Professor Pennypickle's Children's museum

Stop the presses! She's back!

Wow, seriously....where does the time go? I'll tell you where it goes- it goes to writing and editing the PTA newsletter. It goes to doing freelance proofreading work. It goes to managing the facebook pages of some former/current employers. And taking care of 3 kids. And managing the hubby's business. And being pregnant (!). And sewing little patches onto 10 little Brownie Girl Scout vests. And every now and then doing a little sleeping. But only just a little. But that's enough of that, because what mom isn't insanely busy? No real mom, I tell ya what.

Anyhooooooo, I realized it had been almost a year since the last post on here and I said to myself I said "Self, you cannot let an entire year go by without a post. People are gonna think you've died. Or Temecula has imploded. Or something else weird." So, I'm back to chat about the totally adorable, super-fun Professor Pennypickle's Children's Museum (http://www.pennypickles.org/) in Old Town.

First of all, if you don't have a SmartCard ( http://www.shopsmartcard.com/), get one. Among many, many other fab discounts, tickets to P.P.'s are buy-one-get-one-free. You don't even have to be a super-cheap-skate to like that discount!

Alright, after parking in the plentiful and FREE parking behind the museum, and entering the totally cute, old-timey building and being advised that you are allowed to...nay, expected to touch everything in the place, you can enter one of many, many fun rooms. This is the library:


....with this whacky whirly-gig chair that rotates as you spin some other whacky whirly-gig contraption.And then you can go into the fireplace of the library (true story) and enter a crazy, dark black-light-lit maze, which even the baby found fun and not scary. Or into this "kitchen":
...and do any number of fun, silly experiments.

And although the entire place was fun for my littlest dude, there was a special room just for the under-4 crowd, which the under-4 crowd found to be very entertaining:


And don't forget driving the potty! What little boy doesn't want to drive a potty? I mean it combines "driving" with "potty". A veritable dream come true, I say.
And the not-so-spooky cellar of recycling:
followed by the crazy musical-instrument room of crazy musical instruments:

and this guy, who wasn't that educational or fun for the kids, but who made this mama laugh:


and some kind of gear thing? That's educational? Probably?In all, we had a crazily super fun time. Everyone, from 2 to 92, will find something to love here, even if it's just the cheap tickets. Which it won't be, but could, I guess, if you don't love fun, but are a cheap-skate.

The Nutcracker: not what I imagined, but better than I expected

On a blessedly cool December evening, blogger mama took her 2 girls to meet their Brownie Girl Scout troop at the oh-so-adorable Temecula Community Theater to see their production of our holiday favorite, The Nutcracker.

What little girl doesn't love to dress up and meet her friends and stay up late on a school night?  No little girl I've ever met, I tell ya what!  Brownie troop 1520 was as adorable and well-behaved as ever, and they were especially excited because we got to sit in the very front two rows.  How's that for good luck?

The production was beautifully done, with ornate costumes, perfect timing on all the sound and light cues (from my time spent on stage during all my schoolin' years, I've come to appreciate the difficulty in making this sort of thing happen), and the dancers could actually dance.  It was downright lovely.  Now I must warn any purists out there that there has been some "finagling" with the story line....it really makes more sense in this format, but it isn't the NYC-Ballet-and-all-other-major-company-in-the-whole-wide-world way to do it, so I can see how some might object.  The music is all there and all right and all the characters and the basic premise are the same, but the order was moved around a bit.  I can't explain it right, so you'll just have to go next year if you'd like to know what the heck I'm talking about.  Oh, and, um, during the party scene in the beginning when the guests are dancing with each other....they....um...(how do I say this without freaking you out?)....sing.  Yeah.  Okay, shake it off.

The music and dancing were so spectacular and the production so tight, that everyone in the audience, our crew included, was disappointed when intermission rolled around.  We were able to placate them by suggesting they practice their own dance moves in the courtyard outside the main auditorium, which they happily did and passed the 20 minutes with lots of hums and even more giggling.

After the show was over,  I enjoyed our walk back to the car through festively-lit Old Town Temecula.  Every lamppost, every building, every sign was covered in lights and greenery and cheer.  I took a bunch of photos and not one of them turned out, so you'll have to enjoy this one of a car.

