No Tricks, Just Treats @ Pretend City’s Family Autism Night

We went to last night’s Family Autism Night at Pretend City. They host these family autism events most months and this month featured a “sensory-friendly” Halloween night of Trick-or-Treating. No tricks, just treats. In fact, there was no candy and nothing edible. 

The evening especially designed for families affected by Autism, had no music and dimmed lights. It seems simple, but it made a world of difference.With the generous donations of OC Register and The Festival of Children’s Season of Caring, Possible Dream Grant, we all got in for FREE, but you needed to be the quick 80 families that scored tickets within the first 5 days of posting the event. It was completely SOLD OUT!

2012 Autism Walk @ OC Great Park

Great Park Balloon

This year the 2012 Walk Now for Autism Speaks Orange County was held at a new location - the Orange County Great Park! (Last year it was at the Angel's Stadium.) This was our third year walking to create autism awareness. We usually come to visit the huge resource fair - it's always stroller-friendly and family-friendly with fun bounce houses and activities, but this year it included balloon rides and a carousal (which is always free at the Great Park by the way). Among some of the sponsors were Sprouts Farmers Market, Bourbon Street Restaurant, PBS SoCal, and 93.1 Jack FM (only to name a few). The resource fair started at 8am and stayed until 1pm. The walk kicked-off at 10am but we didn't start walking til about 10:30am. It's suppose to be at your own pace so you had the option to walk 1 mile, 3 miles, or until your child wants to go back in the middle of it to ride carousal or balloon rides (that was my child but no one judged us). Volunteers were there to hand out water and cheer you on (love that part). They cheered at us as we passed them up at the beginning of the walk and again when we made it back.

Thomas the Tank Engine™ is Coming to SoCal this November 2012!

Is your kid obsessed with Thomas & Friends™? Why not bring it to life by spending a Day Out With Thomas™  when they're in SoCal at the Orange Empire Railway Museum!! Take a 25-minute train ride with Thomas the Tank Engine™, meet Sir Topham Hatt™, play Thomas-themed games and activities with live music, a petting zoo, train tables, a mystery game and more!

Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere @ Disneyland

Want to Feel Festive? Go to Disneyland.

It's October and who doesn't love Halloween? A group of Moms and I took a morning off to play. Our destination was Disneyland. This is the second morning we got to do this. (Please also read my previous post, "Single Rider" Lines are the Way to Go @ Disney California Adventure.) It's one of my favorite times of the year so of course, I brought my camera along this time.

Pumpkin Entrance to Disneyland
You'll be greeted with Pumpkins as soon as you see the entrance.

 

How to Host a Playdate @ Tanaka Farms Pumpkin Patch and Save Money

We love Tanaka Farms! It's organic, educational, healthy, and we get to sample various produces on the wagon tour - what's not to love? Although we try every year to attend at least one (or all) of their seasonal famous tours (see also Strawberry and Watermelon), let's face it - it's not cheap. 

Here's how you can experience Tanaka Farms and save money. Maybe you're not a planner, but I've done a few of these, and it's not as bad as you may think.  Let me show you how easy it really is to plan your own play date. Communication is key and practice, it's gets better each time.

How to Form a Play Group and Save Money

Have you ever thought about going somewhere fun but changed your mind, because you saw how much it cost? Would you change your mind back if you saw how much you would save if you had a Group Rate? Are you a working parent that doesn’t have time to meet new parents? This morning I'm going to show you how easy it is to Form a Play Group to Save Money.

Grand Re-Opening of The Disney Store @ South Coast Plaza!

We checked out the Grand Re-Opening of The Disney Store at South Coast Plaza a couple of weekends ago. If you were one of the first 500 customers, you would have scored one of the Mickey Mouse Ears. We got there around 12:30pm and was told they ran out after about an hour and half of the opening! BUMMER.

Jake and The Never Land Pirates and Captain Hook
were there too to Celebrate! 

My boys love them!

Get Creeped Out @ Pretend City (PLUS a Giveaway)!

I am getting chills just thinking about this. In October, creepy crawlers and other cool creatures will invade Pretend City Children's Museum. What better way to celebrate the spooky month of October than to have your children explore and look for the creatures at the craggy cave, grassy meadow, and frightful farm shed at Pretend City. A special activity for each day of the week throughout the month include: daily bug-themed activities, meeting special "guests", and creating creatures in the Art Studio. Which one will you want to see?

Photo Credits: Pretend City Children's Museum

Birthday Parties at My Gym Yorba Linda! (PLUS a Giveaway) | @MyGymYorbaLinda #MyGym #PlayDates

I went to a birthday party recently at My Gym Children's Fitness Center in Yorba Linda. It's one of my favorite places for play dates. I used to go to the one in Huntington Beach with Preston, but I finally got to take Logan and OMG - he loved the place! He was one of the kids that ran around like a kid in a candy store. He wanted to try everything from climbing, tumbling, jumping in ball pits, bouncing on trampolines, sliding down slides, walking on balance beams to rolling around a huge wheel (there are balls too). Lots of exercise for the day and if you know my son, he has sensory issues and it's usually a struggle to get him to try new things. NOT this time! He was doing all this without me encouraging him with incentives.

Pink It Up and Support Breast Cancer Awareness @ Mimi's Cafe! (PLUS a Giveaway) ENDED

It's Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Mimi’s Cafe® along with National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) teamed up to raise awareness and funds in their efforts to save lives through early detection and by providing mammograms.

Two “Sparkling Pink” Drink Selections

The other day some of my girlfriends got together for brunch to check out their new "pink" beverages as each "pink" drink will benefit the NBCF. We all chose the "Sparkling Pink Passion Mimosa." (A non-alcoholic "pink" beverage is also available.)

"Porsche Timeline" at Lake Arrowhead is a fun family annual tradition!

We stumbled upon this event a few years ago. We wanted to get out of the city so we took a day trip to the mountains. I think we were looking for Big Bear and came across this little town called Lake Arrowhead (about 30 minutes from each other).

It was foggy that day but we saw that we had just missed an annual Porsche car show. If you know my husband, you know that he is an Enthusiast. I dated this man since high school and he used to save all the posters from the car shows. At some point after we moved in together, I came up with this great idea to designate an area for him to hang these things - his garage. PERFECT

Without boring you about how much this man is a fan, I'll move on to this year's car show. Every year I google it and pencil it in because I think the boys will enjoy it. This will be our 3rd year and as the boys get older, it's a little different every time.