We attended the most beautiful wedding at Green Mountain Retreat! The location is wonderful and the…read morefood and ambiance were terrific! Very great place!

The setting (in Lexington Hills, CA -- who knew?) is fantastic. I was here for a large group for a…read moresymposium with talks, meals and hanging out; I liked all of the public rooms and buildings that I visited. Our food was lovingly prepared, and really quite good. There are lodgings scattered all around the property. Some of the cottages might be OK. I stayed in a dormitory-style building that apparently was some kind of monks' residence when it was first built. That was clearly long ago. My first thought when I walked into the residence was "museum of mildew." The rooms have old-style plumbing, or no plumbing at all, and what's there doesn't work all that well. My bedroom could be locked from the inside while I was sleeping but couldn't be locked for the day when I was gone. As a result, I ended up leaving my electronic devices alone in an unlocked room for much of my stay. That sure made me nervous, but there was no actual problem in the end. If it's vampires that keep you up at night, you can relax while you're at the Retreat. The crucifixes scattered around the property will keep them at bay.

I have only taken my son here once but I have already signed him up to come back. I paid $120 for…read morethe day. It sounds like a lot but when I'm given the security of his safety and knowing throughout the day he is enjoying himself, that $ is well worth it. I was nervous having never even visited the place and only going off of another parents recommendation but the staff gave me direct communication as I continuously checked in (shout out to LuLu) and she provided me the comfort of knowing he's having fun and he told me he wasn't ready to come home until the last min of his day. He is excited to go again. He talked about the fun he had that days for several days after. I would def recommend trying it out even if it's just for one time. I'm sure your kid will talk you into coming again.

GrowFit seems to have a strong formula for highly active kids, and I can see why it is popular…read more However, my personal experience was disappointing due to concerns around supervision, overstimulation, and staff warmth. My son generally does best in more structured environments. This camp felt very busy, chaotic, and highly stimulating for him however he seemed to enjoy the activities very much. With a large group of children, I personally expect very active and engaged supervision, especially during free play. That part made me nervous as I saw on drop off no supervision while boys were playing soccer in my childs group. Ultimately, I made a decision to cut the camp short and move him to a another camp that blends sports and arts and had better student teacher ratios and just more a more personable manager in charge. Although GrowFit does not offer refunds, I still felt more comfortable choosing a calmer, environment. He is doing much better there, and I have less anxiety on saftey.

Los Gatos Rowing Club is located at Banjo Point of the Lexington Reservoir County Park, off Alma…read moreBridge road just prior to The Miller Point day use area. It is a private facility and dock; the boathouse and facilities are shared with Santa Clara University Boat Club, which also has an active and successful program at Lexington Reservoir. Public parking is however available in the parking lot. The Los Gatos Rowing Club (LGRC) is maintained in cooperation with Santa Clara County Parks & Rec, and provides rowing opportunities for youth and adults in the South Bay and beyond, including Santa Clara, San Jose, and Santa Cruz regions. The Los Gatos Rowing Club is a California non-profit {501(C)(3)} corporation. Currently, with the exception of the coaches, volunteers do all of the club's work. HISTORY of the LGRC The LGRC has started on Lexington Reservoir in 1979, and trained over 2500 student athletes to date. The LGRC alumnus participated in the Olympic and other world competitions. Both competitive sweep rowing and sculling programs are offered as part of the adult masters program. LGRC's junior rowers won multiple national titles. LGRC provides summer camps and classes for middle- and high-schoolers, as well as adults, together with Santa Clara County Parks & Rec, within various outreach programs like Wounded Warriors and Row 2 Recovery (for cancer survivors and their caretakers, family, and friends). The old boathouse that used to be on the dam for 10 years since the LGRC inception was destroyed in a fire. A group of dedicated parents and coaches raised loans, grants and donations to finance acquisition of land, build new boathouse and buy full set of new boats and equipment. The club used a temporary boathouse of storage containers while all these efforts were underway, over a period of about 1.5 years. New boathouse that is currently in use on Alma Bridge Road overlooking Lexington Reservoir was completed in 1996.

