Archive for the ‘Local Events’ Category
Today I went in search of new sandals for Pixi (which I didn’t find) and ended up in Babies R Us. I rarely shop there anymore since we’ve outgrown the necessity for baby items/gear but I was striking out at every store so we decided to run in. (My apoligies to the girls that work there that had to deal with the P’s during check out).
Well I didn’t find sandals for Pixi there- I was looking for plain silver or white that don’t go between the toe and every place either didn’t have her size or didn’t have that style-but I did find a TON of clearance that was all an additional 40% off! Including shoes! They looked like they were already starting to put out there fall stuff so all of the summer clothing was on sale! Lucky me who needed to grab some stuff for an upcoming trip to the desert!
I walked out the door with two rompers, a sun dress, and a pair of tennies for under $25!!! The shoes were only $6.50! I don’t know how long the clearance will be like this but if you need to stock up on summer clothes for your little one I suggest checking out.
This year’s camping trip certainly wasn’t perfect (the weather at the beach was horrible, the clouds were too low to see all of the fireworks, and one of the mama’s was on crutches) but when you add 5 marines, their wives, and 11 Devil pups to a couple of campsites on the beach….LOTS of fun will be had by all! And, watching Dolphins swimming just a few yards off the shore, certainly makes up for the cold windy weather!
If you are Military and have access to the camp sites on San Onofre Beach I HIGHLY recommend going. There are RV hookups and cottages to rent also but in my opinion, a tent on the sand is the way to go! Each site is equipped with water and electric, a picnic table, fire ring, and an amazing view. And what better time to go than to celebrate Independence Day!
The resort beach also has bathrooms and warm showers, lifequards on duty, and playground for the kids.
My girls, especially, enjoyed the playgrounds on the sand.
Of course, there wasn’t much that little Pixi didn’t enjoy about her camping trip.
The digging conditions were superb!
and the Guacamole was plentiful!
The big P’s did a little “Surfing”
And Bubba had a blast just being a boy!
But the most fun was had around the fire ring, roasting marshmallows, enjoying our friends, and celebrating the good ol’ U.S. of A!
I hope you all had a wondeful 4th of July!
The Port of San Diego Festival runs from June 30th-July 8th, at 1140 N. Harbor Dr., and includes lots of family fun with inflatables, and a Giant water slide.
On the 4th of July the Festival is the official home of the Big Bay Boom Fireworks. This festival looks like SO much fun and best of all, it benefits the Armed Serivices YMCA!
If you are looking for something fun to do with thte family this week or wanting a fun way to celebrate the 4th of July, check out Plum District for discounted tickets. They are $20 for 2 (regularly $20 each) and non-participating parents are free.
Since Peyton ended her Kindergarten year reading well above her grade level, I wanted to make sure I kept her reading throughout the Summer. Summer Reading Programs are a great, fun way to keep the kids engaged. This year we have joined the DoD Summer Reading Program: Reading is So Delicious.
This is the 3rd year that the DoD has offered a Summer Reading Program and you can register your child at any of the Military Installations Libraries. The main goal is to keep your child reading during their summer school break, and they make it fun by raffling prizes (our Library is giving away several sets of tickets to Sea World!), hosting a weekly story time with crafts, and handing out themed material such as Tshirts, pencils, and erasers.
Our personal goal is to read 100 books (we only have early readers in this house so the books aren’t too lengthy) this summer and we are well on our way having completed 25 already. However, reading 10 books earns them an entry for the grand prizes at the library!
If you are interested in Registering you children contact your local installation’s library. Not Military? No problem! Most of the local city libraries also offer a Summer Reading Program! Also, you can check out PBS kids~they are hosting an online summer reading challenge, or the Scholastic Summer Reading challenge.
One of the items we added to our Summer Bucket List a little late was to “Go to the Farmers Market”. Last Sunday, that is exactly what we did! I have to say, the North San Diego Farmers Market was a little smaller than I had hoped. It is really somewhere you could just swing by and pick up your produce for the week not really a “make a day of it” kind of market. But, it is located on a historic farmstead (which just happens to be dirctly behind a golf center~oh today’s world) and you can tour the farmhouse. It was 90* last Sunday so we didn’t, but I’d like to go back and check it out!
