Discovery Cube

I really wanted to title this something like “Still Not the Wonder Museum” but that just seemed . . . pouty.  This place, just up the highway in Santa Ana was pretty neat.  They had some really fun and interesting things and they definitely had a much bigger budget than our little Wonder Museum but . . . sigh!  After looking through the photos and deciding which ones were blog-worthy, I realized that the problem was that there was almost nothing here that facilitated or allowed for open-ended play.  Everything was very specialized, very mono-functional (pretty sure I just made up that word); consequently it wasn’t the kind of place I could take the kids back to every other week and we’d all still enjoy it.  Still, it made for an entertaining morning.  Enough with the comparison, on with our current adventure!
You see that giant cube over the dinosaur bones?  As soon as you get on the exit ramp, WHAM! there it is.  Makes the place pretty easy to find.

Shifting sand demonstrates wind and water erosion, formation of dunes/drifts and generally pretty patterns.


Air currents keep a beach ball aloft, water vapor makes visible a mini-tornado and balls sink at varying rates through different materials.

Fearless.

Giggling in the earthquake simulator.  They’ve been through a few real ones, so I’m not surprised this didn’t phase them.

    
The dinosaur area was admittedly pretty cool.  Part scavenger hunt, part playground, and both the kids were young enough that we were able to get away without paying the extra fees that are normally associated with this section.

Perhaps we can give them a few points for impressive size as well.

But this simple machine might just have been the favorite.  You use the pulleys to lift a bowling ball; dropping the bowling ball down one tube causes a tennis ball to shoot up out of another, smaller, connected tube.

                               
If the kids were older this might have been a peaceful and very interesting exhibit to watch.  While images on the globe changed, a voice gave short lessons about the different planets and things like weather patterns, day/night, and global airline traffic.  Unfortunately, we’re not all at a sit-and-watch stage right now.

                            
We do somehow manage to do sit-and-read quite well though.

G’night!

Dressing Up and Camping Out

 
The many looks of Logan.  The third playful pose is inspired by a neighbor that we’ve seen quite a bit recently; she wears her twin babies more-or-less like you see Logan doing, while also walking her two large dogs!

                         
Naomi actually spends less time dressing up at this point (just not quite the right age/stage I think), but she does take fascinating self-portraits when given the opportunity. 

Here are Little Red Riding Naomi and Ga-Logan, the Good Witch, journeying through the forest together.  (Our current read-aloud for Logan’s bedtime is, in fact, Wizard of Oz.)  

         
Cornstarch goop.  Not dressing up or camping out, but just something I’m sliding in here.

 
This IS camping out.  Really.  They went to the campsite about a mile south of our house (as opposed to the other camp site a mile north of our house) which happens to be right on the beach.  And also happens to have two (2!) playgrounds.

 
Naomi napped at home with me while Jake and Logan set up the tent, but she caught on to the whole “camping” thing pretty quickly. 

Even with the beach and the playgrounds, Mommy still preferred to leave right after the s’mores and return to a comfortable bed and a quiet house!

Besides, weird marshmallow-covered-things come out at night.  Also, water bottles left too close to the fire develop odd-looking protuberances.  Both problems that Daddy can handle just fine on his own.

Casa Romantica

Sitting on a hill overlooking San Clemente’s pier is the 1920’s home of the city’s founder, Ole Hanson.  He built the home for his family of ten children but lost it only a few years later with the stock market crash.  Eventually the historical society got hold of it and now it’s used for weddings and cultural events, besides being open for tours.  The fact that it was so close to us and was still sitting around on our to-do list was really starting to grate at me, so it became a priority for the long President’s Day weekend.

Not too shabby!
  We flirted with, but ultimately avoided, a repeat of San Juan Capistrano’s desecration.
   The kids appear to be listening so nicely to the friendly volunteer.

Ooh, outdoor living area! 

Looking down the central courtyard toward the front door.  There are six bedrooms that all open onto this courtyard; four for the ten kids and separate his-and-hers master suites. I guess they’d decided that ten was enough.

 
The grand salon (at the far end of the courtyard) was really stunning.  The center of the room, where the fountain is, is two-stories and as lit by an immense chandelier, while the perimeter has that beautiful wood ceiling and the combined effect of the two hits just the right notes of light/dark, open/cozy.  The arched pocket doors both lead out to the garden and provide the room with a spectacular view.

                            
                            
On one side of the salon is the dining room, on the other was Mr. Hanson’s completely drool-worthy office and library.  Both also taking advantage of the exquisite view.


Yes, this view.

  
But just in case that wasn’t enough all-natural eye candy for you, there’s an impressive garden as well.

Our self-portrait was backlit by the sun.  Oops!

                          
Gotta give the guy credit, it’s a nice piece of property.

  
It was such a pretty morning at such a pretty place.

Naomi made herself right at home and was not inclined to leave!