If you are going to row you need to understand it is a commitment. There are no MVP's in rowing…read more The boat wins or loses as a boat. You are as good as your weakest member. As such when you are all in the same boat, you need to know that the person behind you and in front of you is as committed to the goal as you are. When you are neck and neck with another boat in the last 100 meters of a race, you need to know that the people in the boat with you are putting everything into winning like you are. Believing in your team mates is everything. Hence, the purpose should be to make the fastest boats. Unfortunately this program appears to be more focused on revenue generation. Kids that have been rowing for months are all of a sudden teamed up with newbies who don't know what an oar is. Kids don't show up for practice on a regular basis and because the focus is to keep the money coming in, the coaches acquiesce to the kids and blow it off. As such the kids who are determined, become disillusioned when rowing with uncommitted team members. In a program run by a school, if you miss practice, they bounce you. You don't show up, you teammates lose faith in you, and when you are fighting for that win in the race, they need to know you have put everything on the line. If you can't show up to practice, clearly you mind elsewhere. Being good at rowing will get you entry to great universities. I WISH there was a high school locally that had a rowing program. LGRC has coaches that have limited if any experience, appear to be in a transition in their life between college rowing and a real job, and even the experience is from schools with marginal programs. Redwood shores has better programs, Redwood Scullers, Oakland Strokes, NorCal rowing, if you want to drive 40 minutes each way.

Our kids attending the week long summer camp and they loved it. It was the perfect blend of outdoor…read morefun and activities for their age, 9 and 11. They made connections with staff and other campers and were happy to chat about what they did each day. Staff posted email updates a couple of times in the week on what they did and what they would do. Definitely would recommend. I got a real sense that the staff took great care of the kids right from the start and were 100% engaged

My kids love Wilderskills. They come home every day from camp excited to be learning about making…read moreshelter, cooking food, identifying plants, and learning survival skills. And it's so wonderful to have them in nature all day, playing and coming home tired and dirty. Thank you to the counselors and leads for making this camp so special!

My son had a great experience here! It was his first time taking a soccer class. Coach Sophia…read moreworked so well with the kids to ensure they not only had fun, but learned the rules and skills of the game. The class was conveniently located and the registration was very easy. We can't wait to come back in a couple of seasons!

My eight year old son just finished World Cup Soccer Skills Clinic with Coach Alex and he had a…read moreblast! Class started with fundamentals and drills and ended with scrimmages. Coach Alex made sure to maximize all his time with the kids and kept them dribbling to the last minute. He was dedicated and ensured all the players were learning key skills and having a fun time. The clinic was a great way for my son to get in extra touches on the ball. Working with the admin team was also easy and they helped accommodated our situation.

Inspired by watching the TV series Alone made me want to get started with learning survival skills…read more- this course helps you get your feet wet in the core elements of how to analyze and think critically when faced with a survival situation. Dan Baird was an incredible instructor (his background as a primitive survival specialist must be highlighted here) as he gave a very clear reality of what we need to tackle i.e. shelter and temperature regulation, knowing your environment, etc. We got to build shelters on what we think we would good for a survival and Dan showed us a much more sustainable version: both in a limited amount of time to replicate more dire situations. We also got to practice tying up gauze in case of heavy injury and bleeding as well as how to properly navigate via a compass (who knew there were two kinds of "north"?!) Overall, I highly recommend and will be back for more! Note: our training was in the mountains of Livermore - your car will get dirt on it!!

My friend and I met up for this adventure and we both had a blast while learning practical survival…read moreskills. I enjoyed our instructor Dan Baird as he was skilled at his craft and excellent at involving everyone in our group of many ages and backgrounds. Can't wait to pack my survival/first aid kit and use my tools on my next adventure. Side note: The intro class does make you want to take more classes!

I've been to Vasona many times and seen the sign for YSI, though I finally ventured in today!…read more This place is somewhat of a hidden gem; while it offers a chance to learn more about endemic species in our area, it is also very small. For that reason, I would say it's great to come here but I wouldn't go out of my way for it. COST: $6 for parking, but no cost to enter! PARKING: there is a spacious lot right next to the entrance. AMBIANCE: clean, uplifting, and cozy. There are many educational toys and books, which complement the somewhat small selection of animals to see. Would come back, but would be best to combine this with a walk in Vasona or a trip to the Oak Meadow merry-go-round or train.

Every child should be treated equally, my son was told he will not be given a shirt because he had…read moreparticipated in another class this summer, just because we are a returning customer my son had to experience this, when I asked Allyson(the director of the program) she said that's how things are done here and your son is not getting a shirt. Amazing