The New Children's Museum - San Diego, CA

We recently went on a last minute staycation to our favorite city, San Diego!  One of our must-see stops:  The New Children's Museum!  The reason why I wanted to visit is because they commission art pieces directly from leading contemporary artists and their themes are designed to help visitors think, play and create!  Trash is the current exhibition and the mission is to change how we see trash, and changing perspective starts by asking more questions.

How do we decide what is trash?
How does your trash impact the lives of others?
How can we imagine new possibilities, and a new future for our trash?





Duke jumped right in and started exploring.  We all wanted to venture off on our own though!  There were so many things to look at and so many things to do.

My husband and I were so excited to see Vik Muniz as one of the artists.  We watched a documentary called, "Waste Land" about his work.


This post is heavy on the pictures... there is more
Read more »

My Epic Playdate

What would you do on an EPIC PLAYDATE?



I know exactly what I would do.  Actually there are a million scenarios exploding in my mind.  But to start it off, I would fly my nephews in from San Antonio, Texas.  We miss them so much.  I can't help but feel close to them out of all the nieces and nephews because I am a mom of boys.  And my sons love their cousins.  C and I would pick them up from the airport, sign the boys out early from school and surprise them.  And then we would blindfold them and whisk them off to Vegas.  Just kidding!  I think we would stay at a swanky hotel in Hollywood, order in, eat out, walk on Hollywood Blvd. check out all the characters, do some shopping, sightseeing and hang out by the pool.  Doing all the fun tourist stuff just because we can!!!

The last time our nephews were out here together was in 2008.  We had a blast.  We enjoyed hanging out at their hotel in Anaheim because the pool was open 24 hours a day and it had the best view of Disneyland's fireworks without actually being at Disneyland.  The kids really let loose and so did we.  I wish we could do it all over again!



Hyundai is hosting their own Epic Playdate and it sounds AWESOME!!!  It is going down on April 27th from 9am-5pm in Santa Barbara, CA.  Some of the most popular bloggers on the planet will be hosting this epic event.  Would you like to camp on the beach with Dooce, BoingBoing and Oh Happy Day?  Perhaps a paint fight with Mighty Girl or eating ice cream sundaes till you can't no more with Girls Gone Child...  There will be hula hooping with How To Be A Dad!  Crafting with Oh Joy and Say Yes To Hoboken! (Okay I just totally made that one up because that would be dreamy for me)

Sounds fantastic, right?  You can enter to win a trip for four to Hyundai's Epic Playdate Weekend!  It is an invite-only event so you definitely should get in on this (I know I am) because there are FOUR GRAND PRIZE PACKAGES up for grabs!

To enter, you must have a Pinterest account and you must choose Clever Girls Collective when the form asks "How did you hear about us?"

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

#SundayFunday 3/17/13

I live for Sundays.  Sundays are for family.

We had to take a quick trip to LA to visit LACMA again (twice in one month is a record - I'm not complaining!) because my husband is doing a study on a painting.  He finally settled on a Picasso (after debating between Cezanne and Kandinsky) but before we headed out we had to stop by the Warhols.  Big Warhol, little Warhol.

Found parking right in front of the Odd Future store so Dame could get an early Birthday gift but it was closed!  Decided to call it a day and head back to OC.  Going down Melrose Avenue we saw this hilarious piece by Hanksy.  Sup Weezy!

Further down Melrose, I spotted a Sand Oner piece that was covered in ugly graffiti.

Got a quick bite to eat at In N Out.

We headed to The Camp next because C wanted to check out a store there.  The boys and I got bored waiting for him so we went to get dessert at Blackmarket Bakery.  Dame picked out an Open Wide Ice Cream Sandwich with a warm Snickerdoodle cookie, vanilla ice cream, homemade marshmallows and caramel syrup.  They gave us St. Patrick's Day cookies and everything was so yummy!  I also think I found the perfect smash cake for Omie's Birthday party there!  

We did a lot of things on this rare Sunday but what really stood out:
Excellent customer service at Zumiez at MainPlace Mall in Santa Ana.

What did you do for #SundayFunday?

Knott's Merry Farm Is Pure Magic!

We really enjoyed ourselves at Knott's Merry Farm on Sunday.  It was gloomy and rainy but with great company and with awesome things to do... good times simply happen.

First stop: Private viewing of "Gift of the Magi" in the historic Knott's Birdcage Theatre.
One of the actors in the play gave an introduction and made jokes about mommy bloggers and us live blogging during the play.  I thought it was hilarious.  We all really enjoyed "Gift of the Magi" - even our 7 month old baby was captivated by the singing and dancing.  I didn't hear one kid cry or whine.  Shocking, I know! but thats how good it was!  Duke said it was his favorite part of our Knott's trip.  It is a beautiful story.  This is a must-see.

Duke says he looks like The Once-Ler from The Lorax (I agree!)

