Monthly Archives: January 2009

Ode to the Hippo

Posted on January 9, 2009 | 13 Comments

Hippo

I need to end this week with a smile. Hippos make me smile.

If you really need a reason to go to the excellent San Diego Zoo, then the hippos should be it. I usually go spend some quality time with the hippos at Ituri Forest late in the evening. This when you are most likely to find them doing their underwater ballet moves and have the elbow room to see it. It is especially entertaining to go when they are cleaning the pool, because the hippos stand under the hose with their mouths open. Make the game Hungry, Hungry Hippo come to life for your kids. I’d rather watch the hippos than listen to the most annoyingly loud marble game ever created.

On the Zoo website it says that the hippos “seem to delight in both entertaining and observing the humans that come to see them”. I knew it. They are performing underwater ballet just for me.

And if you really need a smile today click here and listen to a hippo. Just scroll down to the bottom left-hand side of hippo fact page. That’s right, some hippo love for you this Friday!

All this hippo fun is participating at Delicious Baby’s Photo Friday. Go check out some pictures. I promise they’re all more mature than mine.

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Posted in SoCal

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Hawaii Nature Center of Iao Valley

Posted on January 8, 2009 | 1 Comment

HNCMost people don’t envision themselves spending a lot of time in nature centers while they’re in Maui, but I guess I have a different vision for a vacation in paradise. We took a break from the beach, long enough to take in the beautiful vistas at Iao Valley, and make a Geek Stop at the Hawaiian Nature Center.

Smarten Up

This a small museum with about 30 exhibits. One of the first exhibits is about bird migration to Hawaii, where kids have to try to land some balls (birds) into a hole (Hawaiian islands) in the middle of the blue sphere (ocean). I tried to explain that concept to my four-year-old, but he was only focused on throwing the balls in. Oh well, at least I got to enjoy the awesome views of the Iao Valley mountains in the solarium, while I waited for him to land a bird on the island. He then got to zoom over a creek, by laying face down on the dragonfly flight simulator (kinda hard to explain this one). There was also a touch pool, aquarium tanks, and exhibits highlighting Hawaiian plants and animals. 

Fund the Cause

When you visit the center you get a chance to spend your money at a non-profit attraction whose mission it is to educate Maui’s kids about their natural environment and how they can protect it. My motto always is: Keep the Geek Stops Alive! 

Useful Tidbits

There were no restrooms open to the public at the center when we went. This was kind of a bummer. The closest bathrooms are either at the Heritage Gardens or at Iao Valley State Park. The Nature Center is located on the same road that leads you to Iao Valley State Park, and right next to Kepaniwai Heritage Gardens. Although we didn’t have enough time to do it, you can take the guided rainforest walk. It is only suitable for kids 5 years or older, and you have to call ahead to make reservations. If you are visiting Honolulu, you can make a stop at the Hawaiian Nature Center there.

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Posted in Geek Stops, Hawaii

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Tips on Tuesday: On Getting There

Posted on January 6, 2009 | 4 Comments

Today is the first installment of what I’m calling: Tips on Tuesday. I wanted to call it Tipsy Tuesday, but I realized it was still too early in the week for that. Stay tuned though, I might be ready for Tipsy by Thursday.

Tuesday Tip:

  • If you’ve been driving solo at night, with sleeping child in back seat, and you realize that the bridge you are crossing looks a little different, it is because you are on a different highway than the one you always take. It is NOT a newly remodeled bridge. Do NOT keep driving another 45 minutes before you check the road signs and realize you have veered yourself off course.  You should pull over immediately. Check your surroundings. Consult a map. Call someone. And by all means, get yourself a cup of coffee. Driving to and from Lake Tahoe during ski season should only be done with a co-driver, at 5 a.m., or with a road map marking every Starbucks drive-thru on your route home. 

Road Rule

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Posted in Live and Learn, Something Actually Useful

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Come All Ye Camels

Posted on January 5, 2009 | Leave a comment

Tres Reyes¡Felíz Día de Reyes!  Our family celebrates the Day of the Three Wise Men, on January 6. In most Spanish-speaking countries it’s a big holiday, as important as Christmas day. That’s right, the holiday season is usually the week after Christmas, instead of the day after Thanksgiving (or Halloween). It’s a day to remember when the Three Wise Men followed the star to Bethlehem to bring their gifts to the Baby Jesus. How this day is celebrated, varies by country, community, or even family. 

