Only One Week Left! Peltzer Pumpkin Patch = cheap fun

It's that time of year again- the leaves changing colors, the days getting cooler...oh wait, just kidding!  The palm trees are still green, and it's 95 degrees today, but a couple of weeks ago, we had a chilly snap so we loaded up the kiddos and scurried over to Peltzer Farms off of 
Rancho California Rd. for some cheap and easy fall-ish fun.  

The pumpkin area itself was smallish, but for us that was okay, because really the pumpkins are not the most interesting part of a pumpkin patch adventure anyway.  An awesome tortoise that you can really touch, on the other hand?  Now we're talkin'!

And don't forget the adorable oh-so-fat little goats.  You can buy food if you want them to eat out of your hands (maybe snacking all day isn't the best way to manage weight after all!), but we opted out of that portion of the excursion.  They didn't seem to mind.Then it's off to peruse the collection of authentic, restored John Deere tractors!  Even city kids who've never run across acres of open land have an innate appreciation for the fun that is a big 'ol tractor, no matte what their age.And last, but most certainly not least, what little girl would object to a totally safe, uneventful, sweet little pony ride?  No real little girl, I tell ya what!  Both of my mini-mes, who adored this part of the day, asked if there was a way that Roney and The-other-one-whose-name-escapes-me could pretty please come and live with us.  Ah, memories of my own youth!This irresponsible blogger apologizes for not having photos of the other fun activities at the farm, including a corn maze (my hair looked totally awful in the photo.  True story.  I won't post awful-hair pics- I just can't do it) that was actually a bit circuitous and exciting, pig racing (which we missed because we just had to do the corn maze again), and the picnic area (which I neglected to photograph because I was too busy enjoying my insanely decadent homemade-chili covered sausage with freshly chopped onion and cheese purchased there for the reasonable price of I-can't-remember).  And there are other things too, which I encourage you to discover for yourself by going to www.pelzterfarms.com and perusing their lovely website.  Or, if you're in the neighborhood stop by yourself.  Your kids will thank you, and you'll love it too!

Peltzer Farms

39925 Calle Contento

Temecula, CA 92591

(951) 695-1115

Open daily 9am-8pm

Oh Me, 'Pho Mai'! Vietnamese Food that's Sure to Please

A lot of people talk about how Temecula is just teeming with "big box" retailers and restaurants, usually in a way that let's you know that they much prefer the hole-in-the-wall / mom-and-pop / living-the-american-dream type place....the kind of place, they imply, you're not gonna find in Temecula. Um, have you ever been to Temecula? I mean, yes, you can go to Chili's or Tony Roma's or Outback if you want, but there is also no shortage of tiny, poorly decorated,

totally delicious, absolutely wonderful hole-in-the-wall joints. Joints owned and operated by people who grew up cooking and eating that kind of food, who have no experience with tasteful interior design, and who are so thankful to get up every morning in a place that lets them have their own place. Places without a corporate training crew but with food you crave on a lazy Saturday afternoon and a strange obsession with instrumental versions of Tom Jones songs.

Today's delicious excursion was to Pho Mai Vietnamese Restaurant. Located conveniently, and quite unglamorously, in the K-mart shopping center on Ynez Rd, you'll find no pretense or ceremonious service rituals (i.e. writing of the servers name on your paper table cloth; leading you to your table; smiling...). What you will find are the strange nautical-inspired booths (shown above) a mildly disconcerting interest in preserved butterflies,
and incredible, amazing, delicious, awesome, and cheap Vietnamese food. As the name implies, you'll have your choice of Phos (yes, with menu descriptions that go something like this: tendon tripe brisket tendon with noodle and tendon tripe. Pictured below is #15. I don't pretend to know what's actually in it. Really, I don't), which is why the hubby and I go,but you'll also get a lot "Mai" (haha! get it? instead of "more"? sorry....). Like these mouth-watering spring rolls (#04) , filled with, in addition to all the usual spring-roll ingredients, barbecue pork and an actual small eggroll. You will absolutely drool when you taste that peanut sauce! And for the kids in your life, because I know you've probably got 'em and I'm guessing their not so into tendon-tripe-jalapeno-brisket-tripe soup, there's a whole bunch of great stuff to choose from, like this Vietnamese version of fried rice (#54) that had generous amounts of shrimp and sausage throughout. Or this plate (#49?) that came with half a barbecued chicken, rice, and salad. Yum!

Now this part might not be as important to all of you as it is to me, but I have a child who is especially....um...let's call it 'sensitive', to gross bathrooms. Gross bathrooms and no-name restaurants tend to go hand-in-hand. Not at Pho Mai, my friends!