The P’s LOVE fruit especially berries so they were happy with their purchases of Strawberries and a Berry/Eugenia mix.
The only other fruit we found there last week was citrus so we didn’t buy any. The woman there informed us that they are very local farmers (San Diego County only, unlike bigger markets that bring in produce from all over SoCal) and that each week varies. She assured me that this week there would be plums and other stone fruits.
Want to visit?
The North San Diego Farmers Market is open on Sundays from 11-4pm at the Sikes Adobe Farmstead 12655 Sunset Drive, Escondido, CA 92025. They do accept credit/debit cards but you must get “Market Money” from the booth at the front and there is a $1 charge for every $20 you get from them. In my opinion it’s better just to bring some cash.
If you are looking for a Farmer’s Market in your area check out: Eat Local Grown for a map of local gowers and Farmers Markets
The P’s have never been to the fair so when Peyton was invited to perform with her dance studio we jumped on the chance to take the whole family (well, most of the family….thank you USMC for stealing Wunderdad from us while he was on leave) and cross another item off our Summer Bucket List.
I was really pleased with the ‘Family Friendly’ quality of the San Diego County Fair. Aside from the massive crowds, which alone can give a mama a massive coronary, the people working the fair were very pleasant. Seriously, it seems like they were mostly high school kids and senior citizens, quite a far cry from the typical ‘carnies’ you envision. And the crowd itself was mainly families and teenagers. We were there on a Wednesday afternoon so I don’t know if the demographics change a little on the weekends or at night.
The performance was a success and afterwards the P’s took a spin through KiddieLand.
Having little ones I really appreciated this area of rides and games that was specifically for kids! The rides took an average 3-4 tickets as compared to 4-6, and the P’s had a great time on the ’roller coaster’.
We were lucky enough to come home with a new family member too! Meet Goldy the Goldfish. At the goldfish game it is $2 for 15 tries or $5 will guarantee you a fish in a tank. Guess which one we did!
For Pixi’s enjoyment we perused the Agri-Fair (She loves her “A-mee-mows”) where we saw cows, piggies, sheep, chickens, and lots of ”Bunnneeee!”s. (pictured)
A trip to the fair wouldn’t be complete without some sort of treat so we finished off our day with a Snow Cone (cotton candy flavor)! I didn’t get a treat (although for surviving 5 hours and a dance performance at the county fair, solo with 3 P’s I should be awarded a medal) so I may need to go back just to have some funnel cake.
Planning on visiting the San Diego County Fair?
- The SDfair runs through July 4th
- Adult admission is $13, Children 6-12 $7 (Tuesdays they are FREE), and 5 and under are FREE
This wasn’t on our original bucket list but was something that our MAG (Marine Air Group~ aka a group of squadrons) put together for the kids. We did a full tour of the Firehouse on base and had a wonderufl time. It was totally entertaining and very educational!
Even little Pixi got in on the action climbing into the Big Red Engine for a photo op! The kids toured the kitchen, sleep quarters, conference room, and living room. They got to check out the inside of the trucks and learned what just about every piece of equipment is used for! They also learned about the ambulance and all of it’s equipment.
The final part of the tour was a Firefighter demonstration. This is by far my favorite part. Not only is all of their gear pretty cool but it is SO important for children, especially the little ones, to be comfortable with them. This firefighter put on all of his gear, icluding his oxygen tank and mask and crawled around on his hands and knees (just as he would in a fire) talking to them. Great experience for the kids to know what Firefighters look and sound like should they be coming to help them in the event of a fire, and to not be afraid and run away.
Another great day with another great adventure!
***Most City Fire Departments hold tours during Fire Prevention Week each year so keep a look out for information on those! Always a great experience for the kids.***
We crossed off another one from the Summer bucket list today; Visit a Museum. And I can’t wait to go do it again! The P’s LOVE museums but after living in DC a couple of years ago and making our way through the Smithsonian’s we haven’t visited any here in San Diego. That all changed today when we went down to Balboa Park for their Resident Free Tuesday!
Each Tuesday of the month they host FREE entrance to certain museums. Today we were able to visit the San Diego History Center and the Veterans Memorial Museum. We can’t wait to go back and check out the Science Center, Natural History Museum, Air and Space Museum and SO many more! Not to mention, just walking around the park is a great day…it’s Beautiful!
