Activities

I’ve been MIA over here for a while.  I don’t think I’m prepared to make a full comeback yet, but I wanted to make mention of a few activities that I don’t want to miss.  First of all, October is San Diego Museum Council’s Kids Free in October.  This means that up to 2 kids can get into many of the museums in the San Diego area for free with a paid adult (up to 2 kids per adult)!  We will definitely be taking advantage of this!  More information here.

Also, I saw information about Surfin’ Santa.  He comes to Seaport Village the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  It would be fun to go have a little visit with him this year.  I think my kids would get a kick out of it.  More information here.

New Children’s Museum

Our membership at the New Children’s Museum expires at the end of the week. We took one last trip there yesterday. We rode the trolley and had a really nice time. We really have loved having a membership there. And to read about our day and enjoy pictures, check out Taylor’s zap. I’m too lazy to write my own blog right now and his is probably better than I would say it anyway.
http://taylor-smith.zapd.com/NCM

Taco Surf

We had some friends come into town over the weekend.  They’re both California natives, but now that they’re grown up, he has a job in Nebraska, so that’s where they’re raising their kids for now.  They wanted some Mexican food while they were here, so in true San Diego style, I took them to Taco Surf in Pacific Beach.  It was a hit, and just what they wanted.  I love the decor there.  There are surf boards lining the walls and the ceilings.  One board even has a leash attached.  I wonder if the guys working there just grab a board after work and head into the water.  The Boy loved the “sticker door” that was plastered with stickers.  The atmosphere is great, as is the food.  We will definitely be back!

Living Coast Discovery Center

Although museum month has now been over for 11 days, I have not yet documented any of our adventures. We were too busy having fun! Our first museum we visited was the Living Coast Discovery Center. I was kind of bummed we chose this place first because when I got home that day, we had a mailer from Birch Aquarium telling us that members of the Birch Aquarium could go to the Living Coast Discovery Center for free in the month of March. Oh well, we’ll have to go back. We really did enjoy it and now that the weather’s a bit more cooperative, it might even be better.

I love how open this museum is. There are some trails we could follow to the beach. They are short and very easy to just walk around with the kids. I loved that we could be in nature, just how this area really is naturally. We had a great view of the city and of the Coronado bridge from where we were.

When you arrive at the parking lot, it is still a ways from the museum. There is a free shuttle from the parking lot to the museum entrance. The inside of the museum itself is quite small. It’s more of an aquarium. There is an octopus and a number of other fish. Then out back there is a big tank with sting rays and another big tank with small sharks and a few other fish. There is a short walk just outside the aquarium that takes you to see a few other animals, including a bunch of different birds. I hope we find time to go back this moth while we can still get in for free!

This starfish that captured a fish was so interesting to me

This big guy was moving all over the place

Museum Month

February is Museum Month around these parts, so stop by Macy’s and pick up your pass, beginning February 1.  You can use it at many museums throughout the San Diego area for half price admission!  For more information, check out San Diego Museum Council’s website.

Birch Aquarium

I do a small preschool with 2 other moms for The Boy.  We switch off teaching and having school at our house.  On Thursday, the other two boys were sick, so we cancelled school and I took The Boy to the aquarium.  That place is so much fun with a 3 year old!  He gets so excited about all of the animals, especially the sharks and the sea horses.  And, since his absolute favorite thing in the world is playing games, we spent a lot of time playing the seahorse game over and over.

My favorite part (this time) was the octopus.  I have never seen it move and it’s always hiding in the corner of it’s tank.  But not on Friday.  It was moving all over the place!  What fun!

Downtown

Since The Girl didn’t have school on Monday, thanks to Martin Luther King Jr, we met some friends at the New Children’s Museum.  One thing I dislike about that museum is that I have to pay for parking every time I go.  It was nice to go on a holiday when I didn’t have to.  We had lots of fun sculpting, painting, and climbing.

It’s a seal balancing a ball on it’s nose

 Then, since we were already right there, I took the kiddos over to Horton Plaza where they have giant sized chess and checkers games.  They really wanted to play chess, but those boards were all in use (thankfully, since I don’t know how to play).  So we played checkers instead and had a great time.  Yay for impromptu fun!

Sea World

We haven’t had Sea World passes in a while, but this great deal popped up this year that we might just have to jump on it!  Pre-school aged children can get a free fun card this year.  Not only that, but the fun cards are being sold at the child’s price for adults.  Go here so sign your 3-5 year old up for a free fun card!

A Day in Orange County

Just before Christmas, we took a trip to Disneyland. I love Disneyland at Christmas time. It’s so magical! We stayed in a hotel the night before and the night after we went because, 1. it was cheap (a friend let us buy some of her timeshare), and 2. it’s nice to not have to travel on the day you visit the park. Since we were still in Orange County, I thought I would look for something fun to do the next day. I have always wanted to check out the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana so we decided that would be our destination for the day. First we stopped at Kohl’s for toys because they were having a toy drive and offering free admission for those who brought new toys. Because we got off to a bit of a late start, we didn’t make it to the museum until the afternoon. I wished we had gotten there earlier because we really could have spent a lot more time there. We had a great time! The kids loved it.

We didn’t visit the Indiana Jones exhibit. I don’t think there would have been time anyway. There were a lot of great exhibits inside. My favorite was the hockey exhibit. Maybe it’s my Canadian heritage, but it was a lot of fun.

We could dress up in goalie gear and try to block pucks being shot at us.

We also had a chance to make virtual shots and in another spot we could pretend to ice skate and see how fast we could go.

There was a zamboni that the kids could climb on and a number of other exciting things.

There was also a shopping area. The kids really loved pushing around the shopping carts and scanning things.

Each area of the “grocery store” had different question asking about how we could be more “green.” Then at the end, the kids could check out and earn a coin. That was The Girls favorite part.

The Boy loved going outside to pretend to be a paleantologist. We could choose a Dino Quest and were given an infared transmitter, which we used to find answers to clues on a scavenger hunt. There was one for all ages and abilities.

There was also a giant Argentinosaurus that taught how systems in the body work. We could walk through and see and manipulate different organs. It was educational and fun. That area was all outside, so it got a bit chilly, especially that day.

Outside in “the cube” was a rocket and all sorts of information on rockets and how they work. They have a real rocket booster engine where visitors can experience a simulated rocket launch.

Just inside from the rocket lab is the Bob The Builder area for the smaller tykes. The Boy had a great time there too.

We had a really great time. I’m so glad we were finally able to check out this great museum! It was lots of fun and very educational for all ages. I hope we go back one of these days!

Bird Rock

We have lived in the San Diego area for about four and a half years now.  We have spent a lot of time at the beach, but usually beach trips consist of playing in the water, building sand castles, and trying to find Taylor out on his surf board (which is always a challenge because everybody has a white board and a black wetsuit).  Sometimes we head to the children’s pool to see the seals.  But we never go to the tide pools.  That, my friends, is going to change.  We went on Saturday.  We checked on the tides and they were negative lows.  Usually when they get that low, it’s at a time that is very inconvenient.  This weekend was perfect.  Although it’s been quite cold (and still was there), it was so worth it!  We went to Bird Rock in La Jolla and it was amazing!  We got there about an hour before sunset and there was lots to see.

We ran into some boy scouts we knew from church who were also exploring.  They found lots of cool animals and helped us know where and what to look for.  They had found a few lobster, some small octopi, and even an abalone!

The Girl touching the abalone

She thought this octopus was especially cool.

sea slugs

We had a great time and will definitely do it again.