More Summer Outings..

Is it possible to have too much outdoor fun?  No way, not for the Kurani family! Although looking back over the week we had I understand why I'm so tired today.

First stop was the Huntington Beach Adventure Park.  I got the idea for this excursion from a friend of mine, Brenda Ponnay aka Secret Agent Josephine.  She has a great blog and is a uber-talented gal.

Opening up the place

We showed up right at 10am when it opened (ok, maybe we were 10 minutes early), you know cause that's the way I roll.  Admission was only $3. and let me tell you that this may be the best $9 I spent all summer.

Huckleberry Finn anyone??

There is a medium size pond with a bunch of rafts the kids can take out.  Now, before anyone gets too excited let me say that at the deepest point the water came up to the kid's thighs.  So not too deep, but deep enough for fun.

Mom! Mom! Mom! Mom! Watch me!!

Besides rafting, the Adventure Park also has a building area.  A serious building area - you know like where they hand out nails, hammers and saws. 

Building a shelter, we may be moving in :)

Son 1 was in heaven, he got busy collecting wood and finding extra nails to use.   The kids only get issued 3 nails and if you want more you have to turn in either trash or old, bent nails.  The quest to get more nails seemed to be half the fun.

Lunch break

I brought a chair for me and a picnic lunch for the kids.  I ended up moving my chair around depending on what the kids were doing.

At 11am they opened up the "Mud Slide".  Can I just say that this slide is aptly named and a whole bunch of fun - for the kids at least.

Daughter and Son 2 covered in muddy water

Luckily I had read the website information on the park and came prepared.  Because this is what the kids' shoes looked like when they changed.   Disgusting.  The park recommends you bring extra clothes and wear old shoes.  Yep, that was some good advice.

Shoes ready for the trash

I would go one step further and wear clothes that you can throw away when you get home, because honestly I don't think these clothes will ever be clean again.

Mud slide casualties - those are white socks and shorts

But honestly the HB Adventure Park is all about having old fashioned fun and getting dirty. Something we don't always get enough of.

Right next to the Adventure Park is the Huntington Beach City Library - and what a library it is.  We stopped in to use the bathrooms (the ones at the Adventure Park are Porta-Potties) and looked around.  I didn't get a chance to look at their programs but it would be worth going back and spending some time there.

Circular ramp - Central Library was built in 1974

Next on the agenda was a visit to the Bolsa Chica Wetlands Conservancy.  The driveway is easy to miss as there isn't much of a sign and only a small building on site.  Small packages can be deceiving though, because the visitor center was packed full of interesting exhibits for the kids and had the added bonus of being free!

Sea bird exhibit

Outside there are 2-3 miles of trails to explore.  We didn't get to walk the whole thing because Son 1 and Daughter went on strike, much to the disappointment of Son 2.  We are going to plan a second trip here with Nadim on a weekend.

Wetlands trail

The Santa Ana Zoo was also on our hit list this week, but to be completely honest it was the most expensive thing we did and the most boring.  Not a good combination really.  Admission was $10 for me and $7. for each kid.  I would have liked the zoo more if the tickets were half the price.

Bald eagle nest

We did enjoy seeing the Bald eagle nest and the Bald eagle.  The nest was huge!  The Pampas grass exhibit was one of the nicer ones along with the collection of primates.  We saw the whole Zoo in about an hour and then spent an additional 45 minutes at the playground - yep, $31 was too much.

Lamas, emus and camels - oh my!

The Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary on the other hand was great and it was free!!  The drive was a bit long but very beautiful.

Ready for some adventure!

The Nature Center was loaded with hands on science and nature activities.  The microscopes were particularly popular with Son 1 and Son 2.  Daughter was happy with the giant basket of animal puppets and coloring sheets.

Looking at a moth's wing

We started out on the Chaparral trail and headed up to a view point.  Along the way we saw a coyote and raccoon tracks along with a whole bunch of scat (otherwise known as poop). Who knew poop could be so exciting?  I guess I'm to blame since I'm the one who purchased the scat identification chart.  Yes there really is such a thing :)

Son 1 wanted to keep on hiking into the wilds of the Cleveland National Forest, but there was more to see back at the Sanctuary.

Water break

Once down the hill we wandered the trails in the Sanctuary itself and saw an abundance of wild life.  There were bird and squirrel feeders set out to draw animals and the most exciting thing we saw was a covey of quail and a woodpecker.  This was hands down the best outing of the week.

How much longer??

Last was a trip to M and M Nursery.  I've been to this Nursery before, like about 20 years ago, but I hadn't realized that they turned into sort of a niche nursery with their fairy garden angle until I read about it on another friends blog Suffle' Girl and decided to check it out.

