Staycation

I don't think I've ever done as much traveling in one month as I did this July.  Three weekends out of the four this month, I'd have gone to three places and stayed slept on three different beds other than my own.  Each trip will earn it's own blog post.  This one, however, will highlight the places I took my kids to during one of the weeks of their summer vacation.

So in the years past, I've always scheduled summer camps back to back.  When one ended, another one was the week immediately after.  This year, because my boys' school schedule was so packed, I decided that we'd take it easy during summer vacation.  I cancelled all of their after school activities that they normally take, and inserted a week of "nothing" between the summer camps and before and after our travels.

During one of the empty weeks, I decided that since the kids are all old enough to behave like decent human beings in public (as opposed to a bunch of wild monkeys), I should take them to different places locally and still have fun.  Otherwise we'd be watching TV all day at home and/or read books. Here are the places that we visited during a particular week: Kidspace Children's Museum in Pasadena, The Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, and Abalone Cove in Palos Verdes.

Kidspace Children's Museum (link)

I took my boys here when they were tiny toddlers.  They weren't even 2 yet.  I remembered the place being a lot of fun for them.  They were a tad too little to enjoy all the activities here, but they nevertheless had a lot of fun.

We visited a family member in DTLA that day, and because it's not too far from Pasadena, we decided that we should go to Kids Space too.  We only had about an hour before closing to play, but that was plenty of time.

Admission is $11 for adults and children, and infants are free.  When you enter, you enter through a tunnel, I think that alone had me in awe.  My children had fun climbing up an indoor treehouse.  We weren't there long enough to enjoy all the activities indoors, because I had to take them outside.  Once outside again, you have two separate areas where kids can ride tricycles on paths.  There were ones for older children, and the other side for toddlers.  Helmets are provided for the older children.  As you go up further up, there is a man made stream where the kids can jump in and enjoy the water. It was incredibly fun!  I brought an extra set of clothes for my kids to change into, but what I should've done was just have them in their bathing suits.  You can take buckets from the tricycle area and bring them up to the stream.  These pictures will speak for themselves!

Aquarium of the Pacific (link)

We're members of this museum, and I feel so lucky that we get to live so close to such an amazing facility.  My boys absolutely LOVED sea animals when they were little.  They were in awe of all the different types of sharks, and the shark petting "zoo."  Aside from that, there is a lorikeet jungle where you can feed the birds nectar.  Sometimes when they're extra hungry, or just feeling friendly, they'd even climb on your finger.

Since my daughter was born, I wasn't able to bring the boys here as much as I'd like to.  One of the twins had wanted to go for quite some time, but I haven't had a chance to bring them until now.

What perfect timing it was!  The aquarium is currently having a jellyfish exhibit.  It was mesmerizing seeing all the different kinds of jellies.  From jellies that have flashing lights, to upside down jellies, to ones that have electrical currents running through them, to glow-in-the-dark jellies, every single exhibit was amazing.  Oh yea, and the rest of the aquarium exhibits, like the giant crabs, the octopus, the friendly sting rays (they come to the surface to say hi!), the fascinating sea dragons, and penguins, etc, aren't so bad either.  *wink*

See the pictures below and prepare to be wowed!

Glow-in-the-dark jellies

A bunch of tiger sharks

A friendly sting ray!

It's hard to tell but there's electrical light running through this jelly.

Octopus! 

Sea turtle

Fish that can change it's gender

Lionfish

Shrimps

Sea dragon

Beautiful leafy sea dragon

Abalone Cove (link)

I've never been here before - however, I've heard many good things about this place.  I've always wanted to bring my kids to the tide pools to explore.  And sure enough, this place did not disappoint.

Don't get me wrong, this place is not for little ones.  It is about a 10 minute steep hike to get to the tide pools.  Then when you get to the beach, you have to walk past a bunch of rocks to get to smooth surface.  The tide pools itself wasn't easy to get to either.  The rocks are sharp and unsteady, so water shoes with more traction (not just Crocs, from our experience) are definitely recommended.  But when we did get to the tide pools, it made the trek totally worth it.  We saw so many crabs, anemones, mussels, hermit crabs, sea snails, etc.  I'd say it's a hard walk for even a 4-year-old, as my daughter, although a total trooper, did have a little difficulty getting around.

