like constructing a rickety rope swing or pounding on the insides of a piano with the giant hammer that you made yourself? Have at it. Here are some Adventure Playground trip statistics:

Total cost of admission: $0
# of times Theo was injured by a 'Mr Dangerous'- 1
# of adults I saw in any official capacity: 0
Age of "staff member" handing out saws and nails: 9
# of rules posted: 2. ("Keep your shoes, and your eyes.")
Age requirement to be dropped off by your parent completely without supervision: 7
Age required to ride the zipline: 6 (thankfully)
Minimum age required to check out a handsaw: None
We had a blast. Chris and Lucy made a forty pound birdhouse and an airplane. Lucy painted a self portrait, and the five of us painted this on a 3ft x 5ft piece of wood that we dragged out from under a pile:

We had to collect a lot of splinters to get that much paint, but it was worth it.