Family Day at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro

Sarcastic Fringehead at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, San PedroMy son has been begging to go to the aquarium, but our membership recently expired and I wasn’t ready to commit to another year. To appease him, and my pocket book, I began looking for other aquarium options in the area, when I remembered the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium was on my to do list (along with a super awesome hike to the Sunken City in San Pedro) so we decided to make a day of it and check several things off of our never ending LA bucket list!

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Inspire Your Inner Artist at Watts Towers

Watts Towers, Los AngelesLooking for something new to do? A micro-adventure? Or perhaps you need some artistic inspiration? Head down to one of LA’s finest cultural gems, Watts Towers, for a visual treat. From the massive spiral towers resembling Sagrada Familia in Barcelona to the garden and adorable turtle pond out back, Watts Towers in South Los Angeles is a unique and fascinating outing with much to interest everyone in the family.

What is Watts Towers? It is a beautiful piece of folk art that is the result of one man’s imagination and his persistence of realizing his vision. Watts Towers, designed and built by Simon Rodia (an Italian immigrant), are a collection of 17 interconnected structures made out of rebar, glass bottles, seashells, concrete and broken ceramic tiles. Over a period of 33 years, Rodia designed and built this magnificent structure on his own without machine equipment, scaffolding or drawing board designs. One day, Rodia handed over the deed to his property and walked away, leaving all of his work behind. Neighbors fought the city to save it from being demolished. After 16 years of taking care of it themselves, the neighborhood group donated the towers and art center to the City of Los Angeles.

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Eaton Canyon Falls Hike

Eaton canyon FallsEveryone woke up early, ready to “go go go” as my little one likes to say. It was a cool foggy morning, so we decided to head out to Eaton Canyon Falls for a hike. It had been on my to-do list for ages and it looked like a perfect morning to check it out. And right we were. Seeing only 3 other cars there, we knew we would have the trails to ourselves.

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5 Easy Hikes for Toddlers Los Angeles

Hiking is the thing to do in LA. Before moving here I didn’t think that hiking with kids was even possible, especially once they were too big to carry and no longer interested in the stroller. As a baby you can carry them and older kids can walk, but what do you do during those few years where your … Read more

Celebrating Holi – The Festival of Colors in Los Angeles

Celebrating Holi is one of our favorite Indian holidays. The yearly festival was the highlight of the spring for our family and so many in India. In our 8+ years in Mumbai, we never missed one Holi. This was one Indian tradition I felt we had to continue even after moving to the US. Holi, also known as the festival … Read more

Vasquez Rocks with Kids

My son woke up saying he wanted to go on a hike and I knew immediately where we should go. Vasquez Rocks.  It has been on our to do list forever. All I knew about Vasquez Rocks was that it’s great for kids who like to climb rocks and that an episode or portion of Star Trek had been filmed there. … Read more

An Honest Review: The Discovery Cube Los Angeles

Last week we had the opportunity to visit the science focused children’s museum Discovery Cube Los Angeles (which is actually in the Valley).  The few posts I had read on it made it sound amazing, so I went with high expectations. This might have been my problem, but overall I was a bit underwhelmed. However, the kids … Read more

Things To Do in LA over Winter Break (Updated 2015)

This upcoming winter break is the first break at my son’s school in over a year that we do not have travel plans. After our India trip and a very busy fall, we have decided to stay put and spend our break exploring areas of LA that we never have time for. Although I would venture to … Read more

Sand Sledding: Winter fun for the whole family

It is almost that time of year again — sand sledding!  This is my favorite part of winter in LA. What isn’t awesome about sledding in warm weather not having to worry about gloves and hats and frostbite. And showing off sand sledding photos to all of our east coast friends bundled up is sort of … Read more

Malibu Lagoon Bird Watching with Kids

I love nature, hiking and animals, but never in my wildest dreams did I imagine taking time on a Sunday to go bird watching. But yep, this is what happens in my household every month.  The Santa Monica Bay Audubon Society hosts a kid friendly bird watching walk at Malibu Lagoon State Beach and after our … Read more