Sea snails

It's hard to tell, but these are hermit crabs

A green crab 

Mussels

I think they found a shrimp

If you're a So Cal resident and you're wondering what else there is to do, I hope I gave you some ideas to take your children this summer!  Enjoy the summer while it lasts!

xoxo,
Lin

Mommy Life Hacks

So we've all seen those "Life Hacks" on Pinterest that gives you tips on how to make your life easier. I've got a few up my sleeves as well.  I must say these have helped me in one way or another.  You gotta give it to a mom of twins to figure out how to do things easier.  So...drumroll, please!

1) Tickle them awake - You know those mornings when you have to wake your kids up for school?  Maybe you don't, because your kids actually fall asleep at a decent hour.  But I have my twins in one room, and even though I put them in bed no later then 8:30pm, who knows what time they actually fall asleep.  Once I leave the room, I think they stay up and chit chat for another 30 minutes about Legos or Clash of Clans.  So naturally, they can't wake up in the mornings for school!  I used to have to yell and threaten and give time-outs.  But I finally got smart and thought I'd just tickle them until they physically get out of bed.  I mean, it's genius!  What else can make you wake up faster than loud, insane laughter?  It works SO well.  They're wide awake after a couple of minutes of incessant tickling, and I go my merry way downstairs to prepare breakfast.  No fights, no anger; everyone is happy.  :)

2)  Unloading the dishwasher - You don't need to be a mom to use this trick.  I read this somewhere but can't remember where.  We have two dishwashers at home.  But with 5 people in the house, sometimes I feel like I need 10 dishwashers.  I don't mind loading them, but it's the unloading that drives me crazy.  So now after one load of dishes are done, when I need clean ones, I just go directly to the clean dishes that are still in the dishwasher.  That way, as time goes by, there are less dishes in the dishwasher to unload, and less dishes to load into the dishwashers.  Love this tip.  Even if you have just one, or two, or even more, this trick works.

3) Kids sleep in traveling clothes - Maybe you already do this, but I recently just learned this trick from a dear friend (you know who you are).  I was telling her one day how much trouble it would be to get my kids ready in the morning to catch a 6am flight.  She told me to dress the kids in the clothes they'd be traveling in when they go to bed.  You know, just sweatpants and t-shirts and stuff.  That way, you at least eliminate one thing you need to do.  I was like, "why didn't I think of that?!"  And we've been doing that ever since.  It doesn't sound like a lot of time saved for those of you w/o children, but those of you that do have kids, you know what I mean!

4) Save plastic "kids" cups from restaurants - Those plastic "kids" cups that we get from restaurants when we order the kids meals really come in handy.  On those mornings when we're running late for school (which is like, every morning), I make the kids breakfast and take them with me, then pour their milk in those kids cups with lids, and there you go!  Breakfast in the car.  It's nice because those cups already have lids.  And it's the perfect portion for a meal.  No more having to buy sippy cups at Target, and you get to help Mother Nature by re-using those restaurant cups more than once.

5) Do a potluck picnic instead of a sit-down meal - I thought of this when the boys were still very little.  A bunch of our friends decided that we were going to go to the aquarium together with all our little ones.  And we wanted to have lunch before we went.  We were going to find a restaurant that would accommodate us all.  I suggested that it might be better if each family brought some food to share, and just have a picnic at a nearby park.  That way, the kids can eat and play at the same time, and we wouldn't be driving ourselves crazy trying to keep them in their seats, which is what we would've had to do had we been in a restaurant.  This went well, except we were late and the picnic was over by the time we got there!  Ha!

6) Go to dress rehearsals - For those of you with children who have school performances.  If the school holds dress rehearsals and the school allows parents to go to those, because they want to accommodate everyone's schedule, then GO TO THOSE.  Seriously.  It's the same as the actual performance, only with significantly LESS PEOPLE.  We just experienced that this week.  My husband couldn't go to the actual performance today, so he went to the dress rehearsal yesterday.  I went to both.  And let me tell you, there were only maybe 10 parents there at most yesterday, with plenty of parking, as opposed to today, where it was almost impossible to find parking, and a mob of people fighting to get the "best" spot so they can see their own children perform and get good pictures.  My husband got beautiful pictures yesterday of our daughter.  It's a no brainer.  Every year we're attending the dress rehearsals.

