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The Road to Seaworld: Mission Bay Park

March 11th, 2009 by bsmith | 1 Comment | Filed in Family Travel, San Diego Day Trips, Sea World, theme parks
Jared Takes a Risk at Mission Bay Park, San Diego

Jared Takes a Risk at Mission Bay Park, San Diego

This was my second adventure, solo with preschoolers to Sea World, San Diego.  Our preschool makes this fun attraction a yearly educational fieldtrip.  I needed to be at the gate by 9:30 in order to take advantage of the school rate tickets we had purchased.  For those of you who know San Diego traffic, you realize we left EARLY!  Never know what’s gonna happen on that freeway.  I hit the exit to Sea World at around 8:45 and had a moment of inspiration.  Why not check out one of those cool Mission Bay Parks that you pass by on the freeway?

Destiny, Jared and I stretched our legs at the park nearest to the Sea World turn off.  I have heard there are others still to explore.  Love this park!!! Very old school park with play structures, clearly from many different decades, but everything was so creative and fun!  There were animals to ride and trucks to drive.  Five year old Destiny loved climbing the spiderweb.  Four year old Jared was challenged by the climbing structure as you can see above.  I loved the gorgeous scenic location right on Mission Bay! I can hardly wait to bring my nine year old and watch him explore.

Spider Girl Destiny Climbs Her Web at Mission Bay Park, San Diego

Spider Girl Destiny Climbs Her Web at Mission Bay Park, San Diego

Honestly this adventure was almost as fun as the trip to Sea World and much much cheaper!  I plan to return with all the kids and a picnic or maybe make it a stop after taking Daddy to the airport.  A San Diego jewel close to Sea World.  Who could ask for more?

P.S. This park stop was much more fun than waiting for the gate to the parking area to open at Sea World :) .  Sorry I didn’t think of it last year Inga.

Happy Trails,

Bridget

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The Latest Discounts, Bargains and Contests at Legoland

March 6th, 2009 by bsmith | 4 Comments | Filed in Legoland, San Diego Day Trips, theme parks, Travel Discounts

Legoland offers lots of sweet promotions and discounts to members throughout the year.  In addition to the special March pricing for the Sea Life Aquarium,  Legoland is offering a 20% Discount at the  Ocean Journey Cafe that is located just outside the aquarium.  It would be a convenient place to stop and have a bite before visiting either the Sea Life Aquarium or Legoland.  You can find the 20% off coupon here http://www.legoland.com/NR/rdonlyres/11555C93-0989-4349-8F9F-DB9D4D90C808/0/OJC_coupon.pdf

Legoland Members also receive a free kids meal at the Soup Plantation,  a Hornblower Family Four Pack where kids cruise free with a paying adult, and a discount to see the cool new Wild Ocean Imax film at the Fleet Science Center.

Soup Plantation Coupon

http://www.legoland.com/NR/rdonlyres/8DDBABA4-880E-46F7-8565-0EACB1E3E49C/0/souplantation_coupon_2009.pdf

Hornblower Coupon

http://www.legoland.com/NR/rdonlyres/DE969DBD-ABD9-41B8-A595-3C8F5BDDF4C5/0/hce_coupon.jpg

Ruben Fleet Science Center IMAX discount: See Legoland e-mail.

Most of these discounts are distributed through Legoland’s E-News Newsletters.  If you are a member or just a fan, but sure to subscribe here http://www.legoland.com/Plan-your-visit/enews.htm.

I was having trouble accessing the coupons that relate to these offers.  I have an e-mail into Legoland and will be sure to post an update as soon as I get one.

The Legoland Junior Model Master Builder Competition is fun year round, but this month you have a special incentive for participating.  The winners of this month’s competition will be invited to that exclusive after hours premier of the new Bob the Builder 3-D movie as well as enjoying a Legoland 10th birthday complete with cake, cream, and a preview of that giant Lego birthday cake that’s being constructed!  The competition takes place this weekend. Everyone who participates will also be entered in a raffle for a Legoland prize pack, so this is a contest worth entering!

On an unrelated topic,  I am organizing a “Will Play for Food” canned food drive next Thursday at 9am at Aviara Park in Carlsbad.  Bring your kids, some canned food, and a snack to share. After our meetup I will deliver the food to Brother Bennos food pantry.  If you come, be sure to find me and say hi.  It would be great to meet some of my readers.  If you live outside of Carlsbad, visit playforfood.blogspot.com for information and inspiration on organizing your own Will Play for Food drive.

