Professor Penny Pickles Children's Museum

My mom has wanted to take the boys to Professor Pennypickle's Workshop Children's Museum in Temecula for a while now, and we finally made it there.
It is set up like a house with different rooms and is the house of a crazy inventor names Professor Pennypickle. It is a science based museum, good for young children, but elementary school aged children can get more out of the science activities.
They have sessions so you can come in for 2 hours, so it doesn't get too busy. It wasn't too busy at all the Saturday we were there. The boys had a great time, and keep asking to go back. We will definitely go back sometime. This is great if you are every in Temecula or want to make a day trip out of it. It is in the historic old town area so there are other shops and touristy old things around and restaurants. There is also a farmers market close by on Saturdays. If going on a Saturday I recommend going to the 10:00-12:00 session as parking does fill up downtown by noon.
my photos aren't that great

Westley learning about the different types of lightbulbs in the Power and Electricity room

 The boys in a real hot air balloon basket in the Aviations room

 Grandma and Will in the music room

Thanks Grandma Martha for a fun time! (and for lunch afterwards)

String Trapeze/Zip Line

I rarely go on the computer when my boys are awake, but for some reason this day I needed to do something, and when I then walked into the playroom it looked like this

I had overheard the boys as they worked on it, they were building a trapeze. They continued to work on it for the longest time

I then helped them get some of the strings they wanted higher, and I found a was to zip line mini gummy down one of the strings.

This is not the first time my boys have had elaborate play with string. Give a young child a thing of yarn and a roll of masking tape and they will be happy and busy for the longest time!

San Diego Botanical Gardens

The first Tuesday of the month is free at the San Diego Botanical Gardens.
We have only been there twice and have never explored the whole Gardens.
This time we did with our cousins Misty, Owen, and Cole.
We went to the kids area right when they opened, which I knew to do because moms with young children is who really takes advantage of the free day and it gets very busy. The kids got to climb in the tree house, build with big blocks, make music, go through the alphabet garden, but their favorite was building and playing in the area with sand, dirt and water. Too many mother's dismay this area was a favorite for many of the kids. In this area was something I found really neat. There were metal poles in a square to make a house. Then there were long pieces of lightweight wood (2 by four style) that could be put between the poles to create walls. There were also shorter pieces of wood so you could make windows and doors. I would love to see this at preschools.

We beat the crowd but they started to catch up with us and it got quite busy, so we moved on to explore the rest of the gardens, which we have never done. I am so glad we did. The boys had a great time and we barely ran into any other people. We hiked up a little hill and saw a waterfall, visited a neat Bamboo "forest" and used our bamboo sticks as pretend fishing poles in a pond. The 4 boys had a great time together!

Home Depot Kid's Workshop

On the first Saturday of the month, Home Depot offers a free workshop for kids.
We went and had a great time! It was well organized, the kit of what to make was easy to work with, and the kids get an apron their first time to wear each time, and pin to document what projects they have made.
This was our first time, and the boys made Saving Sheds (little house like banks) Complete with a screwed in bottom piece to remove coins.
They helped hammer in the nails of each side and afterward we painted them.
I took the boys to a Lowe's workshop before. Those you are supposed to sign up for in advance, but have to sign up way in advance. When I went I didn't take Kevin and I struggled to make the Monster Truck project. Overall the set up of the project area wasn't as organized either. We will give Lowe's another try, but will definitely go back to Home Depot

"Sledding" in San Diego

This picture is not of us, I couldn't have my phone out and participate in this at the same time so no pictures of my boys, but thought this picture was so funny.
Yes that is a real sled, and yes that is a mound of sand.
We were at Moonlight beach with our cousins. We were actually "sledding" down the longer side of this sandhill on boogie boards.

January is southern California, I love it!

Pantry Stacking

This continues to be one of Will's things he likes to do. I have older pictures of more elaborate stacks of canned food. This time it was peanut butter :)

Zoo Trip with Cousins

My cousin Misty and her boys Owen and Cole were visiting from Arkansas.
We did many fun things I did not properly document (I didn't take my camera out much!)
I did get a really cute picture at the Zoo.
Note to all - Going to the Zoo the day after Christmas is not a good idea. It's like going shopping the day after Thanksgiving. We survived the crowds and the giant Hill back to the front of the Park and had fun with all our cousins so we will call it a success :)