Our beautiful and silly little munchkin

That's about all I can think of right now off the top of my head.   When I think of more, of course I'll post them and share them with you.  TGIF!

xoxo,
Lin

Little Girls' Hairstyles

If you're daughter is like my daughter, then you have the same problems I do.  My daughter has so little hair.  And since my first two were boys, I wanted to be able to do her hair, like, the minute she was born.  Well, I had to wait at least a year until she grew something.  Even so, they were so thin, short, and wispy that I had to look for creative ways to tie and/or braid it.  So my fabulous nanny and I have had to come up with different ways to do my daughter's hair.  Luckily for us, or maybe it's because we've "trained" her to be this way, she actually likes us doing her hair.  Here's a few of the hairstyles that we've created for her in the last couple of months.  My daughter is so cute - I tell her "tilt your head down," and she'll do it.  I tell her, "look sideways," and she willingly obliges.  :)  Love my munchkin.   I wonder if she knows I'm using her as my hair model?  :)   If you have any questions on the techniques, comment below and I'll tell you.

 

 

There are so many other ways to do hair now that her hair is gradually getting longer...I've had to wait this long to post some pictures because it's only when I have help that I can do fancy hairstyles.  And those days don't come often!

Xoxo,
Lin

Valentine's Day Goody Bags

It seems like Christmas was just yesterday, and the stores are already displaying items for the next holiday - Valentine's Day.  I don't know about you, but ever since our kids were born, holidays are all about them.  And when holidays come around, I'm always trying to think of what to give their classmates.  Sure I'll do the cards on Valentine's Day...but I want to do something more, since this is my daughter's first year at school.  I didn't want to do the usual stuff, stickers, tatoos, pencils, erasers, plastic toys, etc.  

Don't get me wrong. My kids love goody bags in all shapes and sizes, especially K.  I can always use those pencils and erasers now that the boys have actual homework to do.  But those plastic toys..I'm just not a big fan.  The kids play with them for about 2 minutes, then they get tired of them and toss them either on the floor, all over the couch, or on the dining table.  If I'm lucky enough to avoid stepping on them and giving myself a huge gash in my foot, I have to pick them up and toss them in the trash.  Which ends up in the landfill.  Ugh.

So every time there's a holiday, I try to be original, or I try to find things that they can actually use.  This Valentine's Day, for K's pre-school class, since there aren't too many of them, I decided on giving the kids something they can use their imagination on.  And the best part of it is, it's recyclable!  I now present you with...

ORIGAMI PAPER!

Yup, origami paper.  The possibilities are endless.  This little sheet of colored paper can turn into whatever you want it to be.  The kids can use their creativity and make anything out of them.  And since it's paper, it's totally recyclable.  I LOVE that.  How many people give origami paper as Valentine's Day favors?  You don't even have to limit this to Valentine's Day!  Halloween, Christmas, Birthday favors...heck, do a St. Patrick's Day goody bag if you want to.  :)   I found some origami folding instructions online (just Google "origami folding instructions").  Given it's a Valentine goody bag, I chose hearts.  Here's the diagram I printed out:

I had this printed earlier but can't seem to find the site where I found it. Google (hence Blogger) shut down for a while and I lost track of things. But click here to another origami heart instruction.

I cut the sheet I printed in half (since they're two different instructions), and inserted a half sheet in each goody bag along with the origami paper:

I got the tiny origami papers at my local Daiso store.  For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a Japanese dollar store.  Everything there is $1.50.  Since Baby K's class is relatively small, I can do a pack of origami paper for each student.  I wouldn't do it for the boys' classes.  There are just too many kids.  There are about 500 sheets of paper in this particular pack.  You can open the packs and divide up the portion.  You can even buy just one pack and insert, say, 25 sheets, in each bag.  That's plenty for little ones.

If there's no Daiso near you, try the local craft store.  Amazon sells them too.  Click here for some.

Well, that's it for today's post!  Hope you liked my idea!  Come back often and come back soon!  If you like my blog, please comment below, and follow me!  Thanks for stopping by!  Happy Friday, everyone!

Xoxo,
Lin