Candyland-Japanese American Museum

The Japanese American Museum's Target Free Saturdays have not failed us yet; so we had to check out their candyland event. No, not the candyland board game - just a bunch of free candy to help celebrate Valentine's Day.

We got there and immediately stood in a line to get to the candy buffet table. They had an assortment of candy from different countries around the world. The girls got to pick 3 pieces to put in a box. If they wanted more, they could get back in line. As the line got shorter, we went back a couple times so they could get candy that is not very common to get in US stores. It was fun to try candy from the different countries. A favorite was the Taiwan(I think)Jello type candy.

The girls had fun making candy leis using 8 pieces of candy, a long cello bag and some yarn. They also made a cupcake flower using paper cupcake wrappers and a pipe cleaner. Last, was the sweet message box, where they took a wooden circle to decorate and wrapped it like a piece of candy, put it in a box to decorate to give to their Valentine.

They snuck in something healthy among the candy fest. How dare they! A table to make your own fruit kabob lined the wall. It was full of bananas, apples, strawberries, and pineapple. My youngest, who loves fruit, put everything on her stick and gobbled it right up. My oldest, who is not a fruit eater, just made hers from apples, took a couple bites and gave the rest to me.

Another highlight was the photo chocolate lollipops. We stood in line to have the girls picture taken, then we could watch as they printed their picture with edible ink onto chocolate lollipops. They girls have not eaten their faces yet. They look to cute to eat.

The last treat of the day was a Japanese dessert called Mochi. He demonstrated how they make it and gave out samples. It is made from rice and looks and tastes like a rainbow marshmallow. But unlike marshmallows, I could only handle eating just one. The 1st one tasted good; but not so much after that.
The girls only had one complaint with their fun filled candy day. Which was, I want more candy!

Thanksgiving at the Japanese American Museum

Target hosts free family Saturdays at the Japansese American Museum. We have gone before to the Easter activities and wanted to check out the Thanksgiving activities. The girls had fun making turkeys out of a platic cup and using contruction paper and traced their hand to make feathers. They also weaved placemats and made centerpeices with a paper plate, pinecones, plastic corn and silk leaves. They had a weaving class for my oldest daughter to go and learn to weave and they also got to make cookies that looked like corn wrapped in a fruit rollup husk. It was very cute and delicious!

Celebrating Valentine's Day

I had to work on Valentine's Day; so we celebrated on Saturday instead. I told the girls they could go to McDonalds as a special treat for lunch or dinner. My oldest said, How about breakfast? I agreed to breakfast. Both girls were so excited. It was like Christmas morning to them. I don't even remember the last time I went inside a McDonalds for breakfast. They received McDonalds gift cards; so their breakfast was free! The girls loved their pancakes and egg breakfast but were anxious to go to the play area.

For the frugal fun challenge outing, I chose to take them to the Japanese American Museum. They had a Valentine's event where kids got to decorate a cookie, make a tissue paper flower, create Valentine's Day cards, learn to make an oragami heart, listen to a Valentines' Day story and eat a delicious cupcake. Everything was free and the kids had a fun afternoon outing.