Resident Free Tuesday’s Schedule:
First Tuesday Reuben H. Fleet Science Center Centro Cultural de la Raza San Diego Model Railroad Museum San Diego Natural History Museum (Not valid for Titanic exhibition or 3D films)
Second Tuesday Museum of Photographic Arts San Diego History Center Veterans’ Museum and Memorial Center
Third Tuesday San Diego Art Institute Mingei International Museum San Diego Museum of Art San Diego Museum of Man Japanese Friendship Garden
Fourth Tuesday San Diego Air & Space Museum (Not valid for special exhibitions) San Diego Automotive Museum (Last admission 3:45pm) San Diego Hall of Champions SELECT House of Pacific Relations International Cottages
Fifth Tuesday Normal museum prices in effect. The Timken Museum of Art is always free.
Have you visited any of these museums? I’d love for you to leave a comment and let me know which one’s your favorite!
Our Summer Bucket list is in full swing. The kids are having a blast and have been surprisingly VERY well behaved! Today we did a quick lunch and visit to the San Diego Zoo, which also happens to be item #1 on our Summer Bucket list.
We’ve been Zoo members, which also includes membership to the Zoo Safari Park, since my oldest was about 15 months and it never gets old! With two parks that are very large we love to go and spend a couple of hours, always seeing something new. The children’s zoo, complete with a petting corral and play structure is always a huge hit with the P’s too!
It’s been years since we went to the Summer Nighttime Zoo and we are really looking forward to it this year! The Nighttime Zoo starts June 23rd and runs until September 3rd, from 2pm-9pm. The San Diego Zoo is a great place for an evening outing with the kids to enjoy some great entertainment!
If you are a local resident I highly recommend purchasing a year membership. With Adult single day passes being $42, an $88 membership (or $109 for two people in the same household) quickly pays for itself! Also, Active Duty Military are always FREE!
Woot! School is out and we have one heck of a Bucket list for this summer! This was my first year with two of my P’s in school (sort of, P2 only went two days a week) and I have missed my daily adventures with them so we are doing it up this summer!
To make it officially a ‘Bucket’ list I found this cute little bucket in the Target Dollar section (if you haven’t figured out by now, I love me some Target and I love me some dollar deals!). We wrote each item from our list on wooden craft sticks with colored markers. (I plan on doing something with the sticks after we complete each item, but more on that later). I like this idea because it makes it easy to add more to our list later.
So….what are planning this summer? Here’s our list of 50 fun summer activities! (I have to say some may not be happening, there was a little bit of over immagination/wishful thinking going on when the P’s were brainstorming).
- Go to the Zoo
- Go to the Wild Animal Park
- Go to Seaworld
- Play in a splashpad
- Have a picnic
- Fly a kite
- Go swimming
- Go to the beach
- Camping
- Roast Marshmallows
- Have a play date
- Go to the fair
- Take a Road Trip
- Join a summer reading program
- Read 100 books
- Build a sandcastle
- Go to a Baseball game
- Play with flashlights outside (flashlight tag)
- Have a waterballoon fight
- Visit the tidepools
- Family bike ride
- Try a new park
- Go to the library
- Visit a museum
- Look at the boats
- Visit Coronado Island
- Watch fireworks
- Eat a snowcone
- Ride our scooters
- Go to the movies
- Have a BBQ
- Take a walk to look at flowers
- Watch the sunset on the beach
- Go to a waterpark
- Play putt putt golf
- Collect Seashells
- Bird Watching
- Feed the Ducks
- Make S’mores
- Go on a treasure hunt
- Go for a hike
- Have a dance party
- Make ice cream
- Take a boat ride on the sea (P2′s request…one of the one’s I think may not happen)
- Go for a train ride
- Make lemonade
- Climb on rocks
- Climb trees
- Check out some airplanes
- Have a bubble party
So what are your plans for the Summer? Did you make a bucket list? I’d love to hear what you have planned and maybe get a few more ideas for our list!
*****We’ve added more!*****
- Go to a farmer’s market
- Have a Family Game night
- Visit a Historical Site
- Visit a Farm
- Dig in the dirt/make mud pies
