Summer is my favorite time of year, not because my children don't bicker constantly, they do - but because its time for me to play teacher.
I love exposing my kids to new people, places and things.
So I've come up with a loose schedule for the summer where the the kids and I alternate who gets to pick the outing.
Here is what we did this week :)
Chuck E Cheese - ok, so I hate this place and really it has no redeeming qualities.
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| Token bank |
But the kids chose it so what am I going to do?? I spent $30. on tokens and set them free. The tokens lasted about an hour,
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| Las Vegas for kids |
then we traded them in for about $2.98 worth of crappy toys. On the positive side, we've done Chuck E. so no need to go back the rest of the summe - yes!!
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| Prizes we redeemed about 1000 tickets for |
After Chuck E. Cheese we all needed some fresh air and where better to find some fresh air than the summit of Turtle Rock?
I chose Turtle Rock because I love hiking and it was free! Something to consider with a large family like mine.
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| Heading up to the never ending staircase |
This hike can be quick or pretty long, its up to you. We headed up the face of the hill, the kids love scrambling over the rocks.
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| The kids and I heading up |
Once we got to the top all of Orange County was at our feet, talk about some great views. We hiked down the ridge a while then looped back. There is a nice playground at the foot of the hill, so the kids played a bit and then we headed home.
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| SoCal at our feet |
Next up was the Orange County Museum of Art in Newport Beach. The kids were free and it was $12 each for Nadim and I to get in.
The kids were not excited to see the museum until we pulled into the parking lot and they saw the sculpture outside. Yes, that is indeed a very large un-nuetered male dog peeing on the side of the building. The boys of course LOVED it.
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| "Bad Dog" sculpture outside the building |
The Museum was Nadim's idea and he did a great job of making the art inside interesting and relevant to the kids.
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| My favorite art installation |
The OCMA has a great collection and the museum is small enough that you can see everything without the kids going nuts.
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| Very, very detailed painting |
The kids favorite's were the pieces that were performance art based. The best one was entitled "Open Doors", be sure to check that one out if you take your kids.
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| Modern tapestries |
Finally we visited Sherman Gardens and Library in Corona Del Mar, Son 2 wanted to see some animals - he is my scientist.
The kids were free and my admission was only $3. The Gardens don't open until 10:30 but we showed up at 10am and wandered in. They were nice enough not to kick us out :)
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| Heading inside |
The gardens are beautiful. They don't seem to get many children visitors as all the staff were oohing and aahing over the kids.
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| Heron sculpture |
The whole site is about 2 acres and there is a lot to see crammed into the fairly small space. Take your time and pay attention to all the small details.
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| Koi pond |
The kids loved the koi and the turtles best. The staff told us that there are also 5 tree frogs by the koi, but we didn't see them.
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| Turtle pond |
We headed into the library last. In the car on the way over I had discussed what a Resource Library is with the kids and we guessed what kind off books might be in there.
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| Resource Library |
No we didn't find any Sponge Bob or Fancy Nancy books, we did find some phone books from 1910-1940, Sunset magazines from 1911 and other old, old books. There was even a journal from one of the Father's who came up and founded some of the California missions.
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| Looking up "posterior" |
Son 1 found this dictionary and thought is was hilarious to look up "posterior", you know another word for butt, and leave the dictionary open to the page.
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| Definition of posterior |
The kids liked Chuck E Cheese best (no surprise there) but running a close second was the Sherman Gardens and Library. Who knew??
Keep me posted if you try any of these outings (well, I don't really care about Chuck E Cheese :) and let me know how it went.
Have a great week!
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