When our evening came to a close, we were tired but happy.  No traffic, no icy roads- just good fun with good people in a great town.

For more info on this and other productions at the Temecula Community Theater:

www.temeculatheater.org

42051 Main St.

Temecula, CA 92590

 1-(866)-OLD-TOWN

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

Buns of Steel, Skin of Cocoa

We moved to Temecula just over a year ago- five days before my girls started school, and a mere nine (yep, 9! ) days before my son was born. Yeah, things were a little hectic. But as any mother knows, after the post-partum fog lifts and you stop feeling so much like an all-night diner, you'd better get your butt out there and do something or you'll never feel like you again. Now, as you may have gathered, I am a cheapskate. For some, the monetary commitment of certain mommy-style walking groups might provide the extra motivation necessary for you to actually show up and feel the burn three times a week. I (remember: cheapskate) decided I could walk just fine on my own, thank you very much, and set out with baby in stroller one brisk late-winter morning after dropping the biggers off at school. After only two days of solo strolling (here comes the part where I talk about what I love about Temecula), the group of gals I had passed on both of those days stopped, called me over, and invited me to walk with them. I felt so human! These were grown-ups! With babies! Who knew how to speak!

Fast forward six months, and we're still walking the same route. I took the above photo this morning, and although you (sadly) can't tell, this was a hilarious moment in which everyone decided to do some "extreme kinesthetics" for the benefit of this pic. Being that I am apparently a terrible photographer, that didn't quite come through, and it just looks like we're totally into stretching every time we stop for water. We're not. What we are into is walking 5 days a week, a five mile loop, up and down hills, rain, snow, sleet, or shine. But, um, like, we live in Temecula, so really it's pretty much just shine. But the hills are real, and so are the results: a nice firm booty and skin so toasty brown that your poor friends from the northeast will have to do their very best not to lash out in envy.

To find a free walking or running group near you, log on to www.SeeMommyRun.com and search for your city. If you'd like to join us, with all our sassy banter and how-to-save-a-dime chatter, look for Temecula Fit Mommies - we'd love to have you!

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!

So Many Parks, So Little Time

No town can claim to be truly family friendly without an excellent selection of grafitti-free, well-manicured, properly maintained public parks. Temecula can most certainly make the claim, then- with over 30 fabulous public parks spanning hundreds (yes, plural) of acres, there's always a place for your brood to blow off some steam. In fact, I keep a picnic blanket, jump roaps and hula-hoops in my van at all times just in case they start acting like fools while we're out running errands. There's always a park just around the corner, waiting to show them a good time. Just click on the title of this post to be taken to a list and a map. Happy park hopping!

Pauba Ridge Park, 33405 Pauba Rd.

I like this park's layout- only one small entrance in and out, and a large fenced area to play. This means you don't have to stare at them the whole time to know they're safe. Plus, the view is gorgeous , the breeze is fab, the path is a perfect place to ride bikes, and the hill is great for rolling down. Located just east of Butterfield Stage Rd.

Temecula Duck Pond, 28250 Rancho California Rd.

I know, you'd never know what this is by looking at the name, but believe it or not, it's a pond....full of ducks ;-). It seems that kids never tire of feeding animals (at least the ones that aren't their pets)....my oldest is 7 and still enjoys tossing stale cheerios to the not-underfed ducks who are lucky enough to live here. Even though it's located at the intersection of two very busy streets, one can still manage to find a little peaceful-haven experience here. And did I mention that kids love to feed the ducks? Well, they do.

Ronald Reagan Sports Park, 42659 Margarita Rd.

This place is enormous. Boasting two sets of play equipment (the one for smaller kids is, mercifully, shaded from the sun), barbecues, picninc shelters, baseball diamonds, soccer fields, an amphitheater, well kept (relatively) public restrooms, a path that's perfect for stroller strolling and dog walking, a creek with fun wooden bridges for kids to cross....well, it's about as big as a 'small neighborhood park' can be. This is also the site of a bunch of community events, kids sports, and pick-up games of you-name-it. Convenient and beautiful.

My question to you: What's your favorite park in Temecula?