Happy Trails,

Bridget

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Scouting Adventures at San Diego’s Fleet Science Museum

February 24th, 2009 by bsmith | 1 Comment | Filed in San Diego Day Trips, Scouting
Justin whispers to a friend

Justin whispers to a friend

My husband and I are reluctant cub scout leaders.  Ken travels for business ALOT, and I try to juggle my responsibilities as the informal assistant leader for Justin’s den in addition to my role as business owner, mother of preschoolers…you get the picture.  We serve our den as best we can, but we are blessed with alot of parent support.

As we entered into a busy year of Webelos this year, we called upon the parents to each help the den complete on badge activity.  The results have been spectacular and the source of some great family adventures.  So far the boys have toured a working construction site, City Hall, and the Gemological Institute of America.  In order to earn our Science badge, Den 7 headed to the Fleet Science Museum last weekend.  They present a wonderful comprehensive science badge workshop with fun hands on activities.  It was lead by a spirited young graduate student.  The boys did an amazing array of very simple experiments to learn more about the scientific laws discussed in the Boy Scout book.  The boys blew ping pong balls with straws and launched film cannister rockets.  The day reminded me of just how fun science can be, and how sad it is that this kind of interactive science seldom seems to make it into the public school classroom.

Other information about the Fleet Science Museum:

The Cafeteria food is overpriced like most tourist destinations, but at least it is high quality and yummy.  They have a wide variety of kid friendly choices including hot dogs and cereal.  Justin ordered a Greek salad and a hot dog.  That’s my boy :) .  I had the Tortellini salad.  With drinks lunch was about $17.

If you pack your own lunch or snack, you can’t eat it in the museum, but there is a beautiful plaza with a fountain right outside.

The museum is small, with some very fun hands on exhibits.  Plan to spend about 2-3 hours exploring.  Is it worth full admission?  That’s a hard one.  You might want to try to visit on a free Tuesday or combine your visit with an IMAX show.

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Undersea Fun for Martin Luther King Weekend

January 13th, 2009 by bsmith | 3 Comments | Filed in Legoland, San Diego Day Trips, Special Events, Winter Adventures

A three day weekend looms ahead.  What is the adventurous  parent to do?  Head to Legoland of course!  The Sea Life Aquarium is busy with special activities and a great discount offer.  Legoland is paying tribute to MLK with a Lego mural depicting Kings “I Have A Dream Speech”.  That must have kept those Lego builders busy for quite a while.

The weather is gorgeous here in Carlsbad right now.  It’s eighty degrees and everyone is wearing shorts.  Even though it is cooling off it should still be in the 70′s this weekend.  Perfect weather for some Legoland fun.

January 17th is Under Water Parks Day.   The Sea Life Aquarium has fun activities planned to help kids learn about marine protected areas and the world’s ocean ecosystems.  In honor of Under Water Parks Day the Sea Life Aquarium is offering a great coupon for free admission for up to four kids for each paid adult. I think that the Sea Life Aquarium is usually overpriced, so this is a great deal!  Find out more information here http://www.sealifeus.com/whats-new_2009_01_08 .

To get ready for your Legoland and Sea Life adventure, download my e-book The Unauthorized Legoland Guidebook from Lulu.com

If you live near the coast, celebrate Under Water Parks day and head to the beach!  Find a great beach side playground like those in Oceanside, Ca and kick your heels up while the kids play.  The Ocean Institute in Dana Point is hosting a seaside hike and other activities.  Admission for kids under twelve is free at the Ocean Institute that day.

 Rumor has it the weather is also pretty nice up north. Head to Monterey and rent a kayak to explore the beautiful Monterey Bay Sanctuary. Go Whale Watching.  Explore a local tidepool. 

At either end of California you can take a hike on the coastal trail http://www.californiacoastaltrail.info/cms/pages/trail/complete_trail.html.

Finally, at the risk of being a little political.  As you celebrate Under Water Parks Day, look out and enjoy that oil rig free view.  Let’s try work together to keep it that way.  There’s a lot of political pressure  right now to develop this finite resource.

Hope you all have a great weekend.  Pretty soon we will be back to dreary winter so let’s take advantage of the sunshine get out and have an adventure!

Happy Trails,

Bridget

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Gather Ye Lego Bricks While Ye May!

January 5th, 2009 by bsmith | 2 Comments | Filed in Legoland, San Diego Day Trips

The 2009 Junior Master Model Builder Competition holds its January competition next weekend.  We tried this activity out this summer and it was very fun.  Kids meet in the Imagination Zone and construct a thematic model using the bricks and baseplate provided.  They don’t have the January 2009 theme up..bummer.  It would still be a good idea to have your little one start planning his or her building strategy.