And although the decor falls squarely on the tacky side of fancy, it was clean, and updated, and as close to SoCal chic as I've ever found in a restaurant of this variety.I must confess, I'm a little embarassed to end a post with a photo of a toilet...so I'll close with a shot of the generically generic shopping center window of the best not-at-all generic Pho restaurant this side of the international date line.

Pho Mai Vietnamese Gourmet

26487 Ynez Rd

Temecula, CA 92591

(951) 296-1880

Monday thru Saturday: 10 am - 8:30 pm

Sunday: CLOSED

Even though she's a girl, she modeled the duds anyway

At the risk of scaring everyone off with all our history-museum chatter (see Erica's previous museum posts, below) I want to say that we went to ye olde (not really called that) Temecula Valley History Museum, and it was just as good, maybe better than we had hoped, especially since it took us approximately 4 minutes to get there, cost me next to nothing, and was even loads of fun for the baby, who was totally entertained despite (because of?) the fact that he had no idea what was going on.

The real reason I'm bothering to post more about the TVHM is that my older daughter, a recently self-proclaimed tomboy, was all too eager to try on the boy duds, as shown in the following:

(She hoped her disguise would fool even her own father. I'm happy to report that it did not.)

And really because he has no choice, the baby was a good sport and agreed to wear some 'costumes' as well:

But most importantly for all you moms out there,

for 56 glorious minutes, all three children engaged in the same activity with nary a hint of the bickering, eye-rolling, and general unrest that seems an inextricable part of almost every outing. A success by any standards!

Aglow in the Park (or The Sun Doesn't Set Until, like, 8:30)

Like I said earlier, you would be hard pressed to find enough free time in your life to take advantage of all the summertime fun the City of Temecula offers. But how do you know what's worth your time, and what's just gonna make your kids crabby? Well, wait for me to do it first, of course! The other Friday evening, we decided to load everyone up and troop (it's actually just around the corner) to the Ronald Reagan Sports park for the 2nd annual Aglow in the Park, during which they (who? I don't really know...) light up several hot air baloons and the kids run around and say "ooooooh! look! mom! can I go in one? oooooh!". That part was super awesome.



In addition, they had a live band playing beforehand- a Beach Boys cover band that was super good and oh-so fun. Because, like, apparently the sun doesn't set until 8:30 pm, something I had not thought of, but which turned out okay. This part of the event was also really fun for the kids. They loved running in the grass with the music playing, doing cartwheels, getting ketchup all over themselves, insisting that they absolutely did not need to go potty, and engaging in general merriment. Oh, and don't forget the scavenger hunt and the dance-off! Had I known this part was going to be so fun, I would have gotten there earlier.



On to the Next-Year-We're-Gonna-Skip-its:

• The movie they show in tandem with the glowing balloons. The screen is not big enough, the sound is all distorted, and did I mention that the sun doesn't go down until, like, 8:30? That's late in my world. And who really wants to watch "Surf's Up" anyway? I mean....for realz, people.
• Buying the "cheap" food at the event so I don't have to make dinner. If by 'cheap' you mean in quality, then yes. If you mean price, then not so much. We ended up spending $34 (I know! WTF?!?!?) on hot dogs and coke. Next year, we'll pick up a pizza on the way there like half the other experienced folk did.

In conclusion: Get there early, bring your own food, dance and play, then high-tail it out of there the second they start cranking up that movie screen.

Reading + Writing = Free Stuff

This is my first summer as a.....wait, first let's establish what we're gonna call me because I'm really not a Stay At Home mom. In fact, I spend very little time at home, especially during the school year. And if I am home, I'm not really "staying" very much. So, I'm gonna call me a Run Around Town mom- RAT for short. Alright, let's start over.

This is my first summer as a RAT and my first full summer living in Temecula. It's hard to even decide what to talk about first, because there aren't enough days in a week to do all the free stuff you could do around here- so I'll start with my favorite childhood haunt: The Library.

From the kids section with the ginormous purple tandem rocking chairs, to the outdoor reading courtyard (complete with fountain!), it really is a great place to foster an early love of reading. They also have neat self checkout stations that kids, naturally, are obsessed with. I think they'd check out other people's books if I'd let them. And, um, hello! You only have to read one (?!?) book a week in order to get the free-summer-coupons-for-kid-food-that-mom-refuses-to-spend-money-on. So far, my kids have scored Chick-fil-a, White Lime Frozen Yogurt (more on that later. Yum!), Rubios, and (unfortunately) Hometown Buffet certificates. Hooray for reading! Hooray for free stuff! Hooray for cheap entertainment and kids not climbing the walls (at least not my walls)!