Dinosaur Hall

As the mother of a four year old boy, I knew that a trip to see the new Dinosaur Hall exhibit at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County was a must.

Both my kids are excited to learn about dinosaurs (as most kids are) and this exhibit did not disappoint!  We started our day at the Dinosaur Encounter program, where a "live" T-Rex walks, roars, and even eats right in front of the audience.  The kids were amazed and truly believed that they were watching a dinosaur.  After the show we made our way to the main Dinosaur Hall.

The"hall" consists of two floors and several rooms full of dinosaur exhibits, many of them hands-on and interactive.  My kids loved seeing real dinosaur bones and learning about the different types of dinosaurs.  They even got to to touch a real dinosaur toe bone, which was amazing to them and to me!

The Natural History Museum is huge and has so many great exhibits that you would need to spend several days there to see it all.  We will be back in the future, but Dinosaur Hall is worth a day by itself.

Event:  Dinosaur Hall at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Dates:  Open 7 days a week from 9:30am to 5pm with the exception of New Years Day, July 4th,    
Thanksgiving, and Christmas

Cost:  Adults -$12, Students and Seniors -$9, Children ages 13 to 17- $8, Children ages 5 to 12 -$5, 
children age 4 and under -Free

Location:  900 Exposition Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90007

Parking:  Parking in the NHM car park (Exposition Boulevard and Bill Robertson Lane) is $8 and is cash only. Patrolled lots near the Museum in Exposition Park are also available on Bill Robertson Lane, immediately to the west of the Museum ($10, cash only).

More Info: http://www.nhm.org/site/explore-exhibits/permanent-exhibits/dinosaur-hall

Blast from the Past

I have come to the unfortunate realization that no matter how hard I try, there is no way to fit every amazing event and activity into our yearly schedule.  I have found that I sometimes have to skip things that we've already done in the past in order to try some of the new activities.  However, that doesn't mean that they are not worthy of sharing!  You may find that my "old" events are new for you, or perfect for your family at this time.  With that in mind, I'd like to do some "Blast from the Past" posts where I will share information about events that we've enjoyed over the last couple of years, but just can't fit in the schedule this year.  Hopefully this will give you an even wider variety of events and activities to choose from when you make plans for your family outings.

Toy Story 3 On Ice

When it comes to an outing that the entire family can enjoy, you basically can't go wrong with Disney.  The kids and I had an opportunity to join some friends at Disney's Toy Story 3 On Ice, and we all had a blast!

Toy Story is a favorite with both my kids, and this performance did not disappoint.  It's amazing to see the ways that Disney took various scenes from the movie and performed them not only live, but on ice as well!  All the favorite Toy Story characters are included in the show, and I have to say that I enjoyed it almost as much as my kids. 

Event: Toy Story 3 On Ice

Dates: Toy Story 3 On Ice is a traveling show, so check the website to see when it is coming to your town!

Cost: Varies with location

Location: Varies

Parking: Varies with location

More Info: http://disney.go.com/disneyonice/

Alpacas at Windy Hill

One of the things that I love the most about where we live is that we are fairly close to several farms and ranches that are open to the public.  Nothing beats a family day out that is fun and also full of learning opportunities.  A couple of weeks ago we took the kids to an alpaca ranch, Alpacas at Windy Hill. 

Visitors are welcome to walk around the ranch and visit the 300 plus alpacas that are raised at Windy Hill, and the owners are very friendly and willing to talk and answer questions.   In fact, we had the opportunity to pet and even hold a baby alpaca on the day that we were there. 

Event: Open Ranch Day at Alpacas at Windy Hill alpaca ranch

 

Dates: The ranch is open to the public on the 2nd Saturday of each month between 10am and 3pm, or by appointment

Cost: FREE!

 

Location: 7660 Bradley Road, Somis, CA 93066

Parking: Free parking at the ranch

 

More Info: http://www.alpacalink.com/mainpage.html 

 

Muppet Time!!