Have kids from multiple age groups? Want to join in the fun yourself?  Good news!  There are several different age groups in the competition.  You and your family can enter in 9 and under, 10 -15, and 16+ (adults are welcome…but you will have to beat out those teenage Lego geeks.  They do high quality work.)  If you are heading to Legoland with big kids, next weekend would be a good time to do it.

The competition is open from 10 am to two hours prior to park closing.  The models are judged the following week by a real Legoland Master Model Builder and the winner in each age category wins four Legoland admissions and gets to advance to the big buildoff on January 9, 2010.    Even if your child doesn’t win, his or her work may be displayed in the cabinets in the Imagination Zone.  Good for bragging rights if you get to revisit with friends.

Want to find out about more fun Legoland events?

Check out The Unauthorized Legoland Guidebook available on LULU.Com.

Happy Trails,

Bridget

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Family Adventure Without Wheels

November 7th, 2008 by bsmith | 3 Comments | Filed in At Home Adventures, San Diego Day Trips

My little ones are very jealous!  Big Brother and Daddy are going camping with the Cub Scous this weekend.  This is a favorite activity for the little ones.  Adding to the challenge, the big boys are taking our only car.  (Our old commuter car died and we are saving up for Dad’s dream vehicle…a used SUV.) 

What’s a family travel guru to do?  Here’s a list of adventures we may have this weekend to keep us all in good spirits until Daddy gets home.  Hopefully if I do one or two they will go to bed early and sleep all night!

1) Take the dog for a walk on a local wooded hiking trail.

2) Dust off the jogging stroller and walk to nearby BatiquitosLagoon-the kids can walk the trail when we get there.

3) Swim in our pool.  (Sure it’s November but this is Southern California…it’s still in the 70′s and 80′s)

4)  Walk to a local park.

5) Break out the Sidewalk Chalk.

6)  Dig out those frozen yogurt coupons and walk to the yogurt store for a treat.

7) Little Kids movie night with lots of popcorn.

8) Practice our tricycle skills at the little rock garden by our house.

9) Set up our own tent in the back yard.

10)  If I wasn’t on a budget, I would bum a ride to the train station and hop a Coaster Train to Old Town and have a picnic.

Any more ideas????

Happy Trails,

Bridget

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A Shout Out to Carlsbad My “New” Home Town

September 22nd, 2008 by bsmith | 3 Comments | Filed in San Diego Day Trips, Uncategorized
The Smith Kids Clean Up Carlsbad at a Ponto Beach Cleanup

The Smith Kids Clean Up Carlsbad at a Ponto Beach Cleanup

 

I want to take a minute to pay homage to my new home town Carlsbad, California.  I have lived here for less than three years, but already I can’t imagine raising my family anywhere else.  It is at once a wonderful, kid friendly community and a premier family travel destination.

Most of my friends who are newly relocated to Carlsbad, came here as tourists and decided to stay.  My friends who relocated from Orange County said that they came because here people say hi to you in the grocery store.  It’s a medium sized city with a small town feel. All the elementary schools get out early so they can participate in the Carlsbad High Homecoming Parade.  Where ever you go: the library, down town, the hiking path by your house you are bound to run into someone you know.   The seasons are marked by city events: Artsplash and Oktoberfest in the fall,  The Carlsbad Marathon in the winter,  The Carlsbad Village Street Faire and the Pointsettia Park Eggstravaganza in the spring, and Jazz in the Park all summer long.

The ocean provides a back drop to living in Carlsbad.  My neighbors jog down to the beach.  I drive along the water as I head to my son’s baseball game.  Carlsbad High offers surf P.E.  My kids love to walk the dog and watch the water birds at a local lagoon.

Visiting on vacation?  Legoland is Carlsbad’s main tourist attraction.  Kids love to see the elaborate Mini-land filled with models of most major US cities.  There is interactive fun for all ages throughout the park.  Don’t come to Legoland expecting to be passively entertained.  Plan to pump hard to win a fire truck race, build  race cars out of Lego bricks and race them down a track, and even participate on stage during a musical production about an Indiana Jones type adventure.  The new Sea Life Aquarium is pretty small in scale, but if you have little ones, they will enjoy the specially designed tanks that let them pop up in the middle of the fish!   Check out my Unauthorized Legoland Guidebook for more information about this outstanding theme park. 

If you come in the spring make sure you also take some time to visit the Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch.  They are stunning to behold, and also offer a Santa’s Village for the kids to explore as well as an extensive collection of rare poinsettias.

So go ahead, pay Carlsbad a visit.  Perhaps it will become your new home town.

Happy Trails,

Bridget

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