Fairy garden display, I love the living roof

If you love Story Book Land and Casey Jr rides at Disneyland (which I do) then you will LOVE M&M.  Even the boys got into it.

Checking things out

M&M has a beautiful display of fairy gardens and bonsai, trust me that if you take your kids you will wind up with a fairy garden of your own.

Daughter's favorite garden

We did.  We came home with some plants and have started our own fairy garden in the backyard.  I'll post some pictures of it another time.  Inside their store, M&M sells all the miniature buildings that really turn the garden into something special.

Son 2 and Daughter checking out the largest garden

How's that for some summer fun??  I don't think we could have done any more - well and remained sane that is.

Let me know if you try any of the places I've mentioned out :)

Have a great week!

Guns..

and Ghosts continued.

So as you may recall we had just finished shooting our way through the first portion of our Spring break excursion Kurani style.  Those of you that are familiar with the I15 north of Barstow probably already guessed where we went next - Calico Ghost Town.

Entering Calico

I haven't been to Calico since the 70's, I didn't remember much except for the Mystery Shack and that it was as hot as hell.  Now that I'm thinking about it, I believe I camped there with my Girl Scout Troop.

Anyway, I thought the kids might be interested because Calico is an old mining area.  The town itself was restored (rebuilt, actually) by Walter Knott - yes of Knott's Berry Farm - back in the 1950's and then donated to San Bernardino County.

Side street in Calico

If you can't tell by looking at the pictures the place is not at all suitable for strollers or anyone who may have problems walking.  The kids loved the rugged nature of it and the first thing we did was check out "Maggie Mine" - basically a chance to walk in one of the old mine tunnels.

Maggie Mine - walking and train tour start here

The obsession with playing "Minecraft" helped turn a tunnel into a fascinating journey, luckily no one suffers from claustrophobia. The tunnel still had it's chutes where material was dropped into waiting mine cars and some interesting signs.  There were a couple of cheesy dioramas set up, but the kids still enjoyed it.  I liked the big fan that was circulating the air. :)

Inside the Maggie Mine

 Once we were out of the mine we continued up the hill to the look out point.  The view was spectacular - the safety railings left a bit to be desired.  On the opposite side of the hill from the view, was a giant hole that used to be a silver mine.

View over the valley

Looking into the giant mining hole

View over Calico out to the valley

View of the mining tailings and railroad

The Mystery Shack was the kids temporary favorite.  I don't think it has changed much since the last time I was there.  There are some visual puzzles in the waiting area, water flowing uphill, a chair that is impossible to get out of and my favorite - the walk up ladder.  About half way through the tour I started getting a migraine.  Nadim also got a headache but the kids were fine.  It sucks getting old.  The geometry of the place is pretty impressive though, I'm still trying to figure out the angle of the floor.  Check out the pic with the Sheriff in it below and let me know if you have any guesses.

Sheriff and the Mystery Shack

Once we started panning for gold the kids forgot all about the Mystery Shack - easy come, easy go.  The line to pan for gold was pretty long and slow.  The kids got a big scoop of sand in a traditional gold pan and started moving it in big circles under the water and knocking the pan against the side of the trough to get the gold to sink to the bottom of the pan.  It is worth noting that the "gold" is pyrite, but the kids didn't seem to mind.

Panning for gold

All in all we had a fun time at Calico, but it is borderline expensive for what you actually get.  As a disclaimer, we didn't actually see any ghosts.  We did see lots of tourists.  If you want to go see a real ghost town check out Bodie State Park.

Ghosts..

and guns.

I know, a non sequitur but that pretty much sums up our day.  Well, I forgot about the burgers.  I guess it should be guns, ghosts and burgers.

It's Spring break for the kids and for me.  A perfect week filled with sleeping in, no schedules and best of all no lunches to pack.

When asked to choose between Sea World and shooting, the kids chose shooting.  And so began our excursion to points north of beautiful Barstow.

First stop was our favorite burger place - Freddy's Steak Burgers - in Victorville.  I guess it says how much we love this place that one of the deciding factors of our trip was that we got to eat lunch here.  They have awesome burgers and frozen custard - delicious!

After we indulged ourselves we continued north, past Barstow.  We finally arrived at our destination - the boonies!  Alright, it isn't actually the boonies.  The boonies are driving east on I40 past Flagstaff... real boonies, like no Star Bucks or McDonald's or gas stations for hours.  Like you better be able to change a flat tire and kill zombies on your own because there ain't another person around for miles kind of boonies.

So this isn't full boonies, just partial boonies.  Anyway, once we arrived the kids jumped out of the car ready to "mine" while Nadim got organized for shooting.  For the past month or so my kids have been playing Minecraft, I personally don't see the attraction, the graphics are horrible, but the kids love it.  This trip segued nicely into that mindset.  For the kids though mining translates into digging big holes and collecting rocks.

