Multicultural Festival

San Diego Adventure #2: On January 16th, I heard nothing but whining for a good 1/2 hour when I told the kids it was time to leave the house (and their Ping Pong match) to go to a Multicultural Festival along the Martin Luther King Promenade in Downtown. I thought this was a good way to celebrate Martin Luther King Day, plus it also crossed off a boy scout requirement for Scott. None of us were quite sure what to expect, but I hoped for the best. Luck was on my side though...sunny day, found quick parking for $5, saw Native American, Chinese and Polynesian dancing (the polynesian group was the most entertaining), free tasters, crafts for Lizzie and prizes at booths, etc. In fact, the kids totally enjoyed the two hours we spent collecting/winning items and eating. They won big skittle packages from Smart and Final booth, water bottles from the Geico booth, Padre hats and jerseys from the Padre booth and more. It really pays to get there early - no lines and lots of stuff for free. We all had smiles on our faces as we left and it cost less than $20 for the parking and some international lunch. A bonus...No more whining, too!

Rockets and Pumpkins

San Diego Family Adventure #1: It was extremely easy to get my kids out of the house on January 9th. All I had to say was "we are going to launch rockets and smash our pumpkin." They were very excited as we headed to the middle school for an activity that made us look way up and way down. The sky was blue, sun was shining and light wind - perfect conditions! The first thing we did was smash the pumpkin we grew this past fall. Kara launched it from the top of about three stories worth of steps. The smash was awesome. Usually we smash our pumpkins from a hill in the canyon across the street to "enrich the lives of the animals." But the explosion is not the best. This time the kids really liked the results. We picked up the remains and threw it in the trash and headed off to launch our rockets. Scott and Kara love pressing the button to launch the rocket (Lizzie hates the noise). And then they all three start running to catch the parachute. Not only was it cool to see how high they go, but the kids got great exercise running around the fields and catching the rocket. Great day!