Ladies! Gentlemen! Children of all ages!

May 4, 2007 1:19 PM

MetaParent Bay Area Meetup? Inspired by this AskMe thread, would any MeFi parents in the Bay Area be interested in a family-friendly Meetup?
posted by lekvar to MetaFilter Gatherings at 1:19 PM (50 comments total)

I've wanted to go to a Meetup for ages now, but I take care of my four-year-old on the weekends, and bars are not usually toddler friendly. Meetup at a park in Berkeley, Oakland or SF on a weekend?
posted by lekvar at 1:21 PM on May 4, 2007

I understand that you are thinking of having this as a play date for your kids, but why does it specifically need to be parents only? There are some non-breeding adults who like kids plenty & aren't averse to hanging out in their presence. Me, for example. I'm quite fond of well-raised small people and I have a puppy who likes them too. Although there is a danger that she might lick them to death.
posted by miss lynnster at 3:15 PM on May 4, 2007

Actually, I wasn't thinking of this specifically as a play-date for the kids, I was thinking of this as a play-date for me in a kid-friendly environment. I'm glad to hear that you, as a non-parent, like children, but I've found that to be pretty rare among my non-breeding friends.

I'd bet that my daughter could out-lick your puppy, three rounds out of four.

OK, to modify the initial proposal, would there be any interest for a Bay Area Meetup in a kid-friendly environment?
posted by lekvar at 3:28 PM on May 4, 2007

So do I have to bring my dad?

What about Tilden for a bbq?
posted by ORthey at 4:28 PM on May 4, 2007

Tilden would be great for me. If it's not too far away, would the 19th or 20th be workable? I'm all for a bbq!
posted by lekvar at 4:46 PM on May 4, 2007

>I'd bet that my daughter could out-lick your puppy, three rounds out of four.

I love what parenting does to people.

(This sounds like fun.)
posted by metaculpa at 6:09 PM on May 4, 2007

I'd be into it, as would the husband & the sprog. San Francisco would work better for me...Golden Gate park, perhaps?
posted by echolalia67 at 6:09 PM on May 4, 2007

Awesome. Kid and dog will be at the ready. Along with bubbles and sidewalk chalk for shout outs.
posted by Gucky at 7:37 PM on May 4, 2007

I'll go if someone makes it happen and if it's in the East Bay. There's also play cafe and Tumble and Tea, which cost money, unfortunately.
posted by serazin at 9:25 PM on May 4, 2007

So far I see two votes for East Bay, one for SF, with BBQ, puppies and kids being unanimous. Anyone else have a preference? Any input as to date?
posted by lekvar at 11:25 AM on May 5, 2007

Could do something in SF - east bay would be difficult. If we do GGP then I'd have an excuse to finally go out and get that toddler seat for my bike.
posted by aberrant at 2:46 PM on May 5, 2007

If people do end up in Golden Gate Park, I would probably be interested in stopping by (though I have neither dog nor kid to share). Any time between now and Memorial Day would probably work for me. (But given that the request was made to specifically accommodate parents, feel free to ignore me.)
posted by occhiblu at 10:13 AM on May 6, 2007

Well, sf is easier for me but wherever. The main thing is whether or not I (or my puppy) already have plans on the chosen date.
posted by miss lynnster at 1:04 PM on May 6, 2007

Dog and self would probably try to show up, esp. if it's in SF, but I'll leave the real voting to the parents.
posted by tangerine at 10:42 AM on May 7, 2007

similarly... GGP would work well for me (or anywhere in SF) but i'm not a parent so my vote doesn't really count.
posted by purplefiber at 11:52 AM on May 7, 2007

It looks like there's about equal interest in East Bay and SF. Could we have two Meetups? One at Golden Gate Park, one at Tilden? We could schedule them for two separate days so those with cars can attend both...

Are there any preferences as to the date?
posted by lekvar at 11:57 AM on May 7, 2007

raar and I are potentially interested, although our schedule is exceedingly dynamic at the moment due to us not knowing exactly whether or not I have an internship and/or when I'll be working said.

