San Diego Culinary Deal!

I can't help but keep track of what's going on and deals available in the Southern California Area...San Diego has a great deal for a 3 hour culinary walking tour of Coronado!

Visit LivingSocial's page to take advantage of this deal...it ends in 5 days! (6/26)

Pay $22 to take a three-hour culinary walking tour of Coronado (regularly $45).

Pennypickle's Workshop ~ Children's Museum (Temecula, CA)

I've been trying to make some really great memories for my kiddles while on vacation in Southern California and trying to do it with as minimal an expense as possible.  Let's just say that I scored BIG TIME when I remembered that Old Town Temecula had a hands on children's museum...Pennypickle's Workshop.

Children get to spend a 2 hour session adventuring through Professor Pennypickle's Workshop / Home.  It is brilliantly laid out with each room having a different  theme.  For example, the study is really a Time Travel Room and the basement is a Recycling Center.

Let me just quickly share that the wall all the way in the back of the house was my absolute favorite portion...it's just the artist in me.

Okay, now back on to our tour of Professor Pennypickle's Workshop!

As soon as you walk through the door you know that you're in for some fun.  In fact, your eyes quickly start darting around to try to take in all that is before you.  And yes, that is a hot air balloon basket in the hallway...and it has a VERY loud pull bell on it.

And there's plenty more along the halls to be found...I even found my Grandma Stella's workstation.  Think I could do this job?  (I don't think so...too many holes)

Can you imagine how many bad connections I would make?

I had never seen one of these before...and I know, outside of Pennypickle's Workshop, I never will again.

Grace was so excited to play with this old typewriter...she had seen one at a friend's house 2 days before and thought it was "awesome".

As you wander through the museum you can join the hunt for all of the hidden Penny+Pickle combinations...in honor of Professor Pennypickle of course.

Albert Einstein is here and there, everywhere...in news paper clippings, little sayings, displays and even his head!  (now I know how they made those statues watch you as you walk through The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland)

Even the bathrooms are packed with clippings to entertain you...yeah, even the bathrooms.

Part of the fun is the search for the Professor's pet mouse, Beaker.  It almost made me crazy.  I was looking on top of cabinets, in corners, ontop of all of the do-dads that were everywhere. Of course, right when I give up my little Rose spied Beaker with about 20 minutes to go in our session.  I would have never looked where she did way up in that grate.


I have this feeling that they move Beaker around so that the kids have to start the hunt all over again if they come in on another day.  Which means that I would be going batty looking obsessively for him as well.

My favorite room was the kitchen...of course it would be.  You would think that there wouldn't be anything very interesting in a kitchen, but then you haven't seen Professor Pennypickle's kitchen before.  If you look closely at the stove you'll even spy a lavalamp!

An who says that kids can't have fun in a kitchen?  Well, not the professor for sure...they get to twist and giggle their time away thanks to the stack of pizza boxes!

If you needed a snack, well the pantry was fully stocked...including a cargo net full of cereal!

This kitchen even had the most ingenious system for making a PB&J sandwich...if it didn't take up too much space I'd get the whole system installed.

And what's right next to the kitchen?  Why the Basement Recycling of course!  And you have to crawl through a dark little opening...unless you're the adult that finds the secret doorway to get in instead. (I was not that adult)

The Power & Electricity Room (a.k.a. dining room) is full of hands on fun too...my favorite was the electric window. (It was Rose's favorite part of the room too)  And the Professor's assistants are happy to sit down and help with questions and experiments too.

Grace just wanted to control all of the power for the Professor's house...she wasn't very successful though.

One of the favorite rooms for all of the kids seemed to be the Music Room where drums can be beat, a piano can be played and an organ can become a broadcast center...there's a bit to do in this room.

 

I almost felt bad for the other patrons...but then their kids started in right afterwards.

The room that my Grace chose as her favorite was suprisingly the Time Travel Room (Professor Pennypickle's Study).  When we first went in she cowered behind me because of how dark it was combined with flashing lights...but after mustering up the courage to go through the time travel maze it was 100% fun!

Just in case you aren't sure of the time, this wall has been equipped to help you.

 After the time travel light show...you'll come across this bright bucket of water making your way through the maze.

