Noah's Ark at Skirball

I have been trying to get free Thursday tickets to Noah's Ark; but I could never get enough for all of us to go. I did get some coupons when we were at the Grove one day when they had brought over a sample of Noah's Ark. I saved a little bit of money but not much since I had to order tickets online and pay the processing fee due to them selling out quickly.

It was a rainy day and turned out to be a good indoor place to go. The girls had fun playing with plastic as well as stuffed animals on the ark, sending animals up into the ark, building the ark, and climbing around in the ark. The girls had fun for a little under 2 hours and actually wanted to go home. It was a fun one time experience; but don't think I would pay for it again. I'll try to wait until I can manage to get free tickets if we decide to go again.

Pretend City

The girls were on Christmas vacation. We normally go on a mini vacation; but this year we decided to do a couple day trips instead. We actually splurged and spent some money to go to Pretend City in Irvine. I was a little skeptical about going from what the reviews had said. I'm so glad we went! The girls had so much fun here.

We got there when it opened at 10:00am and left at 4:30pm. Many reviewers said their kids only got about 2-3 hours tops here. We got 6 1/2 hours here! The girls played in the Curious George room and took a picture with him. Played in a miniature house complete with living room, kitchen, 2 bedrooms, and bathroom. They went to the beach and played in the sand. That didn't last too long because there were not enough shovels to go around. The girls could pretend to be a chef or a waitress at the Mexican restaurant. They got to pick apples, oranges, strawberries and plant carrots and lettuce at the farm. They could play doctor in the Dr.'s office; but they were not too interested in that area. Another favorite was the water table. They have boats you can race with wind machines, go fishing, play with rubber ducks, shark and my youngest daughter's favorite- the lobster. They have a post office, a construction site and a road that goes around the whole place to drive cars.

They even let you bring your own food in and eat at their designated eating areas. Luckily, we had packed lunches to save some money and ate there. We had to end the day when our youngest crankiness caught up with her from her lack of a nap. 1 tired out girl made a quiet drive home :)

Winter Wonderland or Not

We decided to check out a free event in Castaic which they titled winter wonderland which consisted of games, crafts, snow, food and Santa. When we got there, there was no snow, no games and no food; unless you count the boxes of chocolate bars that were just sitting on the floor assuming you could take some. They did have Santa, which the girls sat on his lap and took a picture. Craft materials were on the tables to make a paper plate wreath, popsicle stick picture frame, and pipe cleaner candy canes. They also had face painting which there was no line for since there was not a lot of people. The girls had a good time making their projects. It was a rainy day; so it was nice to get out of the house and do something indoors.

Snow Day

I'm not a big fan of purchasing snow clothes that the kids will grow out of in a year or driving over an hour to find snow, then hear the kids say it's too cold after 5 min. of snow play. My alternative was to go to the local mall and participate in their man-made snow day.

We only drove about 15 min. and the weather was the warmest day in December - about 80 degrees. The girls had fun sledding down a small snow slope and making snowballs to throw at daddy. There was a sign as well as employees telling everyone not to throw the snow. What's the point of the snow if you can't throw snowballs? The mall also provided free treats to the 1st 500 kids which consisted of cookies, cotton candy, pretzel, popcorn or a churro. We stood in line for cotton candy. There were about 5 people in front of us before the machine stopped working. There was a bit of sulking; but the girls quickly chose something else to indulge themselves. We didn't bother waiting in the long lines for face paint or balloon animals that was provided. We spent about 2 hours playing in the patch of snow and headed off for our quick 15 min. drive home.