So y'all put a date together, and we'll do our darnedest to be there, plus sprog. Deal?
posted by scrump at 12:27 PM on May 7, 2007

May I just say how jealous I am that I'm not in the Bay Area. For so many reasons...but this just got added to the list. :)
posted by dejah420 at 1:33 PM on May 7, 2007

OK, just pulling this out of my hat, let's say an East Bay Kid-Friendly Meetup at Tilden Park at noon on Saturday, May 26th, and a San Francisco Kid-Friendly Meetup at Golden Gate Park at noon on Saturday, May 2nd.

Sound good?
posted by lekvar at 5:55 PM on May 10, 2007

(Did you leave off a numeral? May 2 was a week ago.)
posted by occhiblu at 6:28 PM on May 10, 2007

*looks at calendar. tries to count past ten but runs out of fingers*
I meant to do that. No, I meant June 2nd, one week after the East Bay Meetup.
posted by lekvar at 6:52 PM on May 10, 2007

If I were you, I'd just declare the dates and put them on the sidebar. Otherwise people will waffle indefinitely. Better tiny meetups than no meetups at all!
posted by tangerine at 8:12 PM on May 15, 2007

Done. Thanks for the prompt.
posted by lekvar at 9:11 PM on May 15, 2007

If I show up and, y'know, just sort of accidentally BBQ someone's kid - is everyone going to get all crazy mad at me?

Because the pitchfork wounds are just starting to heal and I only have 3 more therapy sessions in the burn ward before they graft on that new skin I've been growing.

I didn't really think it would be that big of a deal. I mean, children are just so delicious. I didn't think anyone else was going to eat that one.
posted by loquacious at 3:33 PM on May 19, 2007

Is the 26th still on? 'cause I'm not -entirely- sure I could make it, but would definitely want to. Should I bring chips? Cookies? Tasers to keep the ninja-children off of me? (Kidding. I think.) Do we have a list of folk planning on coming?
posted by po at 9:17 PM on May 19, 2007

Excellent, excellent! June 2nd in GG Park at noon... but where? It's a huge park. I love the idea of a picnic Mefi meetup...
posted by purplefiber at 11:38 PM on May 19, 2007

loquacious, are you a wicked step-mother? 'Cause no wicked step-mothers are allowed. Everyone else is cool.

po, I'll be at both (barring major lifestyle dysfunction). I don't really know Tilden Park well so any help I can get planning the East Bay Meetup would be appreciated. I figured I'd bring some picknick-y foods, enough to share, but the more the merrier. Bring anything you want, but i'd suggest that kites will distract the li'l ninjas better than tasers. The tasers just wind them up, you know. Children are powered by static electricity.
posted by lekvar at 11:46 PM on May 19, 2007

More specifics are needed here re where-to-meet in Tilden and where-to-meet in GG park. (I would offer suggestions, but am not familiar enough.)
posted by ClaudiaCenter at 8:47 AM on May 20, 2007

For GG Park, maybe just in front of the Conservatory of Flowers? Unless people want to try to plan an actual picnic and seek out actual picnic tables?

(And if there's no response to this, then we can start another thread, maybe? Or is that frowned upon in these days of the meet-up calendar?)
posted by occhiblu at 12:46 PM on May 21, 2007

echolalia67 suggested meeting up at the Sharon Arts Building and finding a place to picknick in Sharon Meadows. It's near the DeYoung Museum and the Conservatory of Flowers, and has a carosel.
(Thanks echolalia67!)