And somehow the kids always end up in this wardrobe here...hmmm.

There's a room set up with giant gears and a sit n' spin...plus a Morris Code station.  It's just SO much fun!

At the end of it all, and after hitting the gift shop for some magnifying glasses, bugs and rocks, our little crew of kiddles were already planning their next outing back to Professor Pennypickle's Workshop. I think they had fun, don't you?

So, if you're in the Riverside County area (California) and you're looking for some relatively inexpensive entertainment for the kids, head to Old Town Temecula and look up Professor Pennypickle's Workshop on Main Street.  You won't be disapointed and your kids will be well entertained.  There is SO much more to discover than what I have pictured in this post.

PLUS Professor Pennypickle has special events on Fridays during the summer months! (event tickets are $5/person)

Our crew at the end of our adventure.

So. Cali Getaway ~ Disneyland

Right now I'm missing my Charming pretty badly...even though it has only been 5 days since I saw him...and I talk to him every day.  The reason behind the longing for my Hubby..other than the fact that I love him?  The girls and I headed back to Southern California for a little visit with my parents (a.k.a. Papa & Nana) for the first couple weeks of the Summer Break...first really fun stop: DISNEYLAND

Surprisingly, it wasn't as crowded as I had anticipated it being on a Friday...but we did hit it right before most of the Orange County area is let loose for the summer.  Most likely we were also the blessed recipients of all of those families waiting to come until the new  CARS attractions are unveiled.  The weather - Perfect.  Not too hot, not too chilly, just enough sun and just enough cloud cover.  There wasn't a care in the world regarding sunburns this time...plus I had my Banana Boat SPF 50 sprayed from head to toe on my little kiddles.

First thing I noticed is how different the entrance to Disneyland's California Adventure Park now is...no more gigantic letters spelling CALIFORNIA out front.  Miss those mosaics!  Bring them back Disney!!!

I managed to not hand-hold for the first attraction stop at the Wilderness Explorer portion of the California Adventure Park...and OH was it HARD.  It must have seemed like I was a crazy lady running below the rope bridges trying to follow my girls while giving them a bit of freedom.  Grace (now 7) managed to take a wrong turn on a bridge and ended up in a mini-panic because I was tracking Rose (still 5).  Tears and a bit of fear of being "lost" would bring out some caution in most kids, don't you think?  Not Grace.  Nope she pulled the same thing a few more times throughout the day and was more worried about how mad I would be rather than how lost she could be.

We spent time with my mom & my Aunt Laila, and for the first time we also got to enjoy the park with my sis-in-law Rachael and my nieces & nephews.  (and of course Rach is missing from my photos because I was focused on the kiddles...go figure)  It's still shocking that we hadn't done the trip with all of us together before my little family made our move out of state.

There was a whole lotta estrogen there...which means a whole lotta "What do you wanna do?" "I don't care, whatever everyone wants to do." "Well we can do whatever you think is best."  Our focus for the day was simply getting on as many rides as we could...with the shortest wait times.  The winning ride for the most enjoyment with the least wait...Ariel's Undersea Adventure.  We rode it 5 times with only a 5 minute wait each time!

On a side note: We were laughing about one incident that was happened upon...someone had a smoothie that didn't agree with them and it ended up all over the walkway right in front of the Jungle Cruise.  Somehow it took a long time to get someone there to clean it up and keep people from walking through the mess ("Ewww, it's puke mom!") yet there was no sign of  bird droppings anywhere.  What's up with that?!?  How does Disneyland keep the birds from making deposits all over the walkways and eateries?  The parking areas have plenty of "mess" but the park is basically "dropping free".

Well, with that said, the kids were all bursting at the seams and walking hand in hand from the time we started to the moment it ended...so many plans for our day. My only controllable regret was that I forgot my camera and had to rely on my phone...which was turned off to conserve power for photos and yet still died long before our adventure was over. All in all it was a day filled with smiles, Capri Sun drinks, kettle corn, squeals & giggles!  A fund day to be had by ALL.

I wonder what other adventures lay before us?  Hmmm...

Adventure To Apple Hill!

Halloween is typically not my favorite time of year...BUT we tend to focus on harvest time rather than the spooky.  So we started off the month with a trip up to APPLE HILL!  Apple Hill is an area between Placerville & Camino, California which transports you from the feel of the mountains & pines to beautiful orchards repetitively.

