Fun Things to do as a Family in the Bay Area

Written by Yenny Mo; originally written in Mandarin.

Are you a loving family, wanting to enjoy a good time together in the Bay Area? The happy Huang family has many great ideas to share with everyone!

There are five members in the Huang family. The father grew up in Oakland and the mother is from Qingdao, China. They met each other in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and got married. It has been six years since they lived together in Oakland. They have two cute little girls, one is three years old, the other is five years old. They also have a two-month-old baby boy. As a family, they always have fun family activities that they do together; they live in harmony, having endless beautiful family memories. Their favorite family activities include visiting natural parks, zoos, museums, going to the beach, amusement parks, and attending church meetings.

Redwood State Park

Redwood State Park is one of the oldest state parks in California, located north of San Francisco. The park is an ancient and magnificent redwood jungle, with lush trees and clear streams where it is suitable for children to play in the water. They enjoy hiking, relaxing, and playing here, with fresh air that makes people feel refreshed, happy, and healthy.

Oakland Zoo

Children especially like the Oakland Zoo, which is located in downtown Oakland in the East Bay of California. There are more than 660 animals in the zoo, in which you can also take the cable car, small train or a scenic cable car to enjoy the animals and scenery.

California Science Museum

The California Science Museum is the first comprehensive museum of nature and ranked among the top ten natural museums in the United States. It integrates sea, land and air creatures, education, exhibition, and research. There are aquariums, planetariums, art galleries and a tropical rain forest in the museum. Visiting here as a family can increase their scientific knowledge, enjoy a thrilling journey to the universe. It also has the world’s largest breathing ecological living roof. The children of Huang family love the underwater coral reef world which contains more than 2,000 species of fish. They also like to feel the earthquake and walk in the tropical rain forest with living butterflies.

Oakland Children’s Park

Oakland Children’s Park is one of the earliest children’s parks in the United States. It contains a collection of stories, amusement facilities and animals. The Huang family enjoys the long-standing children’s wonderland and imaginative family entertainment together.

Great American Theme Park

Great America Theme Park is a leisure park and a water park. It is one of the four major theme parks in San Francisco. It contains 55 amusement facilities for all ages.

Alameda Beach

In addition to visiting these attractions, the Huang family often goes to the beach on weekends. Here they often enjoy sunbathing, walking, swimming, building sand piles and picnicking.

Oakland Temple Hill

After entering the gate, visitors have the opportunity to see an arrangement of charming flowers and trees. Temple Hill also offers spectacular water fountains, relaxing music, and a graceful waterfall.

The Oakland Temple often reminds the Huang family of their eternal family. This is because they believe in the infinite sacrifices made by Jesus Christ for mankind, giving them the opportunity to follow Jesus Christ to obtain an eternal marriage. This marriage allows their family to be together forever even after this life.

After entering the second gate, to the left or the right of the temple, there is a staircase that will bring visitors up to the roof garden, on which a variety of beautiful and charming flowers are planted throughout the year. From the front, you can overlook the entire temple ground. Behind the temple you can see the beautiful panoramic view of the Bay Area, including the Oakland city, San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge from not too far away.

Sunday Church Service

Having gone to so many places, the laughter brought to the family is just an appendage to the Huang family. What makes their family stable and happy is to attend church meetings every Sunday in the inter-stake center, east of the Oakland temple ground. This is a place where you can improve your morals, strengthen your family, and feel peace. The children often attend Primary during the second hour of church.

Primary is a children’s class established by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for children from 18 months to 11 years old. The theme is “And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of thy children” (3 Nephi 22:13). The children would sing, play, draw, listen to stories, have activities, read scriptures and learn about Jesus Christ together in class. This course helps children to be their best when they learn good values and establish a good relationship with God.

Another thing that attracts them when they go to church meetings is because of their love for Chinese culture. On every Chinese holiday, the Church will hold some special activities to celebrate and have joy together.

These are some fun things to do as a family in the Bay Area. The mother of Huang family concluded by saying “as parents we are happy when my children are happy.” Hope you can also find some suitable family activities that you would enjoy. Wish you a happy family!

Works Cited

https://www.visitcalifornia.com/cn/feature/必去的州⽴公园
https://www.visitcalifornia.com/cn/attraction/奥克兰动物园
https://www.expedia.com.tw/en/Childrens-Fairyland-Oakland.d6063241.Vacation Attraction?eapid=0&pwaLob=wizard-package-pwa&tpid=62
https://www.visitcalifornia.com/cn/attraction/californias-great-america-加州⼤美洲主题公 园
http://www.mafengwo.cn/poi/44512.html