LACMA With Kids

On Sunday we went on an excursion outside of the Orange curtain.  After church we drove to LA to visit the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. 

First, we ate lunch at Plancha.  We ordered two chicken tacos, one steak taco, one tilapia taco, one shrimp taco and a breakfast burrito. 

The shrimp taco was the best.  The chicken was too healthy/bland.  The breakfast burrito was hearty and filling.

Stomachs filled, k asked if she should go to sleep in the car afterward, thinking we were going home.  I thought it was funny that she thought we drove all that way just to eat at that restaurant.

We found free street parking off of Sixth street since it was Sunday.  We walked past the La Brea Tar Pits and found the LACMA campus.  There is a program called NEXGEN which allows kids under 18 years old to get a membership pass (good until they are 18) for free.  Best of all, each kid with a pass gets a free adult admission.  In other words, we didn’t have to pay anything. 

D and I had been to LACMA during our early married-pre-kids stage of life when we lived in L.A.  Oh, how that seems so long ago!

Our first stop was to see a piece called Metropolis.  It consists of a bunch of buildings and roadways with cars, buses, trains, etc.  The best part is that it is put in motion during certain hours.  I made sure we were there for the 12:30 flip of the switches. 

Shortly after D put n on his shoulders, we were informed that this was NOT allowed.  There is an upper balcony if you want a bird’s eye view, though.

“How do we get out of here?”

Next, we went to see an outdoor installation of lampposts.

Then, we went to the children’s workshop area.

 

n was quite pleased because he said this was the first time he ever painted.  That is not true, but it is true that I don’t really enjoy the mess that comes with painting at home, so I appreciate when they have the opportunity to paint somewhere else. 

Finally, we stopped off at another outdoor installation that looks like pasta.  At first, it was roped off, but later on it was open and the kids were going crazy with it.

Who knew that plastic tubing could be so much fun?  We were amazed at how strong it was, considering the kids were swinging on it like vines.

On the way back, we stopped to look at one of the La Brea tar pits.  D checked it off of his 1,000 places to see, even though we didn’t go to the actual museum.

I just now realized that we forgot to see Levitated Mass.  Oh well, I guess we have until the kids are 18 to go back and see it.  And, given the lengths it took to install that particular piece, I don’t think it is going anywhere anytime soon!

Blocktober @ Saddleback Irvine

Saturday was busy for us.  After going to the Great Park, we went home, the kids took a nap, and then I took them to our local library’s Halloween story time/craft time.  That night we went to Blocktober, which was sponsored by Saddleback Irvine.  We were able to meet up with my sister’s family, so that was nice.

One thing I was excited for the kids to participate in was Trunk or Treat.  Different groups and families decorated the backs of their cars or vans and handed out candy to the kids.  Some even had games to play.  I enjoyed seeing the creative ideas.

This car was decorated by one of k’s former preschool teachers.  Cute!

One car had cupcake decorating.  That was a popular one!

There were a lot of other activities as well.  The kids had fun on the giant slide…and the rock climbing wall!

Oh yeah, and D had fun too!

Cousin j was a cute safari/explorer type person.

More bouncin’…

More slidin’…

Pretty sunset

There were even pony rides!

And we saw Junko at the end! 

How to Beat the Crowds @ Orange County Great Park Halloween

It was a foggy Saturday morning. 

The Halloween celebration was supposed to start at 9:00 a.m., so we left the house at 8:30.  By the time we got in line, I would say there was a good 50 people in front of us.  We brought our canned food for Second Harvest so that the kids could do a little “extra” trick or treating.  D and I strategized about our plan of attack and we decided trick or treating first, pumpkin patch second.  D made a beeline to the trick or treating area, and he was running, pulling both kids in the wagon.

Totally not necessary.  But, out of the thousands of people that attended the event, guess who was the very first family to go through the trick of treating section?  Yep, that would be us.  I thought the trick or treating was not as good this year.  Last year the adults were given some treats too.  I understand the cutbacks, though, given the overwhelming popularity of the event. 

Next we headed to the pumpkin patch.  A line had formed by this time, but it moved fairly quickly.  They also set it up closer to the trick or treating section this year, so that was convenient. 

Next, we headed to Palm Court for the carnival-type games.  Everyone wins the small toy prizes, so the kids weren’t shy about participating.

For some reason, k was reluctant to try the cake walk, however.  Our whole family participated, so I was not sure why she did not want to.  When the music stopped, she ended up being on the same number as another boy.  Spot 16 was open, so we told her to go stand on it.  Guess which was one of the winning numbers?  16!

Her prize was three cookies, which we shared at home. 

We also watched a cooking demonstration by the self-proclaimed “Asian Martha Stewart”.  Sadly, no samples of the food were given out.  In fact, she kind of mocked us for wanting samples.  Kind of disappointing.

n was complaining he was hungry, so we bought two bags of $1 popcorn. 

Creamistry

After picking up k from school on Friday afternoon, I took the kids to another free food adventure.  We stood in line for 50(!) minutes to try Creamistry, a new ice cream place in Irvine.

I’ve heard the lines have been long since its opening—partly due to its popularity, and partly because each flavor is made to order using liquid nitrogen!

I was under the mistaken impression that we would each be able to choose our flavor and topping.  I thought that was why the line moved so slow.  Instead, when we reached the front of the line, there were only a handful of choices of flavors, including hazelnut chocolate, oreo, strawberry, and green apple sorbet, which they were continuously making.  Given the limited flavors, I really do not understand why the wait was so long!  But, given that it was free, I guess I should not complain.

Both kids had oreo and I chose the green apple flavor.  The consistency was nice and smooth and creamy.  It seemed to melt faster, though, and I did detect a few ice crystals.  In any case, my curiosity about the liquid nitrogen concept has been cured. 

Camp Spooky

Weekends in October, Knott’s Berry Farm has trick or treating for the kids.  k and n dressed up in their costumes from last year and had fun going to the five candy stations.

The characters dress up too!

4/5 of the stations handed out “normal” candy—m&m’s, dum dums, etc.  However, I was curious about what they were handing out at this station.

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We unwrapped it at home, and there were three of these strawberry marshmallow coconut cookies, very similar to ones I bought in Baja.  Interesting.

The kids refused to go on the log ride (boo), but we convinced them to go on the mine ride.  Turns out that they made the ride much more scary for Halloween.  There was even this fake spider on a string that the ride operators can make go up and down.  k thought it was real.

Our passes are almost expiring, so I wanted to make sure we watch all of the shows.  This is a Native American hoop dance that we had seen from a distance before.  This time we had front row seats. 

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