Since we traveled about 2.5 hours from Reno, we decided to utilize the Green Apple Shuttle and it's route on our first visit.  The apple grower's association has two routes, the Red Apple and Green Apple, and offers FREE shuttle service Saturdays & Sundays (10am - 5pm) during the month of October. Visit Apple Hill Growers for complete information on activities throughout the year!

There were more than just apples, there were pumpkins available and some of the orchards also have Christmas trees growing for the upcoming season.  My little kiddles LOVED checking everything out.  

Our first stop wasn't much to explore, but there were some very delicious apples to be had while we waited for the other half of our adventurous crew. (Charming's cousin & family were meeting us!)

The second stop, Grandpa's Cellar, offered a bit more to entertain us...first our eyes were greeted with craft booths, then our noses were tickled by a grill going with smoked tri-tip, THEN the bakery tempted us with the smell of fresh apple pies just waiting to be devoured.  We resisted the eatery, which was hard to do but we prevailed, and headed to the craft booths.

Both girls had their sights set on one booth in particular...one with FACE PAINTING!  Grace decided on a pretty pink flower with green vines and Rose selected a large butterfly...both completely covered in glitter.  It's pretty, but I'm not a fan of glitter on kiddle faces...it tends to get EVERYWHERE.

Grandpa's Cellar had something that you definitely don't see every day...an emu.  Yeah, that's what I said, a domesticated emu.  I couldn't believe that this bird wasn't trying with all its might to get away...if it were me I would be using my strong legs & beak to make a break for it.  There wasn't a peep, or squawk from it...for some reason it was completely trusting of us all.  (that's one VERY trusting bird)

The kiddles thought that it was one of the coolest things ever.  They got to pet it while it's owner shared information about the large bird.  THEN my little Grace started asking questions...that poor man had no idea what he was in for *haha*

One of the wonderful things about Apple Hill is that there are nature trails that can be taken from one orchard to another.  It was so much fun to watch as the girls made their way along he path making comments about all the things they were seeing/imagining along the way.

It was so peaceful and calming, I could have wandered there all day.  Glancing up at the sky, there was such a beautiful mixture of leaves and needles.  That's a sight that I'm not accustomed to seeing.  And as we crossed a little bridge I noticed this small waterfall at the base of a rather large tree.  "Somebody go get me a piece of pie and bring it back to me", I thought...how do I just walk away from something so tranquil?  The promise of other apple baked goodies, that's how. :)  See, I had heard that one of the best orchards on our route was just around the bend and it promised something for everyone to enjoy...I had to move on.

Before I could call out for that pie, we came to what was decidedly our favorite stop along the Green Apple route, Apple Ridge Orchard.  There was SO much for the girls to experience.  Sure, you might think that I'm wrapping this up...I'm not.

If you ever make it up to Apple Hill then you have to visit Apple Ridge Farms. Especially if you have little kiddles with you.  They have built a little petting zoo complete with goats, sheep, cows, chickens and rabbits.

There's even a tractor for picture opportunities...and with my girls, there were opportunities.  Kiddles were coming out of the woodwork to try to climb and claim the coveted tractor seat.  Grace would have stayed up there all day if I hadn't insisted on her getting down to let another little guy make his way to "steer".

And if I missed the tractor, there were cutouts for me to take advantage of as well.  I love the cutouts...especially when Rose can't quite reach the hole.  I just realized that these pics would actually make some really great Harvest or Halloween cards.

We were so happy that we held out for lunch here...the tri-tip sandwiches were amazing AND we finished things off with fresh baked apple turnovers & caramel apple slices. 

(I apologize for not having those pics, but there was no way that I was going to hold off on that apple turnover)  The bakery was ridiculous...the window held turnovers, strudel, pies...OH those pies!  We are definitely going back for the pies!!! 

And then there's the pumpkin patch & hay maze...

Just when I thought we were done and ready to go, there's the fudge/gift shop and all of its sweet goodies (fudge, bonbons, nuts, etc.) with another picture opp in front...oh they pull out all the stops here.

I think you could conclude that we had a really wonderful time...and can't wait to make our way up the mountain again!