Our Family Staycation: The Beach

On Day 4 of our staycation week, we went to the beach. We chose to go to Little Corona Del Mar because we heard that it was a really good place for tide pools. An added benefit is that we live only 15 minutes away. It gets really crowded and can be difficult to find parking, but we didn't have any trouble since it was a weekday and we arrived so early. (We were ready to leave by the time many people were just arriving!) Before we hit the showers, we looked like a bunch of breaded chicken cutlets, a sure sign of time well spent at the beach!

Mary had a lot of fun exploring tide pools.  There were lots of crabs to be found.

But, the tide pool exploration was short-lived.  The waves were too enticing.

The boys were thrilled with the vast expanse of sand!

My silly Jonathan!

My serious Matthew!

Daddy and the girls made a big sandcastle.  They tried to build it relatively close to the water, so that they could see the waves destroy it.

Here's the finished product.  Mary actually made this one by herself.  David and Maggie made the one (that you can't see very well) behind her.

Well, the castle didn't last long enough to be destroyed by the waves.  Not with Matthew and Jonathan around!

Cute picture of Matthew.

Cute picture of Jonathan.

Josiah really enjoyed the beach.  He just has no idea we were there.

I took this picture because never in my life have I seen someone using a blower to remove sand from a walkway.

Our Family Staycation: Pretend City

Our next adventure was to Pretend City! Pretend City is exactly what the name says, a pretend city. Inside is a grocery store, a library, a doctor's office, a dentist's office, a marina, a farm, a fire department and police station, a house, a construction site, a restaurant, a bank, a post office, a music theater, and even a beach!  I LOVE Pretend City and am definitely going back.  The museum is comprised of lots of places for children to engage in the type of imaginative play we try to encourage!  On the surface, the admission price is kind of steep, but you can fill out developmental surveys for your children up to age five and receive complimentary passes in return.  I seriously can't wait to go back!

This is a picture of Matthew pretending to be a fireman after visiting the fire department the previous day!

Four Mobleys headed out to fight the fire!

This is a picture of Jonathan shopping at the store.  I am delighted to see his basket filled with lots of fruits and vegetables!

In this picture, Jonathan is imitating Daddy, who has been busy fitting pipes in our backyard for a sprinkler system.

Apparently, we took a lot of pictures of our Jonathan.  He's digging the soil on the farm.

Really, Mama, I can play with this faucet?  But, where's the water???  The house was really neat because the walls were clear so that you could see the plumbing.

David and the four kids played with the music theater sound and light control panel.  The boys especially found delight in pounding the buttons.  I hope they still work after my boys got to them!

Again, Jonathan is where the food is!

The marina was a lot of fun!  You could build boats and sail them, fish with fishing rods or nets, race boats, or just splash in the water.

Look at Maggie with all those fish!

I never knew Mary was soooo strong!

Matthew enjoyed playing with this puzzle with different kinds of latches and hinges.  This is on my to-do list for David, which means it probably won't get made until 2014, since he's so backlogged with my other crazy ideas!

Matthew looks like he has no idea what these things are.  Honest, we do brush his teeth!

Just before we left, someone came and put this crazy hat on Jonathan.  The inside is green, and the top is a soccer ball.   Jonathan, who has a real love for hats, was ecstatic!

Our Family Staycation: The Fire Department!

After the aquarium, we paid a visit to a fire department! Remember my friend Esther with the coupons? Well, her husband, Lee, is a fireman and works in Long Beach.  Since we were in the area, he generously offered to show us around. Lee has been a fireman for fifteen years and is actually an engineer, which means he drives the vehicle. 

One of the first things that I learned at the firehouse is the difference between a fire truck and a fire engine. Seriously, this is something that has puzzled me ever since I had kids and started seeing the fire vehicles in books.  Some books label them fire trucks and other label them fire engines.  I thought they were interchangeable, but the truck is actually larger and has a ladder. Not all departments have both a fire truck and a fire engine, but Lee's does.  Most of the departments just have fire engines.  There was lots of excitement while we were there! Calls came in, so we got to see the truck and the engine go out and come back!  It was really neat to see the flashing lights and hear the sirens up close!

Lee even had special treats for everyone: a workbook about fire safety and a little fireman sticker badge. When it quieted down, he pulled the truck out and let us explore the truck!  He showed us some of the big, impressive equipment that they use: the jaws of life and the chainsaw! Then, up the giant steps into the truck, he took the kids one by one. They talked to one another on the headsets and tried on the real helmets! Then everyone went up really high in the air in the basket of the ladder. Really high in this case means 105 feet! That's ten stories high! I was too scared, but the kids weren't! After everyone came down safely, Lee even took them for a spin around the block in the truck. Going to the fire department was really fun for everyone! A special thanks to Lee for opening his home to us and giving us the awesome tour!

This is Josiah at the beginning of the tour.  So intent!

Here comes the engine!

Maggie's talking on the headset!

Matthew was a little unsure about the heavy helmet!

Jonathan is ready for a spin!

Here's Lee showing us some impressive power equipment!

He's showing the kids up close.

The kids are all piled in the truck!

Mama is a little nervous about the kiddos going up so high.  It's really good for kids to have daredevil Dads!

Oh, my goodness, how high are they going to go???

No fear Mary loved going up high in the basket!

All the kids posed for a picture: Corben, Mary holding Obie, Jonathan, Matthew, CJ, Maggie, and Hezy.

And here's Josiah at the end!

 

Our Family Staycation: The Long Beach Aquarium

Our second adventure during our staycation was to the Long Beach Aquarium. This year we studied aquatic creatures in science, so I was really excited about going to the aquarium and reviewing what we learned. The admission is expensive, but my friend and awesome deal-finder, Esther, found some coupons that saved us $30 off the admission price! She came along with her two boys. Another friend also came along with her three boys. The kids all had a great time looking at different water life and playing on the playground outside. (Truthfully, I think they were more interested in playing than in the fish!) As for reviewing what we learned, well, I was a little disappointed in how that went. On the drive home, though, David said he was really impressed with how much the girls were able to tell him about the fish, so I guess the review did happen, just not in the way I imagined:) SUCCESS!

Mary and Maggie were mesmerized by the fish!

We got to listen to this diver talk to us from inside the tank.

Look at Mary being really brave and petting sharks.

Some friends came along for fun!

Pretty fish!

We found Nemo!

Another picture with our friends, Corben, Hezy and CJ.

"V" is for Victory!  I did this pose for my Asian friends:)

Mary is riding the big fish on an outdoor playground.

It was a lot of fun to watch the sea lions play.

Matthew and Jonathan were really interested in the pigeons outside!

They were also really into this big school of fish!