I believe that they are closed Mondays, but open all other days of the week until October from 8:00am until 5:00pm. For more information, you may contact them at 661.944.2425.
I got a lead today from my friend Beena A. She recently took her family to Yingst Ranch just outside Palmdale. (To be precise 35349 80th Street East in Littlerock, California.) The orchard grows peaches, white peaches, plums, apples, and pears all available for you to pick!
I believe that they are closed Mondays, but open all other days of the week until October from 8:00am until 5:00pm. For more information, you may contact them at 661.944.2425.
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LAUSD will be out of session in just a week, with most of the private schools out a week or two after that. We're planning for summer 2013! Our latest lead was that the Kids Skate Free program includes a location in Northridge. Check back for more new tips for free or cheap summertime fun in the coming weeks.
We took a group to the Orange County Great Park in Irvine today and had a fabulous time. There's the free hot air balloon rides (get there as early as you can if you want to avoid missing out), free carousel rides, a fun "rock" playground with misters to cool everyone off, a little museum about the history of the site (first a farm and then El Toro military base before its transformation into a park), and the amazing Farm + Food Lab (and they even offer classes for home gardeners!). On weekends, there's an art gallery open, and there are special events likes concerts there, as well. And did I mention that if you forgot to bring a football to toss around with the kids, you can just borrow one? What's not to love?
Well, there are a couple things you should be aware of:
With all that said, I still highly recommend the OC Great Park as a family destination. It was even worth the drive from L.A. My husband and I have noticed lately that if we drive more than an hour to go on an outing, we expect to spend more than an hour in that neighborhood before returning home. If the fun at our destination runs out in less time than it took to get there, it's hard not to be disappointed.
If you combine points of interest that are close to each other into a single trip, you can spend more time having fun and less time in the van. Winning pairs we have discovered: 1) SYLMAR: the Nethercutt and the L.A. city pool 5 minutes away (has a really great shower/splashpad/kid area) 2) SAN PEDRO: Cabrillo Marine Aquarium and the Pt. Fermin Lighthouse. Check the website for tour days and hours. You could also match kite flying by the Korean Friendship Bell with either of those destinations. 3) NEWPORT BEACH: West Newport Park (and beach) in Newport Beach with the Environmental Nature Center of Newport Beach. 4) VENICE BEACH: before 11 a.m. on Fridays, you can combine walking the canals and visiting the Linney Canal Park there with the Farmer's Market directly north. 5) OXNARD: you could combine the beach with the Gullwings Museum, the Maritime Museum of Ventura County (which recently moved and is free the third Thursday of every month) or the Carnegie Museum of Art or the McGrath Family Farm. I already knew about the KidsBowlFree deal for kids to get 2 free games daily if they sign up, but the closest location that I could find was in the Valley. My girlfriend Elana told me yesterday about this alternative: AMF Summer Unplugged. Families who participate get the same perks as in the other program, but there are locations closer to the Mid-city and the Westside.
Today, our family had one of those misadventures that's worth mentioning so you don't make the same mistake.
I'm usually a planner, but I felt a bit spontaneous today. Having a craving for some pretty scenery, I told my husband that I wanted to walk the Venice Canal today and go to the little park there to see the ducks with the kids. I can be pretty smart sometimes, but this suggestion was not my wisest. Traffic in Venice on a Sunday is crazed, particularly on a gorgeous, sunny afternoon. There was hardly any parking to be found. We will circled the block many times. Several people performed highly illegal and somewhat dangerous driving manoeuvres. We were frustrated. Our kids dozed off in the car but not before whining, "When will we get there?" In the end, we had to detour to a new destination because the original one had become simply IMPOSSIBLE. I think we will be returning to Venice in a couple weeks. On a weekday. Away from rush hour. LESSON LEARNED: When scheduling family outings, always consider visiting off-hours and on an off-peak day if parking or crowds will be an issue. Rancho los Alamitos is a great place to explore our Southern California heritage. The site has been inhabited for hundreds of years, and the house has many layers to it. My kids loved the old-fashioned Western decor and cowboy memorabilia. My favorite part: the porch where the rancher’s wife fed all the ranch hands.
The barn and much of the outdoors area at Rancho los Alamitos has been under an extensive renovation for a couple years. The job is now complete and we’re all welcome to a grand re-opening this Sunday, June 10! If you don't make it then, find time later this summer--it's really a nifty place to visit. The barn has all sorts of animals for the kids to get up close and personal with. By the way, Rancho los Alamitos was owned by a member of the Bixby family–the brother of the Bixby who owned Rancho los Cerritos, just a few miles away. Visiting the two will give you a fantastic picture of life in SoCal 100 years ago. This advice is from Beth Schoen...
For those of us who keep kosher, print the kosher Slurpee flavors list from CRC and leave it in your car/van throughout the summer. That way, you won't stand in front of the Slurpee machine telling your kids that you don't know which flavors they can have and ending up getting Coke-flavored (again!). image from ClipArt ETC
Here's a post that I originally wrote for my author blog: I'm not a Pinterest fan, but here's a wonderful post by a fellow blogger at the Nerdy Book Club that gives super projects to make summer reading fun in your family. Summertime is the perfect time to develop a love of reading in your kids. Kids can select their own reading material based on their own interests rather than what their teachers think they should be reading. They can also read at their own pace without meeting a deadline. If your family (or your child's camp bunk) go on an interesting outing, they can select books that dovetail nicely with the subject matter. Many libraries have summer book clubs that your kids can join (including Beverly Hills and L.A. city libraries). Just go see the children's librarian for details at your neighborhood branch. |