We celebrate by having my son leave a pair of shoes out under the Christmas tree, on the night of January 5th, and some bowls of water and grass outside. My neighbors must think we’re nuts when they see us outside at night ripping grass off our lawn, but I risk weird looks to keep our cultural heritage alive. My son wakes up the next morning to find that the Three Wise Men have left him a gift (or two) on his shoes, and that their camels have eaten all the grass we left outside. On the day of January 6th we may also make a sweet bread called Rosca de Reyes and have a special dinner.

It’s not easy keeping up this celebration, especially when it falls on a school night. And as my son noted, Día de Reyes is not on our calendar. But I believe it’s important for me to be able to pass my family’s traditions down to my son, even if we are the only ones on our block looking out for hungry camels tonight. 

Find out more about how kids in Mexico celebrate, or be crafty about it.There are scheduled events in cities throughout the west.

I have gone to the San Jose Children’s Discovery Museum for their special weekend of crafts, food, and performances in the past. This year it’s January 10-11.

Also check out Tucson Children’s Museum. Or if you are in Los Angeles check out their annual procession and celebration on Olvera Street.

 

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Posted in The Mush Pot

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Learn from the Masters at a Sandcastle Competition

Posted on January 3, 2009 | Leave a comment

In my last post, I wrote about my new year’s resolution to help my son build a better sandcastle. We are big fans of the Travel Channel at my house (no surprise), and my son gets a big kick out of the Sandblasters show that’s on from time to time. What 7-year-old boy doesn’t love to watch sandcastles blow up?  It got me to thinking about going to see a live sandcastle competition. And if it includes explosions, all the better.

I found a list at Travel Channel of the best sandcastle competitions in North America. Maybe I can go to the U.S. Open Sandcastle Competition held in July at Imperial Beach, San Diego. I’m bound to pick up some sandcastle tips. Who knows? I might get so good at the art of sand sculpting, we’ll be entering our own competitions soon.

O.K., I get a bit carried away.      Sandcastle

 

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Posted in Family Travel, SoCal, The Mush Pot

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Like sands through the hourglass

Posted on January 2, 2009 | 7 Comments

Child and SandcastleOn our last trip to Maui, I spent a lot of time half-heartedly helping my son with his sandcastles. It’s that tug-of-war between me, just wanting to relax on the beach, and my son, constantly needing my attention. 

Looking through my photo library, I noticed I have a lot of pictures of sandcastles. We have a predictable beach ritual in our family;  as soon as my son is finished with his sand project, he wants a picture taken of it. When he was a wee thing, it was the only way to get him to part with his sandy creations.

So now I have dozens of pictures with a kid and a sandcastle. I’m glad my son made me take those pictures, though. It’s not just the memory of the sandcastles that I’m capturing, but my son’s childhood as well. They both disappear more quickly than I’d like.

One of new year’s resolutions is to help him make more sandcastles. I’m looking for some tips to make the most kick-ass sandcastle on the beach, the one everybody stops to check out. When I make it, I promise to take a picture of it.

 

I’ve been checking in at Delicious Baby’s Photo Friday for months now, and I’m excited to participate on my first week of blogging. Go check it out: great pictures, fabulous bloggers.

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Posted in Hawaii, Live and Learn, The Mush Pot

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Flutter About at a Monarch Butterfly Grove

Posted on January 1, 2009 | 1 Comment

IMG_0873I take my son to Santa Cruz, California to relax on the beach and, in winter, to make a stop at the Monarch Butterfly Preserve in Natural Bridges State Park. It’s a great way for my son to learn about migratory animals first-hand. Although I haven’t quizzed him on whether he know the word migratory, I’m guessing he gets the basic idea.

Here are a couple of tips on seeing the butterflies:

  1. The butterflies arrive sometime in late October and generally stay through February. But here’s the thing: if there are big storms in California during that time, they will leave earlier. We learned that one year when we went in late January, and the butterflies had gone bye-bye. So know we tend to go earlier in the season, just in case.
  2. Santa Cruz has great weather, but it does dip below 60 degrees. When it does, the butterflies won’t be very active. Be prepared to see the butterflies all clustered up in the trees, not as fun as seeing them flutter about.
  3. There is a small, but way cool Nature Center at the park, that has displays of nature and stuff. Specifically, it has a tank of tide pool animals, a gift store with all things Monarch, and a video on the Monarchs’ migratory journey.
  4. The trail to the grove is short, and very accessible. But beware, the grove is a quiet zone. Of course, it is no small feat keeping a toddler in a state of quiet observation. Trust me, you will get a lot of shushing. Take the toddler, and hope the butterflies put him in a Zen-like trance.
  5. Bring binoculars.

There are a lot of places to see the monarch butterflies in California. Geek out, and take the kids to learn more about these fluttery, migrating insects.

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Posted in Family Travel, Geek Stops, NorCal, Something Actually Useful

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