I am a huge Muppet fan.  I grew up watching the Muppet Show, have seen every Muppet movie released and have most of them on DVD.  When I heard that they were releasing a new movie I was super excited and knew that we would have to make a special trip to the El Capitan Theater to watch it in style. My excitement was boosted even higher when I found out that (for an extra fee) we could attend Disney's Most Sensational Muppet Party prior to the movie.  I have had my tickets for both since August, and the movie poster has been on my refrigerator as I counted down the days.  The big day finally arrived last Sunday.

Our day started at the Muppet Party, which was held at Disney's Soda Fountain located next door to the theater.  We were pleasantly surprised to find out that the party was open to a very limited number of people which made a relaxed atmosphere for the attendees.  A light lunch, Muppet trivia, games and cupcake decorating put us all in a great Muppet-mood and got us even more excited for the movie.

After the party we headed over to the theater.  As I mentioned in a previous post,  The El Capitan  turns watching a movie into an event, and this time was no exception. The afternoon started with Kermit and Miss Piggy live on stage leading a holiday sing-a-long.  Everyone had been given a jingle bell bracelet as we entered the theater, and the kids loved singing and jingling the bells along with the Muppets. It even snowed in the theater as we all finished singing.  Then came the main event.  The movie was as great as I had hoped.  It kept my husband and I laughing throughout, and kept my kids' attention as well.  I love movies that we can all enjoy together.  But the day was not over when the movie ended...the El Capitan has a whole display of Miss Piggy's wardrobe and props from the movie that we were all invited to walk through before we left.

This was such a fun family outing.  Even going to the movie at the El Capitan without adding on the party would make a wonderful day trip.  My kids are still talking about it, and the poster is still up on my refrigerator, reminding me of what a great time we had.

Event: The Muppets movie and party at the El Capitan Theater

Dates: Nov 23, 2011-Jan 8, 2012

Cost: General Admission is $15.00 per adult and $12.00 per child. There is also an additional $2.00 fee per ticket. VIP tickets and party tickets are available for an extra charge.

Location: El Capitan Theater, 6838 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028 

Parking: The El Capitan Theater will give a partial validation for those who park in the Hollywood and Highland center, located directly across the street from the theater. The maximum daily charge in that lot is $10.00

More Info: http://elcapitan.go.com/index.html

I'm Back!

In true new-blogger form, life got busy and my poor blog was pushed to the end of the priority list.  But,  I am back and even more enthusiastic about sharing our family outings and activities.  We have had so many fun adventures over the past few months and several more planned as we finish out the year and head into 2012.  This weekend we will be headed to the Muppet movie, sing-along, and party at the El Capitan Theater, so I will be back with info and pictures next week!

Citrus Classic Balloon Festival

This is an event that we have attended twice before, and we were disappointed with the lack of organization each time.  Since it is close by and sounds like such a great event in theory, we decided to give it one more try.  Apparently the third time is a charm because we loved it this year!

We went on Friday night for the evening balloon glow.  We arrived around 6:30 and had no problem finding a parking spot and making our way into the event.  We spent some time looking at the various booths (food booths, items for sale, kids' activities, etc).  Then we found my favorite activity of the night.  For a $1 donation, you were given the chance to walk inside a partially inflated balloon laying on its side, that was being kept inflated by a large fan.  That's right, we could go inside the balloon part of the hot air balloon!  It was such a cool experience and made for some really great pictures. 

Brother and Sister inside the hot air balloon

As it started to get dark, the hot air balloons started to be inflated, and slowly we saw about 15 balloons grow from pieces of material laying flat on the ground to magnificent colorful fully inflated balloons.  They then started to "glow" as the balloons took turns "lighting up" from the flames inside (I wish I knew the technical way to explain it, but I can tell you that it was beautiful!). 

Next year I hope to make it early (very early) on either Saturday or Sunday morning to see the balloons take off into the air...should be a beautiful sight!

Event: Citrus Classic Balloon Festival

Dates: July 29-31, 2011

Cost: $12 per adult, $7 per child (ages 5-14), Under 5 is free.  Discount tickets are sold in advance at various locations (check website)

Location: 18249 East Telegraph Rd, Santa Paula, CA 93060

Parking: $7 per car for on-site parking.  Shuttles are available from off-site lots (check website)

More Info: http://www.citrusclassicballoons.com/index.php