Son 1 and Son 2 came prepared with shovels, picks and working gloves - let the fun begin!

We rotated the kids through shooting.  Daughter volunteered to shoot first, then Son 2 and finally Son 1.  The boys brought some paper targets with them of rancid looking, nasty boars.  They had a great time shooting at those.  We did have a few small technical difficulties, like forgetting the table and chairs.  Nadim realized we were table and chairless about 1.5 hours into our journey so it wasn't an option to go back and get them.  Leave it to my trusty husband to "improvise".  We made do with a bucket that was supposed to be for collecting rocks and the target stand.

Daughter

Son 2

Son 1

After the kids were done it was my turn - don't mess with Momma :)  I shot up a gallon milk jug with the .22 rifle and then tried out my old Beretta .22.  Nadim went last, he is an amazing shot with his trusty .45

Of course the .45 is one of the guns I learned to shoot on and I have a classic story of 2 cans of Coke and that gun .. suffice it to say that one can of Coke was for me to drink and they other was to hold on the goose egg on my fore head.  You know that poster "Everything I need to know I learned in Kindergarten"?  Well I should make a poster that says "Everything I need to know I learned on the shooting range with my Dad"

Anyhoo, once we finished shooting we headed off to the ghost portion of our day.  I'll give you a couple of hints - the ghosts were just a couple of miles down the road and there were lots of European tourists there.

Stay tuned for part 2

Crafted at Port of Los Angeles..

so I've been wanted to go try out the Crafted warehouse in POLA since I read an article about it in the Sunset Magazine a while back, today was the day.

Crafted

Although the name mentions Los Angeles, Crafted is located in the City of San Pedro.  I really enjoyed the drive out to San Pedro, it is fun to have some adult conversation in the front seat.  I remember the days when the kids couldn't eavesdrop, but those days are long gone. Spelling out words out has also passed, now we have to talk in coded double entendre.  We could be that couple in 'Americans' except for, well, almost everything in that show now that I think about it.

Anyhoo, San Pedro is an interesting place.  It isn't that easy to get to, but I love driving over the bridges (a steel truss bridge and a steel suspension bridge, no I don't know bridges, I asked Nadim :).  Once there, I'm reminded that a working port is really pretty ugly but fascinating.  The cargo ships are HUGE, the cranes bigger and the grime factor is surprising considering all the real estate is water front.  This isn't the OC.

So we cruised down Harbor Blvd past Ports Of Call and the Maritime Museum, until we hit Crafted.  The old warehouse looks pretty good with its new paint and they had an interesting garden with "art" in it.

garden filled with native plants

jeep as a garden art installation

Once inside it was a bit of a let down.  I would say that 60% of the booths are vacant.  The shops that were there were cute, but a bit expensive with lots of jewelry options and not much else.  Not much in the way of food either.

lots of empty store fronts

quilts!  finally something other than jewelry.

here are some people

There was a really cool industrial art fan, that Nadim pointed out.  It's hard to appreciate the scale in the picture, but it was really big.

ceiling fan

The kids found this art piece - a baby sculpture made out of metal mesh and filled with toys the artist found at the dump.  I found this to be both interesting and disturbing.

kids picking their favorite toys

close up of the discarded toys

I think this place has great potential, but it has a long, long way to go.  On the way home in the car I did some research and vendors there pay $500 a month rent.  I don't see how they sell enough product to make any kind of profit.

Crafted was summed up nicely by Son 1 "Mom, this place has lots of cool stuff, but it is really expensive!"  Indeed.

Update to the Mission Report and Excursion to the LA Zoo

It's official - our - Son 1's grade is in and *drum roll please* he got a perfect score!  You could have knocked me over with a feather.  Son 1's teacher is a very hard grader and is one of those teachers who gives everyone a 'C'.

Here it is, the perfect score.

 Back to our regular programing...

Excursion to the LA Zoo.  I don't think I've ever been to the LA Zoo, but it is possible that my Mom will comment on here and correct me :)  Anyway, we decided to take a quick road trip on Sunday before the Super Bowl.

We had a quick drive out and found the Zoo.

Front Gate

 In all honesty the Zoo was a bit depressing.  Most enclosures were small, the layout was haphazard and the map/signage was horrible.  The kids enjoyed seeing the animals though, here are some highlights:

Black necked swans are back there somewhere.

Flamingos were stinky

Indian Rhino was cool

Giraffes were tall

Elephant!

Heading home

I don't think we will be back anytime soon.  It's pretty tough to compete with the Safari Park and San Diego Zoo.  Although our favorite is still the Living Desert our in Palm Desert.

Happy Monday and have a great week!