I'm still trying to figure out the "where" part of the Tilden Park meetup. I notice there's a carosel (web map, PDF map of North Tilden, PDF map of South Tilden) at Tilden too, how's about meeting there and finding a picknick spot within walking distance? As I understand it there is parking, hiking trails and a mini steam engine near there as well. I'm making this up as I go.
posted by lekvar at 2:02 PM on May 21, 2007

Conservatory of flowers would be nice. Alternately, I think there's a playground on the north side of the De Young museum... (near Fulton and 10th) Would the parents/kids prefer a playground-y space, or an open field-y space?
posted by purplefiber at 2:10 PM on May 21, 2007

The only issue with finding a picnic place (rather than designating one in advance) is that latecomers end up more or less out of luck. But I'm not familiar with GG Park enough to know if we'd end up at a place visible from the Sharon Arts Building?
posted by occhiblu at 2:27 PM on May 21, 2007

Here's a PDF map of Golden Gate Park. It looks like the carosel, playground and Sharon Art Studio are clustered next to each other, with the dog run and Conservatory of Flowers a little further out in one direction and the DeYoung Museum out in the other direction with its own playground.

The Sharon Art Studio-Carosel-Playground area seems a little more contained so people might have an easier time finding their way around. I also seem to remember that there's an open, fieldy space within a stone's throw of there, so we'd have all our options open.
posted by lekvar at 2:46 PM on May 21, 2007

The Sharon Art Studio-Carosel-Playground area sounds good to me, then.
posted by occhiblu at 3:48 PM on May 21, 2007

I just realised ('cause I'm smart like that) that I scheduled the Tilden Park Meetup for Memorial Day Weekend. Is this a problem? Should I reschedule?
posted by lekvar at 1:38 PM on May 24, 2007

I'd be up for the Mefi Dog Meetup!
posted by judith at 1:03 AM on May 25, 2007

I'm not sure if I can go tomorrow or not, but I'm going to try. Never been to Tilden Park so I hope I find it all. And I hope the weather's good. 'Cuz it kinda sucked today.
posted by miss lynnster at 12:06 AM on May 26, 2007

Try to meet at the carousel at noon? Traffic might be... interesting, but I'll be there.
posted by lekvar at 12:11 AM on May 26, 2007

dude, you guys gotta find the horses and goats and shit and feed 'em.

best day ever.
posted by fishfucker at 10:11 AM on May 26, 2007

Didn't make it there 'cuz I had to take my puppy to the vet (her ears were infected, poor thing).

Was it fun? We are gonna work to be at the SF one. ;)
posted by miss lynnster at 5:07 PM on May 26, 2007

The carousel was nice, the sun was out, the traffic was non-existent, and parking was plentiful. Not enough breeze for decent kite-flying, though.
posted by lekvar at 1:14 AM on May 27, 2007

duh. missed the tilden one and will be out of town for the sf one.
posted by joeblough at 6:03 PM on May 27, 2007

weather.com says there will will be some high-quality fog at Golden Gate Park tomorrow. I'd still be up for a get-together, how does everybody else feel about it?
posted by lekvar at 11:34 AM on June 1, 2007

my pup & i would be up for it!
posted by judith at 3:36 PM on June 1, 2007

i can't make it before 1 PM... will anyone still be around at then? what location was decided? It looks like the Sharon A.S.C.P. was the last thing mentioned.
posted by purplefiber at 6:27 PM on June 1, 2007

I'm planning on being there from noon until 2 or so (that's when the kinder gets her nap, if I can drag her away from the carousel) so come on by! I'm making a big MeFi sign to drag along to make locating each other easier. Sharon Arts still seems like the best place to meet up to me; easy walking distance to many amusements. I'll be packing foodstuffs.
posted by lekvar at 7:04 PM on June 1, 2007

we'll be there!
posted by echolalia67 at 9:01 PM on June 1, 2007

Mr. Luminous Phenomena, the sprog and I will attend! Hopefully we will find everyone.
posted by luminous phenomena at 10:20 PM on June 1, 2007

D'oh, we overslept. I don't think we can make it from Fairfield to SF on Bart in less than 2 hours. Sorry all, maybe next time!
posted by luminous phenomena at 12:17 PM on June 2, 2007

You missed a fine outing, if you like cold, windy, and overcast (I certainly do). But OH! The fogburn! Nature's cruelest trick! How can I be sunburnt if there's no sun?
posted by lekvar at 4:48 PM on June 2, 2007