Next:  Visions of Sugarplums Reception.
Oh my.  We walked in to the Wilderness Dance Hall (I always wondered how it looked in there) and the sweet smells tickled my nose.  There was hot chocolate with all the fixins, fresh maple syrup lollipops, made-to-order filled churros, bread pudding and pretzels.  And we could make gingerbread people with real gingerbread cookies or sugar cookies!

My husband Chris swore about the hot chocolate and helped himself to two cups.  Now he's insisting I make hot chocolate at home but I bet it won't be as good as Knott's!  We both fell in love with the filled churros.  I went for a boysenberry churro and got him a strawberry one.  SO GOOD!  My friend Tee of ThatsITMommy.com & I watched the Chef doing something with syrup and ice and decided to try the maple syrup lollipops.  Messy but addicting!  You need one.

My son Duke and Tee's daughter Teagan!

See what happens when you encourage the hashtags #uglychristmassweater and #merryfarm on Twitter - a contest happens!  That's Alma of fieldtripmom.com's ugly Christmas vest that everyone tried on.  It won the contest!  YAY!


After the reception, it was raining and we took the kids to Camp Snoopy where they rode Air Mail three times!!!

Last:  "It's Christmas, Snoopy!" Ice Show in the Charles M. Schulz Theatre
This show is phenomenal!  The skaters are first class!  I really didn't expect to see so much amazing ice skating (We've seen other ice shows)

These snowmen made me laugh.  So funny seeing them wobble around!

AMAZING!

I thought the falling snow was magical...

Until the live doves flew out and gathered at the Christmas tree!  PHENOMENAL!

Knott's Merry Farm is pure magic.


"A Peanuts Holiday Parade" was cancelled because of the rain.  And I had to rush home to take an exam so we missed the "Calico Christmas Tree Lighting" - It was so good hanging with blogger friends and their families, so thankful for Knott's for inviting us to experience their Holiday fun.  There is a lot more to see, do, eat, ride!  Create Holiday memories with your family this Holiday season!   

Knott’s opens daily at 10 a.m. The park closes December 25 to allow its employees to spend Christmas with their families. For information about the day you plan to visit and available discounts, call (714) 220-5200 or click on www.knotts.com or download the Knott’s Berry Farm mobile app for your smartphone.

Disclosure:  This is not a compensated post.  I was invited to a media event.  All thoughts are my own.

Our Day Out with Thomas Recap

We went on an hour long road trip to take Duke to spend a Day Out with Thomas at Orange Empire Railway Museum in Perris, CA.  I honestly didn't know what to expect and assumed we would be there about an hour but that hour turned into 4 hours because we had so much fun!  Chris and I thought it was more than worth the $19 ticket price.

Our first stop was the Thomas store.  It was overwhelming.  All the Thomas you can imagine.  We convinced Duke to pick out the Day Out with Thomas 2012 Exclusive Train.

This was taken inside the Thomas store tent. 

The Day Out with Thomas event is a huge fundraiser for the Orange Empire Railway Museum so spend your money!  There are a bunch of vendors in the food court, I saw a Carl's Jr. truck, California Pizza Kitchen truck and the usual hot dog, nachos, bbq and ice cream vendors.

Uh oh, don't go past the porta-potty!

All Aboard!  Me and my littles!

Train graffiti is pretty damn cool.

These kids wanted to race Thomas.  They went hard but Thomas wins.

Don't forget to get your map stamped at all the locations - you get a prize at the end from The Conductor!

Meet Mike the Knight and get a free book and dvd!


There are tons of things to do!  Petting zoo, hay maze, ride other trains, look at train models, go jumping in bouncers, hula-hoops, live entertainment... The Imagination Station had train tables, coloring pages, Mega Bloks, temporary tattoos.  There was a Mommy tent stocked up with diapers and wipes.

Day Out with Thomas is a fun event for anyone.  I highly recommend it for the whole family.  Even though all the Thomas attractions kept us busy, Orange Empire Railway Museum is amazing.  I fell in love with all the old trains.  Some of them were so gorgeous!  Some looked like they lived a great, hard life - I can imagine the stories they would tell if they could talk.  I am bummed that I didn't think to check the grounds map before we went or while we were there because I missed out on the hobo camp!   Guess that means we'll have to take another trip out there!

Get social with Orange Empire Railway Museum on Facebook / @ThomasSoCal

WHEN:                 November 10, 11, 12, 17 and 18th – 9:00 – 4:00 PM
WHERE:               Orange Empire Railway Museum, 2201 South A Street, Perris CA 92570

Day Out with Thomas™ is the biggest annual fundraiser for the Orange Empire Railway Museum whose mission is to kindle interest in the integral role the rail industry has played in Southern California history. Tickets for Day Out With Thomas™ are $19.00 for ages two and up. $21 at the gate. Advanced ticket purchase is recommended to reserve the most popular times to ride Thomas the Tank Engine. For tickets and information, visit http://www.dayoutwiththomasperriscalifornia.com, email events.oerm@gmail.com or call (866) 468-7630 or (951) 943-3020.


Disclosure:  This is not a sponsored post.  My family was provided with tickets to Day Out with Thomas.  All opinions are my own.